MUNICIPAL DISTRICT BONNYVILLE NO. 87
COUNCIL HIGHLIGHTS June 27, 2018
Keeping you informed of the services, business and development that affect YOU!
#1 M.D. funding Two RCMP Support Staff Positions – Municipal District of Bonnyville Council agreed to fund two RCMP support staff positions – one for the Cold Lake detachment, and the other for the Bonnyville detachment. The funds will be provided to the two neighbouring municipalities to hire staff under their municipal contracts. In presentations to Council Committee, RCMP representatives said the additional civilian staff will enhance service delivery to communities, while freeing up the time of General Duty members in the detachments to focus more on the criminal element of policing.
#2 New ID 349 Committee Struck – Alberta Municipal Affairs is setting up a Regional Partnership Committee to provide the province with recommendations on the disbursement of approximately $6 million of Improvement District (ID) 349 funding. Member communities include the M.D., Town of Bonnyville, Village of Glendon, City of Cold Lake, Elizabeth Metis Settlement and Fishing Lake Metis Settlement. Council appointed the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) to the Administrative Working Group and Reeve Greg Sawchuk to the Elected Officials Group. The Minister of Municipal Affairs believes the new ID 349 allocation model provides greater regional equity, promotes regional co-operation, and will be beneficial to the region in both the short and long term.
#3 Congratulations to the Pikowicz Family – The Agriculture Service Board (ASB) reviewed nominations for the BMO Farm Family Award last month. The Pikowicz family of Fort Kent were nominated and were selected to receive the award. Murray, Linda, Blake and Tina Pikowicz will be recognized at the BMO Farm Family Awards in Edmonton in November at the Northlands Fall Fair International.
#4 Sign Up For Ladies Self-Defense – Back by popular demand. The M.D. of Bonnyville’s Public Safety Department is hosting another Ladies Self-Defense Level 1 Class at Ardmore School on July 12 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. The class is open to all female residents in the M.D. over the age of 12. Please wear gym clothes and clean running shoes for the class. Due to the rave reviews for instructor Officer Rupp, the department plans to offer a secondary level class later in the summer or early September, which will incorporate the use of an aggressor in a padded suit. To register, call 780-812-3332. The intention is to offer the course in all M.D. halls at some point throughout the year.
#5 Kinosoo Ridge Master Plan Open Houses – Over 80 people attended the two open houses to discuss new concepts for Kinosoo Ridge Snow Resort. Lots of new ideas were presented and feedback to the expansion concepts was positive. All comments will be compiled, the concept plan will be revised and ready for presentation to Council on August 22.
#6 Flooding Mitigation – Crews have been busy with flooded areas all spring. They have been working on problem areas with property damage and infrastructure damage. Residents are encouraged to call the Transportation and Utilities/Ag and Waste office at 780-826-3951 to submit their problem areas so they can be recorded and followed up on. The M.D. is still having problems in a few areas with high water and beavers quickly rebuilding their dams after they have been removed. After July 1, the M.D. can start releasing water in creeks in the wet areas using mechanical methods or blasting beaver dams.
#7 CPTED Open Houses Successful – The Rural Crime Prevention Officer has completed all the Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) community hall meetings. The Ardmore Hall meeting was well attended and there was good discussion with residents. He is busy with bookings for the one-on-one crime prevention assessments. The department is also getting bookings from residents to check properties while they are away. Crime Prevention Patrols are ongoing. Officers have been able to target areas better due to conversations with residents who have attended the Rural Crime Prevention community hall meetings. The Public Safety Department would like to thank residents for calling in suspicious vehicles in their area. Officers respond to all the calls. The department has received the large, yellow, municipal rural Crime Watch signs to be put throughout the M.D. They are going to be placed on the sign posts that were formally for the 911 advertisements. They are located at the entry points to the M.D., as well as various locations within the municipality.
#8 Pest Control – The M.D. will be conducting a grasshopper survey later in the summer. There are signs in a few areas that grasshoppers may be a problem this year. The dry start to the season allowed good hatching of grasshopper eggs. The M.D. is also conducting Diamond Back Moth, Bertha Army Worm, Wheat Midge, Fusarium and Lygus Bug surveys this year.
#9 Parks, Recreation and Culture News – Horseback riding began on Muriel Lake M.D. Park trails on June 23. Signage is up on the trails. Work on the Vezeau Beach boat launch has begun. The existing mooring dock needs to be lined up with the concrete pads and attached to the floating dock system. Inventory of the existing recreation facilities within the M.D. has started, with completion slated for the beginning of September. The Crane Lake West campground ditch has been repaired, coconut matting and rock breaks were put in. The Cold Lake and Muriel Lake M.D. Parks shower houses will be open for the long weekend.
