Town Council

council discussed what the transition could look like, and McPhee reiterated that it will be a 10-12 month process. Mr. Lucas said when the adjacent lot sale went through the inclusion of the road was a condition of the sale, so they are currently waiting on Alberta Transportation’s approval.

“My preference would be to have it blocked off and have the sidewalks extended. Leaving a private road could present some problems,” said Pulyk.

By moving forward with road closure are we moving forward with the sale etc.

Councillor Rob Snow asked, “Have we looked at the cost of putting sidewalks across there if we did sell it to them?”

McPhee estimated at approximately $110 per lineal metre that it would cost approximately $2,000.

Under new business, the 2023 street improvement will include phase 1 of re-construction for 44 Avenue and a portion of 51A Street (in the Southern portion of Town). McPhee said,

Pathfinder Hall

DATE: Saturday, March 25, 2023

SUPPER: 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM

ADMISSION: Ages 16 & up: $30, Ages 7 to 15 - $15, 6 & under: Free

Hall Location: Corner of TWP RD 532 & RGE RD 82 For more info call: 780 763-2179 or 780 614-8238

2023 County Of Vermilion River Request For Roadside Mowing Proposals

The County of Vermilion River is now accepting price proposals for roadside mowing operations for the 2023 season. The requested price proposal is for a one (1) year contract with a county option to extend for 2024 and 2025.

Mowing operations will include:

1. One pass shoulder cut on a minimum of 550 kilometers of municipal roadside. Additional kilometers may be added at the County’s discretion. Price proposals for the roadside mowing will be submitted as cost/kilometer mowed (both sides of road). Shoulder cuts must be completed between July 15, 2023 and August 15, 2023.

2. Shoulder mowing cuts will include a minimum of 4.5 meters on all identified roads immediately adjacent to the driving surface on both sides of the roadway.

3. Mowing shall be done so no debris is deposited on the road surface. Side mount or offset hitch equipment must be used so the tractor remains on the road surface.

Quality Control Targets: All vegetation including trees up to 2.5 centimeters in diameter must be mowed to a minimum of 15 centimeters in height.

A price proposal package including a Request for Proposal (RFP) and Contact specifications may be obtained by contacting the County of Vermilion River Office at (780) 846-2244 or downloading it from www.purchasingconnection.ca. Please ensure that all information required in the RFP is included with the bid summary sheet as the Contract will be awarded based on the evaluation criteria.

Price proposals must be received at the County Administration Office by 4:00 pm (MST) on Friday, March, 31, 2023. Please send proposals marked “RFP for Roadside Mowing”.

Attention: Cathie Erichsen Arychuk

County of Vermilion River

Box 69, 4912-50 Avenue

Kitscoty, AB T0B 2P0

Questions can be forwarded to Cathie Erichsen Arychuk, P.Ag., Agricultural Fieldman at (780) 846-3301 or email carychuk@county24.com respectively.

Lowest or any proposal not necessarily accepted.

ADMINISTRATION | 780.846.2244

“This project allows for better drainage to the area and will alleviate operational costs in the future as this has historically been a soft road in the spring and summer which limits access with heavy equipment such as the garbage truck. This will be a multi-year project and is approved in the 2023 capital budget, being funded through the infrastructure levy and federal gas tax.”The motion was carried.

The purchase of a used road grader was discussed (for information only). The cost of $585,100 excluding GST will be funded through MSI and will replace the existing 2011 John Deere grader. It is expected to arrive in four months, and the old one will go to auction and is expected to bring back $150,000 - $200,000 to go toward equipment reserves. CAO Kevin Lucas noted they try to do a 10 year evaluation on equipment, and Councillor Pulyk said, “It served us for 20 years; it’s done the community a lot of good.”

