Aug 28 Update - Interested in Back Yard Chickens? Micro Cannabis & MLA, Roger Reid

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Do you know anyone in Foothills County interested in #BackYardChickens? If yes, then today's post is for you.

Back Yard Chickens in Foothills County

Council once again discussed back yard chickens.  Previously, Foothills Council had directed staff to go and look at some of the other municipalities in the area and come back with some further information on how they allow for chickens in their bylaws.

Staff brought us back some information today and now, we will be looking to do some public engagement to get some feedback from you on what you would like to see with regards to this topic.

Be sure to watch back here for further information on what that engagement will look like and how you can contribute.

Micro Cannabis (@2:08)

 Another hot item of discussion was micro cannabis operations.  Council once again has directed staff to look at some of the other municipalities in the area and come back with some feedback on moving forward with policy around these operations.

That will be coming back to Council and then also will go to public engagement to get your feedback.  Watch here for more information when I have it available.

Meeting with Roger Reid, MLA Livingstone Macleod (@2:58)

A very big thank-you Roger for taking the time to visit Foothills County Council today. 

We discussed a number of items concerning residents of the Foothills.  

Roger also reported that over the summer, the UCP have passed 13 bills and are already through over 17% of their platform promises with much more to come.  

Obviously, one of the challenges they are facing is with regards to budget and he stressed that they are not planning on decreasing any primary services such as health care and education, however, they are looking for efficiencies in all departments.

We look forward to working with Roger, Miranda Rosin and RJ Sigurdson and getting things moving!

INTERNET UPDATE and internet Meeting with Minister of Service Alberta Nate Glubish and MLA Miranda Rosin

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INTERNET UPDATE on Connect to Innovate Grant

As many of you may remember, in the spring of 2018, Rigstar Communications received a federal grant called the Connect to Innovate grant to improve internet service in the area of Kew (click here for the original post).


Since then, I have been working with them to find suitable locations for them to put their towers.  On Aug 21/19, I met once again with representatives from Rigstar and they had good news for us.  At long last, they have found the suitable spots. 

They are excited to get moving on this and are looking to do some public engagement in the area.  I have suggested the host open houses at the Square Butte Hall and Millarville Racetrack to connect with residents.  Shortly thereafter, they will make application to Foothills Council for the towers.

I know it has been a long time coming, there is still a bit to go but a least things look positive.  Keep watch here and on my Facebook page as further information comes out regarding dates for the open houses. 

Meeting with Minister of Service Alberta

The same day as my meeting with Rigstar, I had the opportunity to meet with Nate Glubish, Minister of Service Alberta and discuss internet and Alberta's strategy to meet the mandated federal guidelines.

Some of you may know that the Federal Government has mandated the following:

• By 2021 - 90% of Canadians to have download speeds of 50 Meg

• By 2030 100% of Canadians to have download speeds of 50 Meg

Minister Glubish stated that at this point, the Federal government does not have a strategy in place to make this happen.  Currently, he went on to say the 80-82% of Alberta residents reach these speeds (obviously in the urban centres).

He also mentioned that Alberta has not made much headway as of late as the previous government had no strategy in place either so they are playing catch up.

Obviously, with the state of finances of the Provincial government at this point, he was very clear that there was not going to be any direct funding to projects in the immediate future.  That said, they are working with the Federal government to have the over $1 billion investment in infrastructure for the Alberta SuperNet recognized so that the Province could potentially receive some funding that way.

In addition, the Ministry is open to suggestions and opportunities to provide non-financial resources including collection of information.  He emphasized his goal to build a strategy with us and is very open to communication to do it.