The year 2018 will certainly go down in history as a memorable year for Red Deer County.
Much of our work involved collaborating with our municipal neighbours through new plans known as Intermunicipal Collaboration Frameworks (ICF). In 2018, Red Deer County entered into three of these plans – ensuring we have sound communication with our neighbours for years to come.
Beyond our ICF agreements, here are some other reflections from a very busy year.
As always, our agriculture services department was busy keeping the public areas of Red Deer County neat, attractive, and free of prohibited weeds. In fact, our ag services team covered more than 3,000 kilometres of roadsides, as well as spraying and inspecting for weeds.
In 2018, we processed about $100 million worth of permits. This new development provides a strong tax base to fund our services. Large projects, such as the Paterson Grain terminal, new office buildings, and over 100 new small businesses will keep our local economy strong for years to come.
Red Deer played host to the Canadian Finals Rodeo for the first time in its 45-year history. Next we can look forward to seeing some amazing young athletes come to our region during the Canada Winter Games in February.
We launched two initiatives in 2018 to help existing businesses and potential investors. The first was a business licence and directory program. The second was a brand new website -- www.growrdcounty.ca -- aimed at attracting investment from across Canada and beyond.
Like all years, roads and bridges made up a major part of our capital spending.
The county completed major projects on range roads 10 and 12, as well as township roads 360, 370 and 372. However, the two largest projects were in Gasoline Alley and at our new Junction 42 development. Our operations and planning teams were certainly kept very busy implementing upgrades aimed at supporting residents and businesses alike.
Last, but certainly not least, our protective services staff had their hands full throughout 2018. From issues like spring flooding and emergency training, to crime prevention advocacy and education, our men and women in protective services were very well engaged by our new director, Dave Brand.
I can assure you this is not a complete list of our activities in Red Deer County, but it gives you a sense of the many different kinds of work that keep staff and council busy. We will no doubt be just as busy in 2019.
Jim Wood is the mayor of Red Deer County.