The purchase of a roll-off bin truck was also discussed (for information only). The town budgeted $225,000 through MSI for such a truck, and they have located a used 2013 freight-liner in British Columbia significantly under budget. McPhee said the truck will haul away bio-solids from the wastewater treatment plant. The unit has 381,000 km and comes with several roll off bins, and a flat deck attachment. He said the bins and flat deck require minor work, and there is a requirement to have another custom bin made specific to the wastewater treatment plant which will cost an additional $5,500 - $7,000.

“Do you still expect quite a bit of lifespan even with 381,000 km?” said Snow.

McPhee responded saying, “Our staff mechanic in their past employment has seen a million or one and a half million kilometers on these types of trucks.”

Councillor Joshua Rayment noted that heavier equipment doesn’t have an out of

While discussing library funding the motion was unanimously defeated. The Northern Lights Library System board had sent a fund- ing request for $24,1333.95 to the Town of Vermilion at $5.31 per capita. However, the population they stated was 4,545 while council members were not wanting to pay that much saying the accurate population of the town has been under 4,000 for several years.

Pulyk said, “The population stats used by the provincial government is high; our population has never been that high so why is the provincial government using this inflated number? A 15 per cent increase in population equates to $6 over per capita. I would suggest that this council challenge the provincial government in the numbers that this library system is using. For the life of me, I don’t believe the provincial government has done a census since I’ve lived here. What is this per capita increase going towards?”

Councillor Kirby Whitlock who sits on the board suggested it would just be going towards the normal operations for the library systems and said, “They’ve sold off all their company vehicles, and rented out the offices. I know the population numbers are something we need to look at; everyone’s talked about that before. Get your concerns written down, and I will forward them on to the board.”

Snow said, “There were 3,993 people in 2022 according to the Alberta Government website. I think we need to get them to re-evaluate. I get that libraries are important and we need to fund them, but we need to fund them in a fair manner and representative of our population.”

Rayment said, “I think we shouldn’t move forward until we have a presentation from them. When less than half goes back into our library, why are we helping subsidize other communities when we are struggling ourselves? Where does the funding go?”

Committee reports showed that The Good Life Institute would have members Colleen Berg resigning, as well as Michelle Feist, and Coordinator Candice Anderson stepping down at the end of March. Pulyk thanked them for their long service saying, “They definitely helped promote our community.”

With successful partnerships across North America, the BOD Conference champions change within Western Canada’s Emergency Management by creating networking opportunities, hosting speakers to discuss lessons learned and industry best practices and bridges between academic knowledge and practitioner application

Networking

Opening Message

Keynote: Greg Solecki

Emergency Specialist Panel

Keynote: Lily Yumagulova

Closing Message

Submitted

Shannon Stubbs is the Member of Parliament for Lakeland, Alberta since 2015, and the Conservative Shadow Minister for Natural Resources.

Three weeks ago, the Liberals announced a “Sustainable Jobs plan”, which is really their re-branded “Just Transition.” 84 per cent of Canadians don’t yet know what “Just Transition” is about, but the Liberals’ previous attempt for the coal sector severely failed both the workers and communities it targeted. The change in wording is clearly designed for political palatability and to obfuscate the potential costs and risks of their plan. It’s mostly buzzwords now, but what’s clear is it will jeopardize 170,000 stable, well-paying jobs in the oil and gas sector, and affect 2.7 million jobs in other sectors across Canada.

That’s not speculation – it’s in the government’s own internal briefings.

After 8 years of anti-energy messages, delays, arbitrary and inconsistent regulatory conditions, an outright veto of an approved export pipeline, and the imposition of project-killing Bill C-69 despite universal provincial opposition, the Liberals have made no secret of their intention to accelerate the phase-out of oil and gas in Canada. They know: it won’t be produced if it can’t be shipped.

Liberal-created uncertainty and barriers have driven billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of energy jobs out of Canada. Regulatory conditions, and the lack of political will to see projects get built after approval, are among the top decision factors for mega-projects that can already cost billions of dollars and involve a decade or more of assessments before a shovel hits the ground.

Heating and cooling homes, driving, manufacturing processes, and countless goods, require energy. Canadian energy and energy companies impact everyday