Wednesday 17 April 2019

April 17th Update - Secondary Suites and Land Use Bylaw Amendments (incl. backyard chickens, solar, accessory building sizes and temporary RV storage)

Note: If your are receiving this in your email and the video below does not show up, CLICK HERE to be taken to the website to view it. 

Secondary Suites Receive 2nd and 3rd Reading (@ 0:14)


Today Council passed the new bylaw for Secondary Suites on parcels over 2 acres.  This is something we have been working on for a long time now and we are happy to be to this point.

Some of you may remember and participated in the Open Houses the County hosted in March and June 2018.  We thank you very much for your feedback and we did our best to incorporate it into this new bylaw.


Proposed Land Use Bylaw Amendments (@ 1:54)

Some of you may remember back to December of 2014 when Council passed a new Land Use Bylaw.  Since then, we have been re-visiting it often in attempts to improve it for all residents. 

Here were a few of the items Council discussed amending in it today:
  1. Accessory building sizes
  2. Temporary RV storage 
  3. Backyard Chickens
  4. Permitting process for Solar
 This was just a few of the items we discussed and will look at further as council has directed staff to come back with further information.  More detail can be found in the video above.  

As always, if there is anything that you would like me to include in my updates, just let me know by sending me a message on Facebook or sending me an email.  I always want to keep you up to date on the latest happening in our community.

Wednesday 10 April 2019

April 10 Update - Fire Smart Event, County Roads & additional South West Calgary Ring Road Traffic Interruptions

Note: If your are receiving this in your email and the video below does not show up, click the headline above it to be taken to the website to view it. 



Fire Smart Event (@ 25 seconds)


Some of you may remember back in November, I hosted an event with Division 4 Councillor, Suzanne Oel, a public event to discuss the fire we experienced out west last year.  Part of the presentation was put on by members of the Foothills Fire Department (FFD).  They discussed a federal program called Fire Smart (details can be found at www.firesmartcanada.ca).  

That night, I started discussions with the FFD about the possibility of hosting a Fire Smart Event at Square Butte Hall this spring and got the ball rolling.  The FFD has been trying ever since to nail down a date with Fire Smart Canada to do an official presentation and have not yet been able to confirm a date as of yet.

However, they recently notified me that there would be a Fire Smart Open House held in Bragg Creek on May 11th from 2-4 pm.  I do not yet have a location but will let you know as soon as I do.  If you are interested in further information, feel free to attend the open house and check out the website above.

We will continue to work towards hosting our own event but in the meantime, this is better than nothing.

Foothills County Roads - Spring Breakup (@1:37)

Foothills Council received an update this morning from the Public Works department that the winter was not very kind to the County roads.  The spring breakup has lived true to its name and the roads are in far worse condition than normal.  

The bad news is, with the amount of work that will need to go into repairing the roads, it will take away from building and resurfacing projects they had planned as obviously, the repairs need to be a priority.  

As I mentioned in my update last week (click here for that update), the frost is deeper than normal and still has a ways to come out.  Repairs cannot be done until the frost is out and that may be as long as a month from now.  The seasonal road crews will be brought back on at that time and will get to work as fast as possible.

Bottom line is, if you have issues with your road, feel free to report it to public works so it gets added to their repair list, however, it may be longer than normal until they get to it.  Please be patient as they will get to it as quickly as they can.

South West Calgary Ring Road - Traffic Interruptions (@3:12)

As I reported last week, there has been a number of traffic disruptions and will continue to be until the project is completed.  There are a few new ones that have recently started and some that will beginning this Friday, April 12th. See below image for links to the details on each of them.
  • Drilling Pilling from 90 Ave sw to Highway 22x on Macleod Trail
    • Started: April 1st
    • Scheduled Completion - Sometime summer 2019
    • Construction Hours: Mon-Sat 7am-10pm, Sundays and Holidays 9am-10pm
    • For map and further details, click here.
  • Lane Closure of left southbound land on Macleod at 22x
    • Friday April 12th
    • Hours: 9am-3pm
    • For map and further details, click here.
  • Haul Crossing on westbound Highway 22x at 24th St
    • Start Date: Friday, April 12th
    • Scheduled Completion: Aug 30/19
    • Hours: Mon-Sat 7am-6pm
    • For map and further details, click here.
  • Haul Crossing on 22x eastbound ramp to northbound Macleod Trail
    • Started: March 20th
    • Scheduled Completion: June 7/19
    • Hours: Mon-Sat 7am-6pm, Sun 9am-6pm
    • For map and further details, click here.


Wednesday 3 April 2019

ADDITIONAL TRAFFIC ADVISORY - 22X at 24 St

TRAFFIC ADVISORY #2

Haul Crossing on Highway 22X at 24 Street

Location: Westbound Highway 22X at the intersection with 24 Street S.W.

Impacts:  Haul trucks crossing Highway 22X resulting in periodic stoppages of traffic. Traffic control personnel directing vehicles

Reason: Moving material for construction of new road in the median of Highway 22X

Start date: Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Completion date: Friday, August 30, 2019

Work hours: Monday through Saturday from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Speed reduction: 50 km/h from 70 km/h (when the haul is active)

Other information: 24 Street in the median of Highway 22X is closed to public traffic

To view the images below in PDF format, CLICK HERE.



Traffic Advisory - 22x and Macleod Trail - South West Calgary Ring Road

TRAFFIC ADVISORY


Haul Crossing on Highway 22X Ramp to Macleod Trail

Location: The exit ramp from eastbound Highway 22X to northbound Macleod Trail S.E.

Impacts:  Haul trucks crossing the ramp resulting in periodic stoppages of traffic.  There will be Traffic control personnel directing vehicles.

Reason: Earthworks for bridge structures

Start date: Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Completion date: Monday, April 15, 2019

Work hours:
Monday to Saturday from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. 
Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

To download the images in pdf format, click here.



April 3rd Update - Fire Season, Frost and Tree Workshop

Note: If your are receiving this in your email and the video below does not show up, click the headline above it to be taken to the website to view it. 


Fire Season Reminder

With the warmer weather and the ground drying out, that puts us at risk of fires.  If you have any burns to do, be sure to get your burn permit online at https://www.mdfoothills.com/.

BURNING PERMITS ARE MANDATORY in Foothills County!


Open fires are allowed by obtaining a burning permit online or in person at the Heritage Pointe Fire Station or call the station at 403-603-3571.

Burning barrels with screen covers and located on non combustible surfaces will also be allowed. Caution is to be observed with any fire.

With the strong wind that tend to come up, we want to be sure that you keep safe!

Frost and Roads (@ 1:05)

In talking with the Public Department today, they informed me that approximately 1 metre of frost has come out of the ground with slightly over 1 metre remaining.  

What does this mean for you?  

It means a couple things.  First, Public Works are not able to complete repairs until the frost has fully come out of the ground as the work they would do, would just be undone again.  Second, if you are having issues with your roads, feel free to still report it to them.  Third, they will unlikely be able to do the repair for likely around a month until the frost is fully out and the seasonal staff is back to work.

So, have patience with the roads, but still feel free to report issues if you find them so they get on the list for repair.

Tree Planting and Maintenance Workshop (@ 1:58)

REMINDER

There is another tree workshop coming up on April 10th at 9:30 am at the Scott Seaman Sports Rink at Heritage.  To reserve your seats, visit: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/tree-workshop-planting-maintenance-tickets-58398529574