Clearwater County Highlights October/November | Page 2

2 | NOV. 2016

Greeting from the Reeve

Patrick Alexander
Reeve

www.clearwatercounty.ca

I hope this newsletter finds you well, with
another harvest season wrapped up, livestock
sent to market and looking forward to the
holiday season.
With extremely wet summer weather, a few
of the County’s road construction projects and
bridge replacements will not be completed
this year as planned. Those projects will likely
have to be carried over to next year’s construction season. Construction of the County’s
salt/sand storage facility on the north development property, one cold storage building
and perimeter fencing were completed by
mid-October.
In the coming months, Council looks forward to receiving an update for the Intermunicipal Development Plan (IDP) committee on
the status of the Joint Development Area (JDA)
agreement. The JDA and associated servicing agreement is linked to the County’s north
development project, and at this point the
IDP committee is waiting on final engineering
reports in order to be able to meet to discuss
the JDA further. After those meetings do take
place, Council can review both projects and
conduct additional public consultation, before
making final determinations. Please continue
to watch the County website or social media
for updates on the JDA or proposed new building.
In October, Councillors and staff met with
Municipal Affairs representatives conducting interviews for the municipal inspection
requested by Council. We anticipate having a
preliminary report from the Province sometime in the next few months, which will be
shared with the public.
Council, like I am sure many of you have,
has expressed concern with the provincial and
federal carbon tax announcements. As such,
Council recently requested that the Alberta
Association of Municipal Districts and Counties (AAMDC) provide a report to rural municipalities regarding the economic impacts of
carbon taxes, as the direct and indirect costs of

carbon taxes are truly not yet known.
I am happy to report the Minister of Health
toured Rocky’s hospital to see first-hand the
need for a new facility in the region. Members of the Town and County Councils met
with hospital staff, physicians, Alberta Health
Services representatives and the Minister to
discuss the hospital’s deficiencies and ask for
a comprehensive needs assessment. Hopefully
the continued efforts of the Hospital Committee will result in the Rocky hospital being
added to the Province’s infrastructure priority
list.
In terms of County priorities, each year
Council reviews programs and service levels
and sets the direction for future years with a
three year operating and capital budget. For
the 2017-2019 budget, Council’s deliberations are scheduled to take place December 14
and 16. As part of this year’s budget process,
Council has requested public feedback on the
County’s existing service levels. Please see
page 17 for details and how you can provide
comments online or via hard copy by November 18.
Each year at the organizational meeting
in October, Council appoints Councillors
and members-at-large to serve terms on
these community boards, as part of its public
engagement strategy. On behalf of Council, I’d like to thank all of the applicants and
nominees who’ve volunteered their time in an
effort to help grow and improve our community. I’d also like to thank Council for their
continued confidence in me, to serve as your
Reeve. We have had a change in the guard,
with the election of Curt Maki as your new
Deputy Reeve.
Finally, I’d like to thank Earl Graham for his
many years of service as Deputy Reeve, since
2008. Councillor Graham continues to serve
as division six Councillor, as well as the central
Alberta region’s representative on the AAMDC
Board.
— Patrick Alexander