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| NEWS - July 29, 2008 |
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| Joint Council meeting addresses airport, twinning agreement |
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By Andrew Coffey
Leader Staff
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The Edmonton Municipal Airport may soon be closing, which means the Barrhead Airport could see an increase in air traffic.
To capitalize on the possible increase in pilots looking for cheaper landing and parking facilities, the county announced during a July 23 joint council meeting that it has been sending information to potential customers.
"We’ve been sending out information packets to pilots, just letting them know we are here," says county manager Dale Uhrbach.
"We have gotten a lot of feedback, for example there is a flying club who is interested in us because we meet their requirements for less traffic and parking facilities."
County Coun. Bill Lane is all for opening up the airport. "Anything we do with the airport is an investment for us," he told both councils.
The county could look at rezoning in the area, which would place restrictions on playgrounds, houses and new construction. A runway extension could also be in the works to enhance the airport’s offerings.
Twinning agreement
Town council presented a draft of the twinning agreement submitted by the municipality of Chapala, Mexico.
The town wants the county to file a joint application rather than two separate applications to the province.
The agreement would formalize "the twinning between the municipality of Chapala, Jalisco in the United Mexican States, and the town of Barrhead and the county of Barrhead... in order to strengthen the relations of the parties in enhancing the friendship of bonds in the areas pertaining to cooperation in subjects of mutual interest, as well as taking actions to strengthen their local and international development, carrying out projects, and program activities..."
The areas of cooperation outlined by the agreement include commerce, investment and business, culture, tourism, municipal development, education and sports, in addition to several other areas.
Article three suggests an aggressive cooperation campaign, but both councils agreed they will only engage in those activities that fall within the twinning budget.
"This agreement doesn’t bind us to anything monetarily," explained mayor Brian Schulz. "They have things listed in here that would be great to do, but we can only do what is already in our budget. The agreement is just to formalize that we are going to twin with Chapala."
Both councils agreed they should file the application jointly. The agreement, according to Schulz, is nearly identical to twinning arrangements made with Australia and Japan.
"We (the town) are happy with it, but we just thought it should be a joint agreement. That’s why we brought it here."
Ambulance services
Both councils were given updates on the status of ambulance services.
Town manager Farrell O’Malley informed the councils that the status of a proposed third ambulance is still in negotiations and part of talks with Aspen Health.
County councillors inquired as to the intentions of the town and the likelihood of their recommending Aspen Health assume control of ambulance services entirely.
"We still don’t know enough about what’s happening to make a decision yet. There just isn’t enough information for us to say which way we are going to go on this," said Schulz.
The county sent a letter to Aspen Health last week stating their position, which favors handing complete control over to Aspen Health.
O’Malley said that in talks with Aspen Health, the former health region has indicated it may be interested in administering ambulance services through the town.
Regional waterline
Stantec Engineering is moving quickly on plans for the waterline to Neerlandia, according to Barrhead County Coun. Gerald Nanninga.
"We just had a meeting, and everything is going ahead as planned. We approved Stantec to be the detail engineering firm to handle the nitty gritty of the agreement."
To date, Stantec has provided a rough estimate as to the cost of the project and is in the process of drawing up detailed plans for construction of the new line.
Nanninga expects the project to be tendered sometime around Labour Day.
Schulz added that Stantec is going above and beyond expectations. "They are moving very fast on this."
Reeve Lawrence Miller added that the waterline to Neerlandia is similar to another project Stantec is just finishing. Both councils were pleased with the rapid progress the firm is making, and their experience in designing and constructing water lines.
"We are all systems go," said Schulz. |
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