Gleichen playground equipment set for install

By Sharon McLeay Times Contributor

Gleichen children will be excited to see new playground equipment in their community. The company Blue Imp, based in Lethbridge, was the successful tender. It is Canada’s oldest playground equipment manager, with 102 years of business experience.
“Gleichen residents expressed their gratitude about the playground equipment and they are really excited about it,” said Wheatland County Reeve Amber Link.
She wondered if there were opportunities for residents to get involved with the installation, and staff replied not this time, but there may be opportunities for fundraising, or work for future community projects. Due to space and budget concerns, the rope spinner and swing set were not part of the package. The spinner cost was $25,000.

Need for ASB wash bay discussed
A tender for the new county Agricultural Services Board (ASB) building addition was considered by county council on April 2.
The successful bid was chosen from four companies that qualified under county tender criteria. Bids came in between $2.5 million and $3.7 million. The winning bid is expected to cost about $3.2 million, not including furnishings and possible changes.
“It was reviewed by a committee of five members from various departments and we all came to the same conclusions,” said Mike Ziehr, Wheatland County Transportation and Agriculture general manager.
The bids were evaluated on a series of factors such as previous experience, qualifications, availability and price.
Council asked that future bids include consideration for local contractors.
The addition will add office space, two parking bays and a wash facility. The wash facility cost was about $800,000.
Council asked why a wash bay facility was added to the design and staff said it made sense environmentally and fiscally to have one on the county property.
The county currently contracts a power washing company to upkeep equipment and the wash residue is being washed into the storm pond, which raised environmental concerns. The bay could be used for both ASB equipment and road maintenance equipment, and hazardous materials could be filtered out. It would also help with weed seed transfer concerns. There were some liability concerns staff discussed about using privately owned wash facilities. Staff said there are only a few bays in Strathmore that large equipment can be taken to.
Councillor Scott Klassen commented that the addition of the wash bay should have come before council earlier. CAO Alan Parkin stated the wash bay could be deleted if council chose to do so.

Environmental plan released
Wheatland County is walking the talk when it comes to environmental concerns. In the April 2 agenda attachments, they released the county environmental plan, which includes evaluations on county departments and the various environmental updates happening in the county. The full report begins on Page 415 of the April 2 agenda attachments.
“Wheatland County recognizes the importance of preserving the values that our land, air, water, soil, wildlife, vegetation and other natural resources provide to our residents. Our environmental program is about managing our impacts in a way that protects the environment, encouraging and supporting our ratepayers to do the same, and effectively balancing the environment with the social and economic needs of our community. This environmental program update describes the efforts we made in 2018 to achieve these important goals,” said Reeve Amber Link.
“In 2015, Wheatland County recognized environmental stewardship as a key component of our organizational responsibility and accountability to all citizens. In just three years, what started as a team of four members of staff, meeting to discuss addressing our environmental impacts, has grown to become a formal environmental program,” said CAO Alan Parkin.
The report shows how much was handled by waste transfer sites and recycling centres, conservation measures for water, land and wetland preservation, assessments of county departments environmental improvements and future goals to attain, weed control, and recent awards.

WFCSS gets boost for budget
WFCSS asked for a 15 per cent increase – $33,323.70 – to their overall funding from the county, due to increased program expenditures. They stated support for school and family programs, and coverage for IT upgrades, were placing a burden on existing budgets. The county currently contributes $55,539.50 to their services.
“Wheatland FCSS is very judicious in how our funds are used. With your help, we can continue to provide necessary services to our residents in a timely and effective manner as they are identified,” said WFCSS board chair Joe Pedersen.

Lighting for Highways 817 and 901 intersection
Brian Mason, Minister of Alberta Transportation, stated that the department reviewed the site regarding the need to install lighting. They agreed lighting was warranted but could not be considered by the province until 2020.
Wheatland County councillors requested staff estimate the cost to put lighting in the area and bring those figures back to council.

Fire bylaw passes
The long process of developing a fire bylaw concluded on April 2, when council approved the revised draft of bylaw 2019-06.
Prior to the decision, fire associations were consulted, which resulted in some fine tuning on roles and position definitions and editions to the previous draft document.
Council also approved the appointed fire guardians for 2019: Wheatland County – Stuart Larson, Michael Ziehr, Brian Henderson, Lisa Baraniuk, Russ Muenchrath, Jason Regehr, Kris Perrmann, Dean Young, Jordan Maier, Matthew Curwin, Judy Unsworth, Mac de Beaudrap; Wheatland West – Mike Jakubiszyn, Ben Bremner; Carseland – Ryan Hauswirth; Gleichen – Ron Welcher; Dalum – Albert Jensen; Hussar – Mike Hager; Rosebud – Craig Nelson

Midwest Colony re-designation hearing set
The Midwest Hutterite Colony has applied for 157.77 acres along Highway 842 northeast from Standard to be re-designated as Direct Control from agricultural land, so it can be used for colony interests.
The piece will have residential, agricultural, community and church buildings. Midwest Hutterite Colony was formed in 2018, an offshoot of the Standard Colony.
Council approved first reading and the public hearing will be held May 21.

Enabling improvements and celebrations for Speargrass
First reading for Speargrass parks to be considered under hamlet regulations, contained within the Parks and Recreation designation, came to council on April 2.
The move was to find a way to accommodate the recent park improvements planned for the community that would eliminate the need to direct it to the municipal planning committee for a variance. This would speed matters and allow the community to proceed in time for its planned Canada Day celebrations.
A public hearing on the matter is set for May 7.