SUNDRE — From the status of the Highway 27-Main Avenue corridor overlay project to the year-to-date value of residential and commercial permits issued, council recently heard numerous departmental reports.
Linda Nelson, chief administrative officer, presented a breakdown of some highlights from the municipality’s departmental reports during a recent regular meeting conducted by teleconference.
Nelson informed council she had just met with Alberta Transportation officials with regards to the status of the Highway 27-Maine Avenue corridor through town.
“We discussed plans for Highway 27 through the entire length of Sundre. We will begin more in-depth conversations within the next short time, understanding that this plan is likely not coming forward for at least three years,” said Nelson.
Additionally, she addressed unsubstantiated claims that have been circulating about the intent behind the upgrades to Highway 760 — more commonly known locally as the Bergen Road.
“I’ve also heard rumours that there are those who believe the upgrades to Bergen Road is actually a ring road around Sundre. I did receive confirmation from Alberta Transportation, that this is in fact only a rumour,” she said.
“Bergen Road is simply being upgraded, it is not a ring road.”
In other infrastructure matters, Nelson told council she had also met with Alberta Environment, and said her top priority has been developing plans for the mandatory upgrades for the wastewater treatment lagoon.
“This has taken up a majority of my time and continues to be my main priority as it is regulatory," she said.
Under planning and development, she said a variety of permits were issued for residential and commercial projects, with the total year-to-date value of those permits totalling $2,991,870.
Furthermore, she said the municipality has continued to pursue successful and progressive meetings with the developer and engineers with regards to the Eagle Ridge subdivision site.
Meanwhile, she said the operations department also reported discovering no major leaks during staff’s annual gas leak survey, and that efforts continue on coordinating with the Sundre Fire Department to test fire hydrants.
The operations department annually receives approximately, on average, some 200 concern forms that are filled out by residents, business owners and visitors.
The majority of complaints stem from snow removal, icy or slippery road conditions, potholes as well as back alley concerns, she said, adding claims are dealt with on a priority schedule and that a majority of them are addressed within 24 hours.
Mayor Terry Leslie praised the efforts of staff and applauded the millions of dollars that over the years have been spent improving and maintaining roads, sidewalks and parks.
“They often go unheralded. We just don’t talk about them often enough,” said Leslie.
With regards to roughly couple of hundred complaints filed every year, the mayor also encouraged people to contact town staff to express concerns.
“The staff want to hear from you,” he said. “They welcome the opportunity to talk with the public, because they want to hear directly from the public the concerns that they have about the services that we provide to them. They take their jobs very seriously.”
The town office can be reached by calling 403-638-3551.
Council carried a motion to accept as information the departmental reports.