#10 Agriculture and Waste Update – Over 300 kms of roads were completed under this year’s Roadside Cleanup Program. Twenty-two groups participated in the program, with $26,000 paid out to the community groups. Council agreed to donate the old Ardmore landfill building to the Bonnyville Agricultural Society to be used for their 50/50 ticket sales during events. Staff are continuing with roadside mowing in the Moose Lake subdivisions. They are limited to the dry areas, as to not do damage in the wet areas. On the east side of the M.D., subdivision mowers are struggling with the wet conditions as well, but are moving towards the Cold Lake area this week. The struggle in the next while will be to not rut up the subdivision areas with the big mowers. The ASB received $164,000 from the legislative stream of the grant program and $65,000 from the environmental stream for 2017.
#11 Public Safety Update – Officers are patrolling the road construction on Township Road 630 east of Cold Lake. Drivers were moving the “road closed” barricades and not stopping to allow the construction equipment to go past them. Officers made some recommendations to T & U regarding some additional signs, as well as using flagmen to assist with the traffic control. Officers continue to take action on the engine retarder brake complaints on Range Road 450 south of Fort Kent. An Officer investigated a complaint that a child had been bitten on the leg by a dog running out from a rural property while she was riding past on her bicycle. Officers are continuing to check for industrial trucks using the weight restricted roads in the Iron River area. Officers have been successful in observing some of the trucks driving in the centre of the road and not giving to the right when other vehicles are approaching. Follow-up action in these situations is usually a commercial vehicle inspection, charges for violations (including hogging the road) and a notification to the oil producer that the truck is hauling for. The hope is that the word will get around that this is unacceptable behavior.
#12 Transportation and Utilities Update – Council approved the sale of 10,000 tonnes of Recycled Asphalt Pavement from the La Corey North Resource Road project for the price of $30 per tonne for a total price of $300,000. Tenders for the waterline between Cold Lake and Bonnyville are coming in within budget. Land agents are still working on securing land acquisitions and right-of-way for the proposed alignment. The Road Construction Crew has completed work on Twp. Rd. 605 from Rge. Rds. 440 to 442 and have moved to Twp. Rd. 630. The Road Oiling Crew is still working on Rge. Rd. 470, north of Twp. Rd. 622 and moving to Rge. Rd. 461 next. The Rip and Relay Crew is currently working on Rge. Rd. 485, south of Secondary Highway 660 and then moving to Twp. Rd. 604 next. The Paving Crew is working on Rge. Rd. 485 top lift and will be moving to Baywood Road next. Twp. Rd. 611A is partially completed and the crew will be back to complete as sections become available from the Base Crew. Dust Control with MG30 will resume now that the weather is cooperating. The oiled dust controls will be scheduled for the first two weeks of July for placement. Consultants for the Birch Grove Drainage project have developed an alternative route for the drainage work in the area and are working with M.D. landowners and the Summer Village of Pelican Narrows to get permission to develop the drainage pathway. Once staff receive all the approvals, it will be brought back to Council for budget approval to proceed. The contractor will start working on the Rge. Rd. 454 (Doonanco) Drainage project in the middle of July. Contract Gravel Haulers have completed approximately 50 percent of the summer gravelling program. They are working their way towards the east side of the municipality. The Drainage Crew is currently working on miscellaneous culvert installations that have been called in from the spring flooding. Once they are wrapped up with those, they will begin addressing long-term drainage projects. The contractor has rescheduled the start of the La Corey North Resource Road resurfacing to the first week of August. The company has been notified that the completion of the project is October 30. If not completed on time, the company will be subjected to daily fines. The contractor has completed the east side of the Highway 28 Trail Crossing and will switch over to the west side. ATCO is still working on the partnership for the lighting plans. The Ardmore Underground contractor is still working on 49 Street and 50 Avenue replacement. The Wolf Lake Road contractor has moved on to the site and is starting at the north end of the project. Single lane traffic will be maintained during construction.
#13 Funding Support – Council agreed to a $500 sponsorship to fund an additional team for the Bonnyville and District Chamber of Commerce Networking Golf Classic on Saturday, August 18 that benefits Ronald McDonald House Charities Northern Alberta.
#14 Briefly – Council agreed to remove the restrictions on the Inter-Municipal Cooperation Program (IMCP) funding to enable its neighbouring municipalities to fund any project without the restriction of acquiring matching dollars. The funded municipalities will continue to inform the M.D. as to what projects utilized IMCP funds. Council passed Bylaw No. 1692, a new Council Code of Conduct. The purpose of the bylaw is to establish standards for the ethical conduct of Council members relating to their roles and obligations as representatives of the municipality and a procedure for the investigations and enforcement of those standards.
For more information, contact Diane Jenkinson, Marketing and Communications Manager at 780-826-3171. Our website is a useful way to get the information you need. Visit: www.md.bonnyville.ab.ca Follow us at facebook.com/MDBonnyville and Twitter @MDBville.