BEAVER COUNTY SEED CLEANING CO-OP For Sale: Common Seed Oats, Pony Oats and Barley
Serving all the farms, ranches, acreages and towns in Beaver County
Chronicle
Bruce, Holden, Kinsella Ryley, Tofield, Viking
Phone 780-688-3917 • Holden, AB
The Beaver County
Hubert & Margaret Graham Parts, Sales & Service Bus: 780-663-3759 Res: 780-662-2384 Fax: 780-663-3799
ryalta@digitalweb.net 5108 - 50th St. Ryley, AB., T0B 4J0
A Free Weekly Publication Serving All of Beaver County Wednesday, February 16, 2022, Volume 15, Issue 7
County declares February 22 Canada’s Agriculture Day Patricia Harcourt Beaver County Council has declared February 22 as Canada’s Agriculture Day in Beaver County, which will be in effect for five years and coincide with National Canada’s Agriculture Day. “Canada’s Agriculture Day is a time to showcase all the amazing things happening in the industry and help consumers see the connection to where their food comes from and the people who produce it,” stated the county’s agriculture field person Aimee Boese, as her reasons for recommending the county adopt the declaration. Councillor Lionel Williams (Division 2) asked if the county had any activities going for that day in the schools, which are a focal point for education about agriculture. “We are working to see what options there
are,” said Boese, who noted that COVID-19 “makes it less accessible.” However, the county does support the Farm Safety Centre that already goes into the schools, she said, adding the schools should contact the county if they would like additional information. “Due to it being the first year, we are limited in what we can do,” she said, so the county will look for more to do going forward in the future. Deputy Reeve Gene Hrabec (Division 3) wanted to partner with FCSS or a food bank drive, “because Canadian food is a big part of it.” Reeve Kevin Smook (Division 2) noted, however, that ‘there’s not a lot of time this year. We can build on it for next year.” His motion to proclaim February 22 Canada’s Agricultural Day in Beaver County passed unanimously. Information with the proclamation outlined that “there are a number of ways for people to
get involved and raise a fork to the food we love and the people who produce it.” Several suggestions for this inaugural year include: • Post a photo, make a video, or write a blog. Share what you’re doing on social media using the hashtag #CdnAg Day. • Encourage your friends to show off their culinary talents using all Canadian ingredients. • Teach someone something new about agriculture. Share your knowledge and story with others. These ideas are only suggestions, and anyone can create their own ways to share a passion for agriculture and inspire others to join the conversation. It’s all about celebrating Canadian agriculture and food in engaging, fun and respectful ways. For more information, visit AgDay.ca
Peace officer given authority to investigate water complaints Patricia Harcourt County Council has granted its senior Community Peace Officer (CPO) the authority to investigate water complaints on behalf of Alberta Environment. CPO Rick Ells received the permission at county council’s February 2 regular meeting. Ells explained that he was there “solely to investigate, not to enforce,” when going out to a place where a complaint to Alberta Environment has been received. He indicated there are 28 such complaints that emanated from people in the county to the provincial department. Interim CAO Rick McDonald said Ells “would need authority from council to do an investigation for Alberta Environment,” but had no issue with Ells doing that. At the previous meeting on January 18, CPO Ells presented information to council regarding Beaver County’s authority in dealing with water management. Alberta Environment initiated a pilot program in 2021 to enable the department to contact trained persons in some municipalities to complete an investigation on a water management complaint on their behalf.
CPO Ells had completed a one-day training session and given the written authority to investigate a water complaint when requested by Alberta Environment. “The authority granted was only to investigate a complaint that was initiated through Alberta Environment, not a public complaint to Beaver County,” stated Ells. “All water management complaints from the public still need to be reported to Alberta Environment,” he explained. “Alberta Environment tracks all the complaints and, if requested by them, the CPO will complete an initial investigation and forward the finding to them. “The authority is only to investigate a complaint and has no enforcement authority.” Ells said. To date, the CPO has been asked to investigate one water complaint north of Holden. Since then, Alberta Environment “has decided to conduct a further in-depth investigation,” he said, on that particular site. Councillor Lionel Williams (Division 2) asked if this fell within Ells’ “comfort zone,” and if it was a duty “dumped on him” or did he consider it an “opportunity.” Ells said that he could do the investigations. “I still have zero power to enforce anything,” he
said. Alberta Environment is short staffed with “a lot of complaints” to deal with (and) if I can help to speed up the process, that’s a good thing.” He also indicated that, on top of this training last year, he has “a lot of background and training so I can take care of it.” His duties would consist of talking to the landowners and taking photos. Deputy Reeve Gene Hrabec (Division 3) said the county has a Drainage Bylaw where Ells “has full authority to investigate and impose penalties.” He added: “This is a downloading thing in my opinion.” Beaver County passed a Surface Drainage Bylaw last September. Ells said it could help by “speeding up some of the complaints” in Beaver County. But Hrabec said: “We have a bylaw in place we can’t do nothing with…It’s not doing us any service.” Ells replied he would be doing these investigations “for the ratepayer…not for myself.” “It’s not Alberta Environment’s fault they are way behind in dealing with issues,” said Ells, adding: “We should assist the ratepayer in getting something dealt with sooner rather than later.” A motion by Councillor Dale Pederson to approve CPO Ells to investigate water complaints at Alberta Environment’s request was carried.
