BARRHEAD - County of Barrhead councillors hope to speak to Transportation and Economic Corridors Minister Devin Dreeshen at the Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) fall convention in Edmonton.
County manager Debbie Oyan told councillors during the Oct. 3 council meeting that she responded on council's behalf because of the lateness of the request and the deadline to respond in consultation with reeve Doug Drozd.
Typically, before the RMA fall conference, provincial cabinet ministers often avail themselves to interested municipalities.
She explained that because of the deadline, she had to decide quickly, without the council's approval, but said that if they did not want to meet with Dreeshen, it would be easy to roll back the request.
Later in the meeting, councillors gave their official stamp of approval, including their Top Three discussion priorities: road maintenance, specifically for Highway 769, a.k.a. the Neerlandia Highway, the conditions of Highway 777 and Range Road 40 becoming a provincial corridor, diverting semi-trucks with large or dangerous loads to bypass the Town of Barrhead and, time permitting, the province's continued failure to comply with the Weed Control Act.
Oyarzun came up with the list by polling the staff.
"I had to pare it down quite a bit," she said, adding county staff had pages of potential discussion points.
Oyarzun said at least two of these items have been on the books for some time, adding that councillors had talked to a previous transportation minister regarding their concerns about the condition of Highway 769.
"We were advised that an engineering study was coming, so we need to follow up on this," she said.
Oyarzun added that the municipality has also raised concerns about weed control, specifically along provincial highways and on provincial roadways in its jurisdiction.
"This time, we are approaching it from a different angle," Oyarzun said. "Looking at ways the county could work with the province to explore the cost-effectiveness of us taking on some of that weed control instead of them contracting it fully out to Emcom."
Although Oyarzun did not mention why Range Road 40 was selected as a discussion topic, it has been on the municipality's radar since the fall of 2021.
On the morning of Nov. 2, close to the intersection between Highways 33 and 18, some logs being hauled by a logging truck slid off and struck the side of a Pembina Hills School Division school bus bringing students to Barrhead Elementary School. The logs (or at least a portion of them) smashed into one of the windows.
Deputy reeve Marvin Schatz said although he would have liked to have seen Highway 33 added as a separate discussion point and not lumping it into general highway maintenance, he agreed with the importance of meeting with this and other provincial cabinet ministers when given the opportunity.
"But on the top of my list would be weed control," he said. "We are an agricultural community, and weeds significantly impact our producers."
Coun. Walter Preugschas agreed, calling weed control a "universal issue" with Agricultural Services Boards across the province.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
