Several resolutions that were passed at the annual Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference in Vancouver, held from June 1 to 3, were of note to Town of Olds officials who attended.
Mayor Judy Dahl said a resolution from the FCM urging the federal and provincial governments to provide dedicated funds to assist with wastewater regulations was of interest to Olds councillors.
“I would say that it would provide ammunition for all (municipalities) that are facing burdens with the wastewater regulations. I think that (resolution) would help us tremendously,” she said.
Another resolution called on the federal government to work with rural municipalities on identified needs such as infrastructure.
“We want (the federal government) to implement policies and programs that respond to specific needs, so that would be able to help Olds for specific needs,” she said.
A third resolution that was passed called on the FCM to write to the Governor General to amend the peace officer exemplary medal regulations to allow municipal peace officers to be eligible for the medals.
“We believe in fairness for all,” Dahl said.
Coun. Mary Jane Harper, who also attended the conference, said while she sat in on several excellent sessions on federal infrastructure funding, waste management and heritage, she found the conversations between the sessions extremely beneficial. She spoke with the chief administrative officer of Metro Vancouver, a board that has representation from 24 municipalities in the Lower Mainland of B.C.
“I was able to speak with the CAO of Metro Vancouver for almost an hour, just her and I one-on-one and the information she provided was absolutely fabulous,” Harper said, noting that the discussion revolved around regional boards and municipal cooperation.
Harper said she found that kind of municipal cooperation in B.C. interesting in light of the Alberta government reviewing the Municipal Government Act and requesting more cooperation among municipalities for infrastructure and other projects.
“It sort of gave me a little bit more insight as to how well and effective these regional partnerships could be,” she said.
Harper also went on a heritage tour of various buildings in the Greater Vancouver area. She toured a composting bio-gas facility and a co-generation facility that generates electricity from garbage. Harper said the facility cost $15 million to build and was repaid in full in 15 years by selling the power generated from the facility back to the grid. Harper said the tours were interesting since the Mountain View Regional Waste Management Commission, of which she is chair, could learn from how other municipalities handle the same issues. The heritage tour was helpful in seeing how Olds and its heritage plan might be able to take some ideas from what is being done in Vancouver.
While Dahl said she learned a lot from a session she attended on securing local food supplies, she was pleased to note that the progress Olds has made regarding sustainability compares favourably to what other municipalities are doing.
