Reeve Crystal Kissel said it was a challenging year for Rocky View County (RVC), but also a year when many in the county came together to work for the betterment of the whole.
Nothing represents this better in her mind than the County’s response to the murder of one of its own employees in August.
Kissel said the shooting that took the life of a RVC employee, Colin Hough, was difficult on everyone. Hough was an Airdrie resident and a father of two sons. Two men accused of the murder remain in custody.
“This last year has been very difficult for Rocky View County as we lost Colin,” said Kissel. “And I tell you what, I am so proud of how our community came together, whether it was residents, businesses or the people who worked for Rocky View County, our admin, and council.
“It was a terrible thing to happen to any family, but I am so proud of how Rocky View stepped up and handled that. Because that was a very difficult situation. For me, watching all of our community come together for Colin, that was huge.”
Outside of this tragedy, Kissel said council was also able to come together in a united front to hire a new CAO.
“Moving forward, we are happy we have a new CAO,” Reegan McCullough, has joined us, she said. “We are so fortunate to have this man join Rocky View County, and be leading with us. With his help, I think we have lots of really great things to look forward to. He is an absolute asset to Rocky View County, and we are grateful he has chosen Rocky View.”
Similarly, county residents and businesses united to serve on the Aggregate Stakeholder Advisory Committee and came up with tangible recommendations and a potential blueprint to balance interests around gravel extraction going forward.
“The great part about this committee was we got to hear from the residents and the industry; so we got to hear both sides of the story,” said Kissel. “This is allowing us to be more proactive. Even the aggregate producers said they could have done a better job monitoring. So that is something we are looking at: How can we help them?”
Kissel said the way forward is level the playing field for all involved and find a middle ground.
“We (on council) want to have stronger application requirements, and the thing I have always said is we want to understand what the playing field is,” she confirmed. “That means from both sides. If I am a resident thinking of buying somewhere near a pit, what are my rights? And the same with the company that is investing– what are their rights? Everybody has to know where the even playing field is, because right now it has been very dartboard.”
Another example where unity has been able to overcome division, said Kissel, is through the proposed Shepard Area Prairie Gateway Project. The County was once locked in an annex dispute over the Shepard Area Plan, explained Kissel, but now is working with both the City of Calgary and the developer to co-develop a state-of-the-art transload facility on the site, which should be completed by 2027 if all goes according to plan.
“The decision was made that we would attempt this venture together,” said Kissel. “It has never been done; so it’s complicated. But at the same time, it’s super exciting. We couldn’t ask for better partners than the City of Calgary. They have been there every step of the way, and we have supported each other. And we have a developer that is making sure things are done when needed to help with the process. So it has been quite the adventure, and we are looking forward to seeing what that looks like in the next few years.”
One area where the theme unity didn’t come into play, acknowledged Kissel, was in the County’s decision to withdraw from the Calgary Metropolitan Region Board (CMRB). However, she said, the CMRB’s Growth Plan did not allow its board members to work as willing partners either due to its previous mandated membership requirements. She is hopeful that by withdrawing from the CMRB, Rocky View County will find better equilibrium and better long term relationships with its neighbours.
“We cannot service like a city,” Kissel explained. “Cities and towns service in a very methodical way. It grows block by block, area by area. We are just under a million acres, and we are on three sides of the City of Calgary. It’s very difficult to service in the same manner the City wants it serviced in … I think it's important that each municipality can kind of control its own destiny. And what does that destiny look like? Ours is not going to be the same as the City’s nor the same as Airdrie’s. But we need to be respectful of each other on the borders. That’s really important.”
