WOODLANDS COUNTY COUNCIL RECAP – AUGUST & SEPTEMBER 2020

Woodlands County Council discussed the following items at their recent regular meetings of Council:

Bylaw 555/20, Schedule of Fees was passed to update costs associated with beaver control. The fees have been revised to $200 per dam removed and an additional fee for beaver trapping where no dam removal is required. This fee is at cost and mainly includes mileage charges. The complete bylaw is available at woodlands.ab.ca.

Through formal tender processes, the following contracts were awarded:

Bridge and culvert maintenance to Griffin Contracting Ltd. for the value of $208,266. The budgeted funds are part of regular bridge and culvert maintenance and does not include the several culvert failures that occurred throughout the municipality in 2020; those projects have their own tender processes outside of the regular repair schedule.

Culvert replacement on Township Road 594A, east of Blue Ridge was awarded to Boss Bridgeworks Inc. for the value of $224,000. Heavy rainfall and spring runoff resulted in a portion of the culvert washing out and further damage to the site requiring culvert replacement. Construction is set to being on Monday, September 7 and last approximately two (2) weeks. Both lanes will be closed to all traffic during this time.

Township Road 593A, culvert repair was awarded to G. MacRitchie Forestry Services Ltd. for the value of $113,548.69, plus contingency and taxes. Heavy rains and spring run-off caused the culvert between Old Ferry Loop and Highway 32 to partially wash out, resulting in road closure. The unbudgeted repair costs will be taken from $1.2M allocated for reserves.

G. MacRitchie Forestry Services Ltd. was also awarded the contract for the culvert repair on Range Road 105, north of Highway 43, after heavy rainfall and spring run-off washed out a 4m section of culvert, exposing 6m straight cut on the discharge side. The contract is valued at $56,350 and will be taken from $1.2M allocated for reserves.

A contract for East Mountain Road French drain tender was awarded to E Construction for the value of $77,683.17 (plus taxes), to be expended from the $1.2M allocated for reserves. In 2019, slope movement was identified on the stretch of roadway and through the investigation it was identified that an organic layer of fill material was transmitting water laterally, resulting in movement of the road surface.

A culvert on Bison Road separated and buckled causing a partial road closure that required steel plates to be installed on the driving surface. The contract was awarded to Strydhorst Enterprises Ltd. for $114,212.25 (plus contingency and tax) to replace the existing culvert with a larger diameter culvert.

As other roadway issues and required repairs are reviewed, Council directed Administration to complete a temporary repair on East Mountain Road, which is intended to open both lanes of traffic. Infrastructure Services will then monitor the roadway and top up the surface as required through the winter months and reassess in spring 2021.

The Woodlands County Economic Development committee, through robust discussions related to business retention during the pandemic, has proposed a voluntary, no fee, business directory to support the initiative. Council has directed Administration to move this process ahead as economic recovery strategies begin.

Council has directed Administration to apply for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Municipal Asset Management Grant program, which supports municipalities to make the most out of every infrastructure dollar. As part one of Council’s strategic priorities, asset management and life cycle planning help the municipality make decisions such as, which assets to replace first, how much money to put into capital reserves, and the value to spend on maintenance. The long-term planning supports realistic goal setting and guides the municipality through the budget forecast process, many years in advance.

Council Chambers remains closed to the public; however, Council meetings can be viewed on the Woodlands County YouTube channel. The next scheduled Council meeting is Tuesday, October 6, 2020, 9:30am.