Ratepayers in Mountain View County divisions 3 and 7 would like to see more dust control and grader work on roads in their respective districts, they said during open houses last week.Twenty-one people attended Division 3 councillor Duncan Milne's information session at the Mountain View Hall east of Didsbury.During the meeting topics discussed included dust control on roads, snowplowing, landfills, dead animal disposal, assessment of farm buildings, museum funding, overpasses on the QEII Highway, the status of developments in the county, and flood protection on the west side of the county.As for the suggestion from one resident that the county spread oil on gravel roads to knock back dust, Milne said the province no longer allows the practice.“Dust control was one concern and oil is not an option,” he said.A resident suggested that the county start a voucher program that would allow residents to claim back from the county the cost of disposing of dead farm animals.“I don't know if that idea would be well received, but we can look into that. I'll ask about it,” he said.Director Holmes told the meeting that Alberta Environment has rules in place for the disposal of animals on private properties.Prompted by a question from a resident, Milne said the county has an appeal process in place for residents who question property assessments, including the assessment of farm building no longer being used for farming operations.Asked about snowplowing plans in the county, Milne said the county council would be reviewing plowing plans during budget deliberations.“I think we could be a little more efficient in the way we do it. I'm not sure our quadrant system is the way to go,” he said.Allowing private vehicles to plow snow off county roads would be impractical because it would create many legal problems, he said.Milne said the county would be bringing up safety concerns about the QEII and Highway 27 overpass intersection at an upcoming meeting with government officials in Edmonton.He said any plans to put a traffic circle on Highways 27 at the location would not be practical, particularly for farm equipment trying to use the intersection.Asked about an update on the Netook Crossing development east of Olds, Milne said: “They are supposed to be working on a new concept plan for what is going to go on. When we rescinded all the area structure plans (following the adoption of a new municipal development plan) we encouraged them to go back to planning and start working on something new. I would like to see it (new plan) come forward.”Representatives of the Didsbury museum told the meeting that officials are pleased with the support MVC has been giving the facility, and noted that the museum is always looking for more volunteers.Asked by a resident whether he plans to seek re-election in 2013, Milne said: “I'm leaning that way.”Milne says he's pleased with the meeting turnout and the comments provided by those who attended.“I think it went quite well,” he said. “I was pleased that we discussed lots of things. I was pretty happy with the meeting there.”Meanwhile, about 30 people attended the open house hosted by Division 7 councillor Al Kemmere at the Reed Ranch School on Nov. 6.The 90-minute meeting saw discussion of a host of topics, including snowplowing, road maintenance and repair, and oil and gas activities.“Roads have been the number one topic at all the councillor open houses,” said Kemmere. “Thing have slipped in recent years and we need to address those concerns. This is a county-wide problem.“We welcome calls from residents when they see problems. I don't consider those complaints. They are reports and they are helpful to us.”He said he hopes new county plans for road maintenance across the county will lead to improvements starting immediately.“More hours of grading is probably something we will be looking at,” he said.Larger vehicles being used in farm operations these days have put added wear and tear on division roads in recent years, he said.“It is a big issue,” he said.Kemmere said the county's recently-introduced road maintenance standards and snow removal policy should help to improve snow removal in the division.The procedure establishes an effective priority management system for snow and ice removal, he said.Kemmere said he would like to see up-to-the-moment status reports on grader activities posted on the county's website.Asked if the county would consider double shifting grader operations, Kemmere said council has discussed that possibility and one concern raised was finding the required staff.MVC director of operations Michael MacLean told the meeting that the county is re-examining its entire road maintenance policy.The county hopes to be able to resurface all chip seal roads in the county every five years.“We have been trying to keep up (with that timeline),” he said.Although there isn't too much oil and gas activity in Div. 7 right now, oilpatch vehicle traffic, including water hauling, is putting pressure on county road infrastructure, particularly in the west part of the county, he said.Taxes resulting from oil and gas activity make an important financial contribution to the county, he said.Asked for an update on the Netook Crossing development, Kemmere said county officials will be meeting with developers in January.The county will be bringing up the need for major changes to the QEII-Highway 27 intersection at this week's AAMD&C conference in Edmonton, he said.“We are pushing hard for action,” he said.The county continues to examine flood protection options for the Red Deer River west of Sundre, he said.“Ultimately the river is the responsibility of the province,” he said.Kemmere explained that the county wants farmers and ranchers to be aware of new ERCB rules regarding abandoned oil wells on properties vis-à-vis new building construction.All seven Mountain View councillors have now hosted fall 2012 open houses in their respective divisions.
