At open houses last week, ratepayers in Mountain View County Reeve Bruce Beattie's Div. 4 and councillor Kevin Good's Div. 1 expressed a desire to see more done toward the upkeep and maintenance of county roads.MVC Div, 4 ratepayers asked questions about roads and county plans for the road network at Reeve Beattie's open house at the Fall Timber Community Hall on Nov. 1.ìRoads are the primary issue with people,î said Beattie. ìThey expressed concerns about the impact of oil and gas activities on the roads, and wanted to make sure we are maintaining the roads to a standard that the public wants.îOther issued discussed at the Nov. 1 meeting included fire arguments, and support for community halls.About 25 people attended the Nov. 1 meeting.The same number of people attended Good's open house at the Carstairs Community Hall on Oct. 30.ìI was pleased with the meeting and with the comments,î said Good. ìThere were a lot of households represented.îA number of residents at the 90-minute meeting asked about the county's policy when it comes to grading of gravel roads in the division and whether there are plans to increase the frequency and type of grading.Coun. Good said he had received numerous calls from residents regarding the county's grading policy and that he is in agreement that improvements are needed.ìIt's something I've been harping on for two years,î said Good, noting that road upkeep is the county's top expenditure every year.The matter of road maintenance, including grading, will be the subject of an upcoming review of the county's road maintenance policy, he said.Good said he would like to see the county's graders use wider blades and have packers installed at the rear of the vehicles, so both grading and packing can take place at the same time.Ratepayers at the open house also expressed concerns about a landfill being proposed for a four-quarter block at Highway 791 and Highway 575, southeast of Carstairs.The site would see oilfield-contaminated soil trucked to the location.The county has not approved the project and no public hearings have yet been held.At the request of residents at the Oct. 30 meeting, county CAO Tony Martens said he will be gathering more information about the proposed project and will provide that information to Coun. Good, who, in turn, will inform council and Div. 1 residents of the findings.Before the project could go ahead a rezoning from agriculture would have to be approved by council, said Martens.As well, he said council might bring the matter up with the Alberta Environment Minister at a meeting in Edmonton next week.In an interview following the Oct. 30 meeting Good said: ì We are going to get some answers and do what we can to help the citizens have their opinions known to the province.îAnother question raised at last week's open house involved the status of the Carstairs sewage lagoon, with several residents asking how well the lagoon is handling the population increase in the area in recent years.Martens said he would be in contact with lagoon officials to find out details.Telephone communication between residents and the county office was also brought up as an area of concern.ìPeople are not happy that they can't talk to staff, that they always have to leave voice mails,î said Good. ìI'm going to be discussing that in council, about changing that culture a bit.îThe county's road network is scheduled to be the subject of budget deliberations at the county council meeting this week.Meanwhile, the councillor open houses wrap up this week with councillors Al Kemmere and Duncan Milne hosting their information sessions.
