M.D. of Taber Sept. 26 meeting briefs

By Heather Cameron
Taber Times
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The following are selected briefs from the M.D. of Taber Council Meeting held on Sept. 26.

Ag Field Appointment

Council appointed Jordan Holst as the Agricultural Fieldman for the M.D. of Taber. A motion to the effect was made and approved unanimously.

Southern Alberta Ortho Photo Partnership 2024

Bryce Surina spoke about how the partnership has existed for eight years and the point of the partnership is to achieve some economy of scale with respect to obtaining the current ortho photos, or as current as possible in terms of having orthophoto NGI’s updated. Surina stated that updates happen every three years and also showed Council the air photos that are used in the databases and mapping applications. Surina said that the photos are also the imagery that is provided to public facing application for the use of the public and they add to the value that has always been promoted as part of the partnership. Surina explained that ortho imagery is an alternative to satellite imagery with the resolution being much finer and it’s used for measuring on the ground, whether it’s area coverage or covering distances. In terms of resolution, Surina said, it is around 20 cm and that resolution has been also adopted by the neighbouring irrigation as part of the partnership. Councilor Hildebrand ultimately made a motion for the M.D. of Taber to approve participation in the southern Alberta partnership in 2024 and also to give the ortho photo project an operating budget consideration and approval of $55,000 as planned within the 2024 Information Technology Ortho Imagery operating budget and authorize the M.D. of Willow Creek No. 26 to act as a managing partner for project on behalf of the M.D. of Taber. The motion was carried unanimously.

Regional Emergency Management Plan Review and Update

Council discussed a proposal to submit an Alberta Community Partnership Grant of $114,000 with respect to updating the existing Regional Emergency Management plan that would be in partnership with the existing partners, which is the Town of Vauxhall, the M.D. of Taber, and the Village of Barnwell. The main focus of the project, Council said, is to look at updating the existing regional plan and also include in the project linkages with respect to the Town of Taber’s plan and ultimately communicate and understand each other’s mandate and role. Councilor DeGroot ultimately gave a motion that the M.D. of Taber approve the application as managing partner for the Regional Emergency Management plan update project to the Alberta Community Partnership Intermunicipal Collaboration Grant Program in partnership with the Town of Vauxhall and the Village of Barnwell.

Alberta Community Partnership Grant Applications

Council discussed that the Town of Coaldale is applying for an Alberta Community Partnership Grant (ACP) on behalf of the region studying regional water, and the Town of Taber is also applying for an ACP grant to study the Highway 3 corridor’s wastewater. These grants, Council said, are part of the buildout requirements for the build-out of the agri-food processing corridor between Lethbridge and Medicine Hat. Council floated the idea of providing a letter of support for both towns. Councilor Claassen made a motion that the M.D. of Taber supports the Town of Coaldale’s submission of a 2023-24 Alberta Community Partnership Grant application in support of their regional water concept development study project with no matching contribution required from the M.D. That motion was carried unanimously. Councilor Turcato then made a motion that the M.D. of Taber supports the Town of Taber’s submission of a 2023-24 Alberta Community Partnership Grant application in support of the regional wastewater concept development study project with no matching contribution required from the M.D. That motion was also carried unanimously.

Donation Request Applications

Taber Junior Livestock Classic Event requested $2,000 for their event, which is being held at the Taber Exhibition Grounds. Councilor Turcato made a motion to grant the amount of $2,000 to the Taber Junior Livestock Classic and the motion was carried unanimously. The event is Oct. 20-21 at the Taber Agri-Plex.