Members of the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties (AAMD&C) have passed more than a dozen resolutions calling for the provincial government to, among other things, reinstate funding to local and bridge programs.
Mountain View County reeve Bruce Beattie says he hopes the province will act on the requests contained in the resolutions, which came during the association's annual convention held November 12 – 15.
Resolutions passed at the convention include the following:
• That the provincial government reinstate funding for the Strategic Transportation Infrastructure Program, which in the past has provided support for municipal capital transportation infrastructure projects.
• That the province reinstates funding for the resource roads and local bridge programs.
• That the association lobby the provincial government to amend the Municipal Government Act to provide protection to rural municipalities from any and all liability associated with road maintenance, carried out by municipalities within the provincial right-of-way leading up to the physical edge of provincial highways.
“The burden placed on municipalities to ensure that they do not encroach on provincial rights-of-way not only reduces the level of maintenance, it increases the potential for serious accidents and with that, the legal exposure municipalities would face by lifting the blades of their maintenance equipment to avoid the provincial right-of-way (30 to 50 metres on both sides) leaving the surface ungraded, un-graveled or unplowed,” the resolution reads.
• The association calls on the provincial government to consult on a priority basis with industry and municipalities to establish an appropriate set of regulatory requirement for transloader facilities and the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) be designated as the appropriate body to implement these regulations.
Transloader facilities, also called ‘pipelines on rails' are facilities where liquid hydrocarbons are shipped via truck to rail terminals.
“Currently these transloaders are not regulated via the AER. There are several reasons why the facilities logically should fall under the AER rather than left to the local municipalities, including that many smaller municipalities may not currently have the knowledge base to properly regulate and evaluate these proposed developments.”
• That the association lobby the provincial government to reintroduce the Summer Temporary Employment Program (STEP), which in the past has provided funding for local organizations to hire summer students.
• That the association request the provincial government amend the Alberta Safety Code to require the installation of automated external defibrillators (AED) in all public facilities and schools, and that all owners and employees working in public facilities and schools maintain basic first aid training, including training in the use of AEDs.
• That the association urge the provincial government to create a provincial commission to sanction combative sports events, such as mixed martial arts, throughout the province.
During an address at the convention, Premier Alison Redford told association members that Alberta's population growth has been identified as a major issue that the government is trying to address through its Building Alberta plan.
She also highlighted the need to work towards the opening of more markets for Alberta's natural resource exports.
