The presidents of the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) and the Rural Municipalities of Alberta Association (RMA) have outlined some of the challenges and opportunities facing their member communities as it relates to oil and gas activities and development.
RMA president Al Kemmere, who is also a Mountain View County councillor, and Barry Morishita, president of AUMA, spoke during a recent conference in Olds.
The Synergy Alberta Conference – Powering Our Future conference was held Nov. 4-5 at the Pomeroy Inn & Suites.
Synergy Alberta is a provincial not-for-profit society that supports synergy groups addressing pressures of resource development, including oil and gas.
More than 100 delegates from synergy groups such as the Sundre Petroleum Operators’ Group, Fox Creek Synergy Partnership, and Lakeland Industry and Community Association, attended the event.
On Nov. 4, RMA president Kemmere outlined some of the challenges facing rural municipalities as it relates to oil and gas activities and development.
“Sustainability for our members is huge and there are numerous challenges coming forward,” said Kemmere. “We’ve got challenges that have been rising over the last few years and as the energy industry has taken its hits.
“The biggest challenge to start off with is the unpaid taxes of companies that are operating. Regardless of whether we can collect the education piece of those taxes or not, the county still has to pay. We actually have to take that requisition from the province and then take it out of our tax base and that becomes a double-wammy.”
Another challenge involves the shallow gas situation, he said.
“It is the market price of the product and trying to have a sustainable operation on their behalf,” he said. “That ripples down to the municipalities that those industries take place on. Those are often situations where taxes are not being paid.”
The upcoming provincial review of the assessment process will also be a challenge for rural municipalities, he said.
“It’s going to affect the ability to run our municipalities from a cash point of view,” he said. “The biggest challenge with the assessment review is a slow erosion of our tax base.”
Another challenge facing rural municipalities is the need to maintain bridges that are critical to the petroleum industry and other road traffic, he said.
“It is now the number 1 budget item that we have in most of my member municipalities,” he said.
The RMA’s current strategic plan calls for cooperation and collaboration with synergy and other groups, he said.
Kemmere called on the oil and gas industry to work with municipalities and other stakeholders to address the challenges.
“We need to work together on this. Let’s see if we can steer this process and find a way for industries to be viable,” he said.
The RMA represents 69 rural municipalities, including Mountain View and Red Deer counties.
Also speaking on Nov. 4, AUMA president Morishita said municipalities want to work in support of sustainable energy development.
“At AUMA we support all types of energy, including the traditional sources in this province but we also know that we have to move towards other energy sources,” said Morishita.
More dialogue among stakeholders, including oil and gas companies and municipalities, will be needed to address issues and concerns, he said.
“We are working on building bridges,” he said. “I believe it is up to municipalities and industry to step up and help make that plan. We are the ones who can bring that bridge and I believe we can do that.
“Not having a plan means we lose jobs. Uncertainty creates delays and uncertainty in our world creates an inability to make good longterm investments.”
Many oil and gas facilities and related infrastructure are located in urban municipalities, he noted.
The AUMA represents urban municipalities of all sizes, including towns in this region.
Other speakers at the Olds conference included Synergy Alberta executive director Rick Anderson.
“Providing for our energy needs in the future is an environmental, social, economic and political conversation that is top of mind in today’s work,” said Anderson.
“The commitment to respectful conversation, understanding and sharing and the multi-stakeholder approach that is found in ‘synergy circles’ provides opportunity for robust and meaningful conversations on these topics.”
Other speakers included Chris Montgomery from the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, Brent Collins from Olds College Indigenous Services, Josee Methot from the Red Deer River Watershed Alliance, and Micele Del Colle from the Farmers’ Advocate Office.
The conference also included several panel discussions.
