Rocky View County continued along its path of strengthening relationships and taking its rightful place as a leader in the Calgary region in 2023.

It's been a step back from being at loggerheads with surrounding jurisdictions, particularly Calgary, which it competes with for commercial and industrial development and shares key transportation corridors, and to a lesser degree with Cochrane.

Rocky View is a county with considerable clout. It is the most populated municipal county in the province surrounding Alberta's largest city. It has $18.4 billion in assessed properties with a strong component of commercial and industrial development that is the envy of many other municipal jurisdictions.

On Nov. 30, RVC council approved a new 5-year economic development strategy. It focuses on investment attraction, business retention and expansion, sector development and diversification, and expanding the department's capacity.

It's built upon the county's success in attracting a wide range of commercial, agricultural, and industrial development.

In December, it also approved an Economic Development Initiatives Grant Program Policy to guide the distribution of allotted funds to chambers of commerce and business associations serving Rocky View County. 

In her year-end message, RVC Reeve Crystal Kissel said she was encouraged by the continued collaboration with our neighboring municipalities.

"These partnerships are vital to ensuring that we stand ready to face any challenge together," she stated.

Nothing speaks further to this change in direction than the appointment of Div. 1 councillor Kevin Hanson as vice-chair of the Calgary Metropolitan Region Board (CMRB), replacing Cochrane mayor Jeff Genung.

Originally, the county strongly opposed its creation.

There's been a noticeable change in strategies to address previous contention relationships with the City of Calgary over the county's commercial developments on the city boundaries.

In early January, the county and city agreed to work together to develop a new industrial corridor along Calgary’s southeast boundary on lands formerly designated for development within the county’s Shepard Industrial Area Plan.

“Rocky View County recognizes that by working collaboratively with our partners at the City of Calgary we can advance significant economic opportunities across municipal boundaries," stated RVC mayor Crystal Kissel upon the completion of the agreement. "I believe that this cooperative approach will benefit residents and businesses across the region."

It also signed a memorandum of understanding and interim agreement with the Genesis Land Development Corp. for the Stoney Trail and Airport Trail Interchange Project. Its completion will benefit its aspirations with the Omni area structure plan in east central RVC.

Good news came in the province's announcement of fully funding a $148 million interchange off of the QEII into Balzac that's expected to get underway in 2025. It follows work now underway on the twinning of Hwy. 566 from east of Range Road 293 to Range Road 290 in East Balzac that cost the county an estimated $15 million and the province $4.1 million.

In the dying days of 2022, it also reached a new five-year recreation cost-sharing agreement with the Town of Cochrane. The agreement dealt with operating costs, with further discussions to evolve on capital costs.

The county, along with the Glenbow Ranch Park Foundation, played an important role in making a long-sought connector a reality for the Haskayne Legacy Park. The park celebrated its grand opening on Sept. 12 and was key to efforts afoot to expand the Trans Canada Trail to Cochrane, and eventually Canmore.

In 2023, multiple aggregate mine developments along the Hwy. 567 corridor continued to be a contentious issue. It's been an issue elsewhere in the county, including west of Cochrane.

A written decision is expected from the Land and Property Rights Tribunal (LPRT) on an appeal of a decision by the county to approve a development permit for McNair and Buckley Ranch Aggregate Development Inc., located on the corner of Range Road 40 and Hwy. 567, just east of the industrial park. 

Meanwhile, the Bighill Creek Preservation Society continues to lead the opposition to the Summit aggregate mine of the Mountain Ash Limited Partnership. Its boundary is 800m from the Big Hill Springs Provincial Park.

  • The fight continues to protect Big Hill Springs, Provincial Park

The county established a stakeholder advisory committee in hopes of building a consensus on gravel development. It's been meeting monthly since August. There's been plenty of discussion since then, with feedback from members on the proposed vision, principles, and terms of reference expected at its Jan. 15 meeting.

Major steps were taken in the county's Cochrane Lake Revitalization Plan to address ongoing concerns over the quality of water in Cochrane Lake. It has no natural outflow and is manually controlled by the county. The aim is to transform the lake from being considered “hazardous to human health” due to its accumulation of prolific algae, solids, and nutrients. 

In October, the RVC governance committee approved a new cost-sharing agreement for the Cochrane Lakes Revitalization Plan, which would see $4 million spent on a lake development project.

It's believed the improvement will increase development near the lake which will, in turn, see the county recover its investment through future development and a 10-year repayment program of $100,000 annually from Macdonald Communities Limited (MCL) for $1 million of the cost.

MCL purchased the land around Cochrane Lake in 2016 and has been working with Rocky View County since that time to develop plans to improve the lake.

You cannot talk about 2023 without mentioning the dismissal of RVC CAO Dorian Wandzura in August by a slim 4-3 vote by council. No particular cause was stated by county officials, other than a preference to acquire a CAO with a different style of leadership to support the council, residents, and the diversity of the county.

Byron Riemann was initially named the acting CAO and has since been replaced with interim CAO Rick McDonald. It's the second time McDonald has filled those shoes for the county.

The county may become the first municipality to collect recreation and fire off-site levies, a power that was recently granted by the Alberta government.

At its Dec. 12 meeting, council gave the go-ahead to prepare bylaws for consideration in the third-quarter of 2024.

In her year-end remarks, Reeve Crystal Kissel highlighted the completion of a solar farm strategy, organization excellence strategy, and the county's long-term financial forecasting, and its annual survey of residents that was completed in March.

"The Citizen's Pulse Survey speaks volumes about the trust and confidence you have in us, keeping the lines of communication open, and giving us a platform to understand the resident’s wants and needs."

In 2023, 352 residents participated in a phone survey conducted one week in March. In 2022, 1,540 residents participated in a survey conducted over one month.

Detailed results can be found here.

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