Mountain View County councillors have been given a first look at the draft 2013 legislative services, community service, agriculture and land management budgets.At the latest Policies and Priorities committee meeting, director Jeff Holmes presented the budget and outlined some of the programs and projects proposed.The legislative service budget calls for spending of $819,300, down slightly from the 2012 total for $826,615.The community service budget calls for spending of $352,100, down from $365,630 in 2012. The grants program calls for spending of $238,555, up 3.2 per cent from 2012's total of $231,055.The community services fire budget calls for spending of $984,450, up from $904,100 in 2012, while the agriculture budget calls for spending of $919,235, up from $749,610 last year.Holmes outlined a number of projects proposed for 2013, including the following:• The implementation of an updated records management program for the county, at a total cost of $175,000.“As a result of numerous staff changes and extended periods of vacancy, a record backlog has developed,” said Holmes. “This two-year project will commence in 2012 with the end goal of resolving outstanding physical record issues and implementing an electronic content management system in 2013. To prepare this change our retention and classification schedule must be updated.”• The hiring of a second permanent full-time position for administrative support and records management assistance, at a cost of $63,000.“In addition to records management support it is expected that this position will assist with such activities as booking office meeting rooms, reception coverage during breaks, lunch and vacation, and council meeting support activities,” he said.• The purchase of wildland gear coveralls for area fire departments, at a cost of $33,000. The proposal is to purchase 165 of the coveralls.“Wildland gear is designed to protect, but also another important function is to keep the firefighters cool by allowing body heat to escape,” he said.The county purchased similar coveralls for departments about 10 years ago and those coveralls are now in need of replacement.• The creation of a MVC energy business licence, at a proposed cost of $16,500.“The first step required to initiate a business licence would be to generate a comprehensive report detailing the municipal costs created by this class of business,” Holmes said in a note to council. “These costs would be the baseline for establishing business licence fees.”He said the project has three objectives: to generate a database relating to energy exploration and production activities in the county; to regulate industry use and preservation of county infrastructure; and to ensure that county natural resources that may be affected by energy exploration and production are not impaired.“The three objectives will be integrated and given expression through the development of a business licence directed specifically to the energy industry that operates within Mountain View County,” he said.The $16,500 proposed cost includes $10,000 for research and $3,000 for legal fees pertaining to the accompanying draft bylaw, council heard.• A radio communications system review, at a cost of $10,000.“The system was implemented in 2004 and with its age and advances in technology, the time has come to review the system,” he said. “Such a review needs to account both for the county as well as fire department use.”• Making preparations, at a cost of $10,000, for the possible sale of the Westward Ho campground.“The campground (located on the Little Red Deer River east of Sundre) is potentially going to be disposed of and the council asked that administration look at having all the research and paperwork in place to have the property ready to be advertised for sale in 2013,” he said.In addition to updating a previous assessment of the county-owned property, a second appraisal will be completed to ensure the park's value is accurately identified, he said.“There may be transitional costs associated with concluding our existing five year contract and retendering the operation of the campground in 2012,” he said.• Organizing and advertising a pesticide roundup for the collection of obsolete or unwanted pesticides.“This project will hopefully reduce the number of pesticides left at the county chemical container collection facility. This does not include household chemical waste or paint products,” he said.Following the proposed budget presentation to council, Reeve Bruce Beattie said council hopes to have all of its 2013 operational and capital budgets in place by the end of December.“Our goal is to have the operational side and the capital side completed by the end of the year so if we have any tenders, for roads for example, we can get those out in the new year,” Beattie told the Gazette.
