Mountain View County has given first reading to a bylaw that would charge 25 cents per tonne to sand and gravel operations in the county starting Jan. 1, 2012 ñ and Red Deer County is expected to follow suit with the same proposed implementation date.The Community Aggregate Payment Levy (CAP) would provide the counties with additional revenue for road maintenance and improvements, especially in areas with high sand and gravel activity.CAP was developed jointly by rural municipalities, the Alberta Sand and Gravel Association, and the Alberta Road Builders and Heavy Construction Association ñ and as of 2009 had been adopted by 22 municipalities in the province, generating a total of $5.8 million in revenues.Mountain View introduced a CAP bylaw in 2007 but it was defeated in a council vote at second reading.Second reading of the current bylaw is scheduled for Oct. 19 to give time to local pit operators to provide feedback.ìWe could have done first, second and third reading today,î CAO Tony Martens said at Wednesday's council meeting. ìBut this gives gravel operators a heads up.îAlthough Red Deer County was not able to place first reading of the bylaw on last week's agenda, ìthey still do plan to proceed with it in 2011 with the effective date of Jan. 1, 2012,î legislative, community and agricultural services director Jeff Holmes told council.The bylaw sets out maximum fines of $1,000 for a first conviction for non-compliance, $2,000 for a second offence and $4,000 after a third conviction.The bylaw presented to council also included a maximum jail term of six months in default of payment for a first offence ñ which councillors rejected as excessive.ìThat seems a little severe ñ unless we want to start a new business,î said Div. 4 Coun. Bruce Beattie, who flagged the item as a concern.ìThese are provisions in the MGA (Municipal Government Act),î Holmes explained. ìIt could be changed. Some bylaws (from other municipalities) specifically say no imprisonment.îDiv. 1 Coun. Kevin Good agreed that imprisonment is ìnot the message we want to send.îBeattie also requested the bylaw stipulate the county will attempt to contact pit operators before entering premises for inspection or other action.Holmes said advance notification is a standard county procedure. The section of the bylaw on authority to enter premises was included in case the operator denies the request or cannot be reached, he said.ìI would like to see it in there that we will make an attempt,î Beattie said.Reeve Paddy Munro said he supported Beattie's points and noted that while the industry association endorsed CAP, some individual operators might feel differently.ìBut we need to make money,î Munro added. ìWe need to protect our roads better than we have.îThe bylaw will be amended to incorporate council's requested changes when it comes back for second reading, Holmes said.Holmes also confirmed when asked by Beattie that the bylaw would apply to all sand and gravel operations, regardless of size, but would not include clay extraction.Other exemptions include:ï A shipment from a pit owned or leased by the Crown for a use or project that is being undertaken by or on behalf of the Crown.ï A shipment from a pit owned or leased by a municipality for a use or project that is being undertaken by or on behalf of a municipality.ï A shipment which is required pursuant to a road haul agreement or a development agreement for the construction, repair or maintenance of a road or roads identified in the agreement, that is necessary to provide access to the pit from which the aggregate is extracted.Among the municipalities applying the levy in 2009, Rocky View collected $1.14 million, the City of Calgary $900,000, Parkland County $596,000, Strathcona County $566,000, MD of Greenview $501,000, and Lacombe County $316,000.
