July 27, 2021
The decision came after a July 27th closed session discussion with the RM foreman during their regular meeting.
During the meeting, the RM’s Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) said the discussion with the foreman on dust control had budgetary consequences for the RM, which was why it was being held in-camera.
Councillor Garry Dixon made the resolution that came from the meeting; “THAT the RM of McKillop No. 220 waive the cost of Dust Control (Dust Stop) provided to the customers who requested it AND FURTHER THAT no further dust control measures will be taken by the RM for the dust control program for 2021.”
On the 28th, the RM started contacting customers via telephone and email who had the dust control applied to inform them of their decision.
An email to a ratepayer said, “All fees for anyone who had any dust control product applied over the 60m free amount will be waived due to the fact that it did not work as intended. The RM was advised of a new product that was supposed to work better than previous products applied for rural areas, this product clearly was not as effective as was hoped. Council has also decided not to continue the dust control program this year.”
The email continued that the Council and Administration apologized for the inconvenience and thanked them for their patience. They also offered solutions to ratepayers who still wanted dust control, offering to prepare the road ahead of the application with notice and gave them a list of companies that provided the service.
- Jenifer Argue, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
Note: These reports may be abridged for content