Three months after requesting a meeting with Premier Alison Redford, a multi-stakeholder committee trying to address flooding concerns on the Red Deer River from west of Sundre to Gleniffer Lake is growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of response, says chairman Myron Thompson.
The Sundre-based Red Deer Quality Control Committee has gathered about 200 letters from area residents expressing concerns with the flooding dangers and calling on the provincial government to move forward with flood protection work and plans.
The committee made an official request in November asking for a meeting with the premier so the letters could be personally delivered.
The committee had originally hoped to have the letters delivered by Dec. 1.
With no response from the premier having been received (as of press time Thursday), the committee is now considering other options, says Thompson.
"All the requests (for a meeting with the premier) have been sent in and we haven't heard a thing,î said Thompson, a former Conservative MP and current Sundre town councillor.
"They (MLAs) are going back into session in March after they postponed the February sitting. If we haven't heard anything by then we will be loading the letters up and taking them down there. We will be going into the legislature and walking the halls and making sure everyone knows we have these letters.
"We will deliver the letters to her office and do all the things that renegades do.î
Thompson says he is getting tired of waiting for a response.
"Of course I am frustrated,î he said. "It's quite a while and that's long enough. They can't even acknowledge that they've received this request? The only thing I've been hearing from her is pretty bad news. She better be careful if she likes her job. She's got a lot of smartening up to do.î
The committee has held several open houses to help people write letters and to share information about flooding concerns.
"We want to give her those letters face to face and see if we can encourage the government to take the initiative,î he said. "We want them to look very closely at what can be done with this river to help our situation.î
The letters have been handwritten or typed, expressing the writer's personal thoughts and concerns about the flooding danger, he said.
Sundre-area Wildrose MLA Joe Anglin is working on arranging the meeting with Redford. He has been given copies of each of the letters.
"He is going to table them in the legislature,î said Thompson. "He is going to stand in his place and table the letters so all the legislature knows we have them. We are going to take the real letters and deliver them.î
Thompson says flood protection work ñ such as building berms and the clearing away of debris ñ is necessary to prevent future flooding.
"We are trying to encourage the province to do its job,î he said. "It's about preventing a major disaster heading our way. The next big flood will be a major disaster and we have to stop it. It's called taking preventative measures.î
The committee believes the construction of a dam upstream of Sundre could be a long-term solution to flooding dangers, he said.
Flooding of the river upstream of Sundre in the spring of 2012 caused damage to private and public land in the McDougal Flats area.
Mountain View County has also been looking at possible flood protection options for the area upstream of Sundre.
