Last week's Mountain View County Div. 6 open house at the Harmattan Community Hall saw residents ask questions about county roads and gravel pits, among other things, says division councillor Paddy Munro.The first of seven open houses being hosted by county councillors, last week's two-hour information session saw about 50 attend.“By far the biggest concern is the roads,” said Munro. “There definitely are some people who are not happy with the gravel roads and how they get washboarded. And some people weren't too happy about the industrial traffic.”Munro says he is also concerned with the county's road network.“I want more money to be spent on looking after what I consider the average taxpayer's most important use of their taxes and that's the road they drive on to go from the farm to town,” he said.“Through the whole budget process I hope we can allocate more money for the maintenance of the roads.”Gravel pits and the regulations surrounding them was another issue brought forward at the Oct. 15 open house.“There were definitely some people stirred up about that,” he said. “My comments were that if someone wants to do an industrial-size gravel pit, not just a small one on somebody's farm, I think there has to be a re-designation. You can't just leave it as agriculture.“It has to become a council decision rather than have it go to the municipal planning commission. That would be a start.”He said he “assured them that in the new year we are going to be working on that gravel plan and engaging everyone and trying to get this thing figured out.”Deputy Reeve Patricia McKean and Coun. Robert Orr are hosting their respective open houses this week.
