Olds town council referred a presentation it received from the Red Deer River Watershed Alliance to the Municipal Area Partnership. Gerard Aldridge, executive director of the alliance, made the presentation during council's Policies and Priorities meeting on August 15.
While Mayor Judy Dahl said she supported the work of the alliance, she thought it would be prudent to get a regional perspective about the organization and then bring that discussion back to the council table before making a decision.
“It's always good to get synergy there,” she said.
Aldridge said he wasn't trying to pressure council into making a decision immediately, and suggested council could take its time about making a decision and thoroughly discuss the matter.
“There's no intention to put pressure on here. In terms of support… you could designate it (general) budget. We're hoping to develop a strong relationship with the Town of Olds,” he said.
Aldridge added that the alliance hopes to get $120,000 this year from various municipalities to support its activities. Most municipalities make a $0.50 per capita contribution. A total of 48 municipalities contributed to the alliance in 2010.
“We seek the support of various organizations to help us with our ongoing work as a watershed planning and advisory council and certainly the whole municipal government sector is one that we explore, and particularly ones that are within our watershed boundaries. The Town of Olds is a very significant community and right within our watershed,” he said.
Aldridge told council that the alliance is currently forming partnerships with organizations to help fill in data gaps that exist in regard to the watershed. The objective is to start making those partnerships and filling in those gaps by the end of October.
Aldridge said he hoped the town could support the watershed plan.