2 - Beaver County Chronicle, February 16, 2022
Ag Services Board operational grant gets five year commitment Patricia Harcourt Beaver County Council addressed issues concerning the Agricultural Services Board (ASB) and its roles and responsibilities as they relate to the county. Council agreed to adopt the Terms of Reference (TOR) for the ASB, which were originally recommended by the ASB. Council also agreed to delete “Policy AG-004 ASB Member and Meetings,” concerning the ASB. County Ag official Aimee Boese stated in a report to council Feb. 2 that the ASB Act of 1945 encouraged municipal and provincial partners “to develop agricultural policies and programs of mutual benefit.” She also noted that, “municipalities may establish an ASB that will act as an advisory body and assist county council in promoting and developing agricultural policies and programs to meet the needs of the county.” New Interim CAO Rick McDonald recommended that the county’s ASB Member and Meeting. Policy (revised in 2013) should be reviewed with the view of changing the Terms of Reference (TOR) in order to give a
clearer outline of the ASB board’s ‘scope and purpose.’ Administration drafted a TOR which was reviewed in turn by the ASB January 18 and county council February 2. A motion by Councillor Dale Pederson (Division 5) was passed agreeing that council would go along with the recommendations. Another motion by Councillor Barry Bruce (Division 4) was passed to commit to giving the operational grant of $30,000 per year to the seed cleaning plant cooperative - but with a memorandum of understanding that it would be done for a five-year period instead of on an annual basis. This request came from the plant’s board chair Colin Lang and board secretary Brent Christensen at the presentation to council the previous month. The plant board comes every year to go over the financial health of the previous year’s activities. This year it was announced that the plant would be getting a new colour sorter, which was part of the reason for the request that the county commit to the five year funding in order to aid with financial stability as this process goes forward.
Claystone Waste e is a municipally con ntrolled corporation established in 20 20 by the Town of Viking, Vikin 2020 ng Town of Tofield Tofield, Village of Ryley, Village of Holden and Beaver County. Claystone Waste is committed to being a responsive community partner and to operating with the highest standards of environmental and operational excellence in the delivery of waste management services. Claystone Waste operates the following facilities:
Beave ver Regional Landfill 50117 17 Ran ange Ro Road 17 173
780. 0.663. 3.2038
The Beaver Regional Landfill is open six days a week, k, Monday to Saturday. It is an engineered, sanitary class 2 landfill that
accepts municipal solid waste from Beaver County and the surrounding municipalities, as well as significant volumes of class 2 non-hazardous industrial wastes. In addition to the regional landfill, Claystone Waste operates five transfer stations. County residents can bring bagged household garbage, e, and other dry waste, such as broken chairs, furniture, e, mattresses and scrap wood for disposal. The location and hours for each transfer station is noted below:
Kinsella Transfer Station 46418 18 Ran ange Ro Road 113 13
x x
Wednesdays: Fridays:
780. 0.663. 3.2038
11:00 am to 5:00 pm 11:00 am to 5:00 pm
Viking Transfer Station 12503 To Town wnship ip 480
x x
Tuesdays: Saturdays:
780. 0.71 718.79 7956
10:30 am to 5:30 pm 10:30 am to 5:30 pm
Tofield Transfer Station 51032 32 Ran ange Ro Road 191
East Central Spring Consignment Equipment Auction Starts April 1 - Closes April 5 Deadline for consignments is March 28
Our Services:
• Farm Auctions • Real Estate • Machinery Consignments East Central Yard Address 31068 RR 185 HWY 16/ RR 185 Lamont County
NORMAN HILL Sales Representative Cell: 780-903-6199 Office: 780-208-2508 Email: nhill01@telus.net
x x x
Wednesdays: Fridays: Saturdays:
780. 0.662. 2.27 2731
10:30 am to 5:30 pm 10:30 am to 5:30 pm 10:30 am to 5:30 pm
Lindbrook Transfe fer Station 51008 Ran ange Ro Road 201 x x x
Tuesdays: Thursdays: Saturdays:
780.662. 2.270 704
10:30 am to 5:30 pm 11:30 am to 6:30 pm 10:30 am to 5:30 pm
Ryley Transfe fer Station 50117 17 Ran ange Ro Road 17 173
x x x x x x
Mondays: Tuesdays: Wednesdays: Thursdays: Fridays: Saturdays and STATS*:
780. 0.663. 3.2038
9:00 am to 4:30 pm 9:00 am to 4:30 pm 9:00 am to 4:30 pm 9:00 am to 4:30 pm 9:00 am to 4:30 pm 9:00 am to 3:00 pm
* Pl Please note te th that all tr transfe fer sta tati tions ex excep ept fo for th the Ryl yley Tr Transfe fer Sta tati tion are re clo losed on Sta tatu tuto tory ry holid idays ys.
