Updating the Memorandum of Agreement with each of the urban municipalities within its boundaries tops the current list of council priorities for Mountain View County.ìThe MOAs have been around for about five years and have to be looked at,î CAO Tony Martens said in an interview Friday.While the county currently funds recreational services on a per-capita basis under the MOAs, there is no formula for capital project funding ñ and that gap will be looked at as part of the discussions.ìWe've given money for projects, but it's not addressed in the MOAs,î Martens said. ìThere's no formal way of doing recreation capital.îMartens, Reeve Bruce Beattie, Div. 6 Coun. Paddy Munro and Div. 7 Coun. Al Kemmere have been designated to meet with officials from Olds, Didsbury, Sundre, Carstairs and Cremona. The intent is to meet with each municipality individually, Martens said.ìCouncil believes that, though they follow the same template, there are individual items for each community.îAlthough treated separately from recreational funding, joint agreements on fire services have also been under intensive review, with all municipalities except Cremona looking to shift from a fire authority model to an advisory model similar to the current arrangement with Olds.After the MOAs, the next items on council's Strategic Priorities Chart are revising the Municipal Development Plan and drafting a multi-year strategic plan that will include a multi-year budget and road network plan.The fourth item is an oil and gas relations strategy that is expected to include a protocol for the industry similar to one developed by Strathcona County.ìIt's taking the Strathcona protocol and fitting it in for Mountain View County,î Martens said, noting that the document can try to direct the industry but cannot mandate requirements such as notification distances that are set by the province.The strategy will also look at mechanisms such as a business licence to recover costs for infrastructure damage caused by hydraulic fracturing operations. One of council's concerns is the prospect of losing revenue from the wellhead tax, which generated almost $500,000 for the county in 2010. After indicating the tax would be phased out at the end of 2011, the province extended it to the end of this year. No replacement tax regime for municipalities has been announced.County officials will be meeting Jan. 16 with counterparts from Clearwater County to discuss that municipality's approach to oil and gas issues.The fifth priority for council is developing a business plan for the Olds-Didsbury and Sundre airports. The plan is expected to come before council at the end of February.In a related matter, council voted last week to list the 11 unsold lots at the Olds-Didsbury Airport after market value has been determined by three licensed appraisal firms.
