Wheatland County council talk back

Sharon McLeay
Times Contributor

 

Wheatland County council had the opportunity to highlight some of the issues coming up in the future for local residents, in a face-to-face chat with MLA Derek Fildebrandt, when he visited council on July 7.
On the agriculture front, Councillor Ben Armstrong mentioned drought conditions and the fact farmers claiming insurance on ruined crops could not run cows on the land after claims had been submitted.
“It affects all Alberta,” Armstrong said. “It is just the way the process works.”
Councillor Alice Booth suggested that yields were down about 50 per cent and there needed to be a change in insurance regulations.
Councillor Rex Harwood had concerns about farm loans. While government had doubled the amount, it cut the funding pool in half, which limited the farmers that could access funding.
Reeve Glenn Koester also had concerns with the current agricultural resource programs for farmers.
“I have farmed my whole life and I have seen policies come and go. Unfortunately some the of the good ones go,” said Koester.
He said most farmers are canny and know what affects their businesses. He said programs in the past allowed farmers more control to plan for retirement or low yield years and provide help to rebuild losses. He would like to see some changes.
There was the chance to inform Fildebrandt of some of the innovative programs Wheatland County was supporting, like the floating island project in Carseland, where nutrients are taken from effluent ponds to reduce phosphorous levels in the environment.
In Rosebud experiments using algae for sewage treatment are ongoing. It is hoped the algae and the treated water can be sold, generating new revenue streams for rural economies. There have been some delays with Alberta Environment accepting the projects’ possibilities and they are hoping the test project will provided necessary information to move the process forward.
“I firmly believe it is a worthwhile project,” said Koester.
Booth commented that rural residents were being treated as second class citizens when it came to hospital care.
“Health care seems to centre on major urban centres and I would like to see some expansion for rural areas,” said Booth.
Fildebrandt said the current government seemed to be supporting the current super board structure and is not moving toward decentralized services.
Reeve Koester qualified that each councillor has ideas for change, but any council recommendations would come to Fildebrandt through written correspondence. He invited Fildebrandt to join them at meetings with provincial ministers at the various conferences attended by council over the year.