“Most farmers will be glad to see the end of 2010,” said County of Lethbridge Reeve Lorne Hickey.
In a review of the past year, Hickey said it has proven to be a challenging one for the agricultural sector.
Wet conditions both in the spring for seeding and again in the fall for harvest, coupled with snow earlier in the year have led to challenges for residents of the county, both in the fields and on the roads.
He said 2010 started off with snow and when the spring rains came so did the flooding. Given the wet conditions the county’s faced throughout the summer it was unable to complete a number of its road projects slated for the year.
“It was just too wet.”
The county was able to complete three miles of road when it usually does five to six miles during road construction season. Under the resource road program the county did complete work on the Country Commodities Road near Monarch, the Brown road and the West Monarch Road.
Work was also completed on 20 miles of gravel road, including recrowning the road and shaping the ditches. This work is less costly than reconstruction and can extend the life of a road by five to eight years.
This year was also a busy one in Turin where both the water and wastewater projects are nearing completion. Hickey said the county is trying to fix the roads in the community, post construction, but has faced challenges with winter weather conditions.
The Mountain Meadows project, including development of new water wells and upgrades to the water system to handle firefighting needs, is slated to be completed in the spring under the Building Canada funding program.
Hickey said the county recently learned it has once again, for the seventh year in a row, won a Canadian financial award for its annual report.
“It shows the fiscal management of the county is in good hands.”
It has been a busy planning year for the county. Hickey said an updated intermunicipal development plan has been approved by both the county and the Town of Coaldale. Now it will serve as a template for similar plans with other municipalities within the borders of the county.
“It allows us and Coaldale to both have the knowledge of what we can look at expansion wise.”

It establishes the rules by which development will be governed as it impacts both municipalities. Hickey said there is a huge advantage to both municipalities working together on projects including the corridor between Lethbridge and Coaldale.
This past year has also brought with it extensive discussion and planning for the future of the Malloy Drain.
Hickey said ideally the work needed to bring the drain up to capacity would be upwards of $27 million.
He said obviously that is a “pie in the sky” possibility so the county has to work with its partners to address the current needs in order to allow for future development in the region.
Storm water retention ponds and on-stream storage are two areas the county and its partners will be looking at in the future.
“We’ve had some unusually wet years.”
Given that 2010 was an election year for municipal government, Hickey said the work of council did slow some in the summer heading into the fall election.
“You’re never sure what councils will return.”
With two new councillors on board, Hickey said the new county council is moving along very well.
In the coming year he feels communication with the public will be a key issue.
It was an issue brought to light during the election campaign.
“Everyone heard that comment,” he said. “It’s something we have to look at.”
Another issue facing the county is a lack of gravel.
“It’s definitely the southern region where the issue is.”
He said the county could haul gravel in from other jurisdictions but that would prove to be cost prohibitive. In order to explore new gravel deposits, the county has to be invited in by the land owner.
Hickey said he hopes the county will hear from local residents who may have gravel deposits on their land.
He is also looking to 2011 for increased traffic at the county airport.
“We would like to attract some more air side businesses.”
He said the county is looking for more industrial development in the coming year in an effort to expand its tax base.
He is also hoping for a drier year.