Town to move forward with CSMI grant application

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Town of Strathmore Council has moved to direct its administration to apply for a community partnership grant application as a managing partner in support of the Cooperative Stormwater Management Initiative (CSMI) regional stormwater management project.

The CSMI had been looking to apply for $185,000 of funding through the Alberta Community Partnership (ACP) program under its inter-municipal collaboration component.

The CSMI is composed of the Town of Strathmore, Rockyview County, the City of Calgary and the Western Irrigation District (WID).

The funding, should it be approved, will be used for Phase Two of the regional stormwater management program, with a focus being on low impact development practices.

Phase One of the program has been successful and was funded through an ACP grant in 2019.

The Town of Strathmore would be a managing partner for the grant alongside Rockyview County being a supporting partner. Both councils would be required to pass a motion to allow the application to proceed. Rockyview County had already unanimously supported a motion on Dec. 14.

Ethan Wilson, who presented to Strathmore Council on Dec. 15, said the initiative would provide a stormwater solution for a specific sector of the Town, though the solutions presented may also be applicable in other local areas.

“CSMI is the stormwater solution for northwest Strathmore and although this program would be focused on CSMI and its partners, the finding could be applicable to the Town as a whole, should that make sense at that time,” said Wilson.

Councilor Brent Wiley asked if residents in Strathmore would see or notice what their tax dollars were paying for.

“I would say regular citizens probably won’t see anything. It’s our developers who would see guidance documents that come out of this plan and this program,” explained Wilson.

“Ultimately, when all of this is done, there’ll be new guidance documents that the Town can use, all of our partners can use, and mostly it’s our developers who see the benefit.”

Councilor Denise Peterson made the motion that council direct administration to submit the application as a managing partner in support of the CSMI regional stormwater management project.

“Lots of times our community doesn’t think about stormwater management. It’s something that’s left in the hands of very capable people in the community under the Town’s direction, but it is a critical factor,” said Peterson.

“Of all the things I’ve had to learn in the last 11 years. Stormwater management scares me the most. I find it incredibly confusing. But I also understand the great importance of it to the Town and to our developers. So they have certainty, stability in what they have to do,” added Mayor Pat Fule.

“This is the groundwork; this is the behind-the-scenes stuff that’s going to help us.”