A Canadian Pacific (CP) railway spokesman told council a broken rail caused the August 2010 train derailment.
Three farms were evacuated for four days as a result of the derailment, which took place one kilometre north of Airdrie.
Twelve cars were involved, with a second block of cars derailing because of the force at the primary site. Nothing was spilled and no one was injured in the incident.
As a direct result of the accident, CP is implementing a number of safety enhancements including adding an extra ultrasonic track inspection every year, bringing the total to seven.
According to Mark Seland, CP’s general manager of corporate communications and public affairs, the company reimbursed any expenses related to the derailment to the City of Airdrie, businesses and private citizens.
The company will continue to discuss making a donation to enhance Airdrie’s emergency preparedness plan.
CRP update
Council was provided with an update of the Calgary Regional Partnership’s (CRP) amended Calgary Metropolitan Plan (CMP), which will be voted on by members this summer.
The CMP was first accepted by CRP members, including Airdrie, in June of 2009.
The amended plan includes several changes such as an update on the density requirement for members seeking regional water and wastewater servicing.
The proposed amendment gives municipalities more leeway by allowing them to stage in the required densities, of between eight and 10 units per acre, over time.
Another amendment includes changes to the CRP’s decision-making process.
Two-thirds of the membership representing 50 per cent of the population is still required to reach a consensus in a split vote. However, wording was added that only forces dissenting members to follow the majority when the decision pertains to amending the CMP or regional infrastructure, such as transit, water and wastewater servicing.
Mayor Peter Brown said although there was some initial resistance from some of the CRP’s 14 members when the changes were suggested, he was pleased with the amendments.
Census program
Staff presented an update on the City’s census hosting service, which will earn a profit of $92,000 this year.
In 2007, the City’s IT department created an online census application which has moved Airdrie towards a nearly paperless annual census.
The City and its staff have received a number of national and international awards for the software and have begun to market it to other municipalities.
This year, the application is being used in a number of other communities including Cold Lake, Fort Saskatchewan, the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo and Vegreville.
Other communities are currently in talks with Airdrie to use the census tool next year.
“There is easily opportunity for us to expand,” said Corey Halford, with the City of Airdrie.
