CARSTAIRS-CREMONA-DIDSBURY - While most municipal councils take a summer hiatus, that doesn't mean work isn't being done. Many local towns and villages have infrastructure projects on the go.
In Carstairs, Mayor Lance Colby said crews are continuing to work hard on the Mandalay Estates project. The area structure plan for the project was given third and final reading on June 20.
"Right now we're working on the Mandalay project behind the school," said Colby. "I see they're in there now working on it. We have to put a road in and other stuff. They're trying to get it ready before school starts. That's one of our projects. We're also trying to finish off the (Parkview) lift station line decommission."
The town is eliminating the Parkview lift station and running a line from that station east to tie into the Highfield lift station.
Colby said Mandaly Estates will consist of around 40 new lots as well as space for a proposed new tri-services building, school expansion and seniors' housing lodge.
"If we can do that and get everything done with all the rains we've had...It's a work in progress," he said. "We're doing that and trying to finish the paving and patching we've had. We finally finished Centre Street after all the monsoons we've had. So that's good. Now we've just got patchwork left. We've had to fix some lines that were blocked."
Colby said the town continues to work with developers as well as with the school board and other organizations.
"There's always something going on," he said.
Colby said it's great to see big events in town like the RCMP Musical Ride, which took place on July 25. As well, he said that this year's Carstairs Beef and Barley Days was as big as ever.
"It was a really good success," he said. "We managed to miss the rain for the parade. It was a really good parade. It was about an hour long and a lot of people turned out. I think it was one of the better turnouts we had. The slo-pitch tournament went well, the rodeo, on Saturday there were a lot of things happening in the park."
With the provincial budget not expected until the fall, Colby said town officials are waiting for a number of announcements concerning funding.
Colby is interested in seeing how the UCP will deal with policing in the budget.
"Are they even looking at everyone pay so it's more equal for everyone?" he said. "Those type of things. That's one big concern there."
Like many, Colby is curious to see what the government does with the tax raised through legal cannabis sales.
"I don't know how that's working or what they plan on doing with that," he said. "They're going to have to do a lot with education I'd think. That would be important. There are several people waiting to open storefronts to deliver it to the public. It'll be interesting to see how they deal with that."
Cremona projects
In Cremona, Mayor Tim Hagen said crews continue to work on a few paving projects but have no major projects on the go.
"We're waiting on some information on some grants so we can do some upgrades to our water system," said Hagen. "We want to upgrade our SCADA system so our water guy can look at it from a phone instead of having to go out there all the time."
Hagen said it's never easy to get money out of the government.
Hagen and municipal officials all across the province are waiting to hear what the education requisition will be from the provincial government. Municipalities in Alberta had to come up with the Alberta Schools Foundation Fund (ASFF) requisition based on previous years or estimates due to the budget coming later due to the election.
"The education taxes, we pretty much left it the same as last year hoping they don't raise it a whole bunch this year," he said. "It's a catch-22 because usually we have that (ASFF) before we pass the budget."
Hagen would also like to see the village get some money from cannabis tax collection.
"I'd like to see that," he said. "The governments are making a lot of money off of that but they don't really like to share. Maybe if they took some of that money and added it to the MSI and guaranteed it for five years or so. That would help out a lot of communities."
Hagen said they are also waiting to hear from Alberta Transportation for the go-ahead on a subdivision.
"I was told recently it could take anywhere from two days to two years," he said. "We're trying to subdivide some lots on the south side of Highway 580. Because it's on the 580 you need approval from Alberta Transportation."
Hagen said the new CAO in Cremona, Aaron Gertzen, is working out well. He commends council for their due diligence in getting a quality hire from the City of Calgary.
"I think council did a pretty darn good job," said Hagen, who was off sick during the hiring process.
Didsbury projects
In Didsbury, town crews are working hard on a number of projects. Council recently awarded the tender to Rubydale Asphalt Works for the 2019 asphalt rehabilitation and repairs project, which will see 21 roads having work done including the paving of 10th Street.
The work is expected to be completed by Sept. 30.
As far as the provincial budget goes, Didsbury mayor Rhonda Hunter said council is looking forward to seeing what the ASFF funding will be.
"We are eager, as likely all municipalities in our province are, to see the provincial education tax requisition and the effect it will have on the 2019 requisition that council approved," said Hunter. "Town council did approve a 3.98 per cent increase over the 2018 education tax requisition, which was the average over five years. Whether that is enough remains to be seen."
As for other budget items, Hunter said it's important to note that Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) represents all member municipalities regarding MSI, cannabis, police funding "and we work and support AUMA with these issues."
"We have to be patient to achieve these goals and the direction of resolutions approved at AUMA meetings on these funding issues," she said.