Administration Offices 50117 17 Ra Range Ro Road 17 173 (S (Secon onda dary Hi Highwa way 854) 4) 780. 0.663. 3.2038
Box ox 32 322 Ry Ryley, y, AB T0B 0B 4A 4A0
Toll Fr Free 1. 1.855. 5.22 221. 1.2038
Administration offices are open Monday to Friday from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm and are closed from 12:00 to 1:00 pm.
Beaver County Chronicle, February 16, 2022 - 3
Highlights from County Council Feb. 2 meeting Compiled by Patricia Harcourt A representative of the North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance and Vermilion River Watershed Alliance attended Beaver County Council February 2. Michelle Gordy, watershed planning coordinator, provided an update on the recent activities of the two alliances. V3 Companies of Canada Director Nick Pryce (Director of Planning) and Elisa Stamatakis (planner) spoke during an update workshop on the county’s Municipal Development Plan and Land Use Bylaw. After running through the current MDP and LUB documents, Pryce said he would return to council with draft documents for the councillors to peruse. In councillor reports, Councillor Barry Bruce (Division 4) reported that the Beaver Ambulance Society has waited over six months for a new ambulance, blaming the breaks in the supply chain due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The society is “soldiering on and
making do with the equipment they have.” He noted, however, that there has been an over 30 per cent increase in the number of callouts over the last year because of the increase in COVID-19 cases. Deputy Reeve Gene Hrabec (Division 3) spoke about the Beaver Foundation. As board chair, Hrabec praised the staff of the seniors’ facilities run by the foundation, saying they have been doing “an awesome job,” while working with COVID-19 for the past two years. Hrabec said staff haven’t had a pay increase since that time in 2019, and did not ask for one despite all they have had to deal with since that time. Staff have had to deal with “a few outbreaks” of COVID-19 infections, he said, and had to give many extra hours of their time in service to this issue. Beaver Emergency Services Commission (BESC) has ordered a new fire truck for the Kinsella Fire Department, said Hrabec, who is BESC chair. He noted that “COVID has made prices skyrocket.” BESC is trying to “extend the life
Grazing School for Women
he said it was “probably time to look at how we do business.” Hrabec also reported that he has been re-elected as chair of RMA’s Zone 5, and stated he will be working on several agenda items that he will be “pressing government for more fairness.”
of pumper trucks” to 25 years instead of the current 20 years of insured life, which could save taxpayer money. BESC is undergoing an organizational review and interviews have already begun. Since the regional fire service was established in 2010,
SATT. 10 A.M. - 5 P.M. SUNDAY 10 A.M. - 3 P.M. Vegreville Socia al Centtre 4802 - 47 Avenu ue Vegreville, AB
Viking Community Programmer
4 - Beaver County Chronicle, February 16, 2022
Beaver County Service Centre 5120 - 50 Street Box 140 Ryley, Alberta T0B 4A0 Monday to Friday 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Closed for Family Day
Phone: (780) 663-3730 Fax: (780) 663-3602 Toll Free: 1-866-663-1333 www.beaver.ab.ca Email: administration@beaver.ab.ca
Viking/Beaver FCSS Drop-In Dates
Beaver County Service Centre and Transportation Shop Closed Beaver County Service Centre and Transportation Shop will be closed Monday, February 21, in observance of Family Day. We will be open regular hours on Tuesday, February 22. Beaver County Council and staff wishes everyone a Happy Family Day!
Pink Shirt Day!
Proclamation: Canada’s Agriculture Day