Rocky View County (RVC) council unanimously approved a request from the Town of Crossfield for support in two applications being made to the Alberta Community Partnership Grant Program. According to Pauli Kruger with RVC’s recreation and community services, the successful applications would help cover the costs to expand and rehabilitate district recreation and the fire station infrastructure for the community.
Kruger said the funding will be used for upgrades to the Pete Knight Arena and the Crossfield and District Community Centre, as well as to create an outdoor sports park that will include a new skate park. The proposed fire station renovation will enable fire apparatus operated by the Crossfield fire department to be stored in one location.
Request denied
A request from the Chestermere-Conrich Recreation Board to redirect $49,000 in community recreation funding to develop a ball diamond at Our Lady of Wisdom School in Chestermere was denied by a vote of 8-1, with Councillor Margaret Bahcheli in opposition.
According to Lindsay McCann with recreation and community services, the City of Chestermere’s exit from the intermunicipal cost-sharing agreement means access for County residents cannot be assured. As the ball diamond would be located on school-owned lands, McCann said it will be subject to the joint-use agreement between Rocky View Schools (RVS) and the City of Chestermere.
“Our primary concern is the fact that this project is being initiated by the City of Chestermere,” McCann said. “Typically, the requests we fund are initiated by community groups and are supported by the recreation board.”
Administration’s recommendation was to deny the request and keep the funds in the board’s district reserve, to be utilized at a later date for a project that has “greater benefit” to RVC residents. However, Bahcheli said she was concerned to see administration recommending against a recommendation from a recreation board.
“Having empowered a community group to make these sorts of decisions, while there may be an overreaching administrative consideration about having intermunicipal agreements with all of our neighbours, that’s fine,” Bahcheli said. “But this is a request that has been vetted by the people who are actually there.”
The request is to be brought back when an agreement is in place between RVC and the City of Chestermere.
Approved requests
Capital funding was unanimously approved from the RVS Public Reserve for the Springbank Schools Waterwater Servicing Project. According to Kruger, ministerial approval has been given to award tenders to Western Civil and Syn-Core Directional, Ltd. The total cost for the project is estimated at approximately $1.4 million.
Council unanimously approved Springbank Park For All Seasons Agricultural Society’s (SPFAS) request for a $2,400 reimbursement on development permit fees incurred in association with the Main Site Drainage Project, completed in 2015.
According to administration’s report, these fees would “ideally” have been incorporated into the overall project costs and subsequent capital grant application, however the oversight was recognized and the request was granted.
New Fieldman
Recommendations from the Agricultural Service Board were approved unanimously by RVC council, appointing Jeff Fleischer as Agricultural Fieldman and selecting a nominee for the Calgary Stampede BMO Farm Family Award in 2016. In keeping with the tradition, the board’s recommendation was to nominate a previous winner of RVC’s Master Farm Family Award.
