Airdrie Minute: Issue 105

Airdrie Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Airdrie politics

📅 This Week In Airdrie: 📅

• We’re hosting a Pints & Politics event with our friends at the Alberta Institute, and special guest Angela Pitt, the MLA for Airdrie-East. We’re planning to hold regular events throughout the rest of this year, and this first one will take place on Wednesday, April 8th. Attendance is free, but please RSVP due to limited capacity.
  
  
• The City of Airdrie has launched Airdrie 311, a dedicated phone number for non-emergency resident questions and service requests. This initiative provides a single point of contact for reporting issues like potholes, inquiring about waste collection, or registering for programs. While the service is in its early stages and may involve redirecting some calls to specific departments, the goal is to shorten response times and improve the overall customer experience. Residents can still use existing channels, such as the City's website or the original non-emergency phone number, to access services. Municipal officials emphasized that 911 remains the correct number for all emergency situations. 
  
  
• Alberta’s Electoral Boundaries Commission has proposed re-arranging the two existing Airdrie-area ridings, responding to rapid population growth near Calgary. Under the plan, Airdrie-East would lose and gain territory, including parts of Rocky View County, Crossfield, and Irricana, giving it a new population of 53,809. A new Airdrie-West riding would be created from portions of Airdrie-Cochrane and Airdrie-East, covering the city’s west side and surrounding Rocky View County, with a population of 48,145. The remaining Airdrie-Cochrane area would be reconfigured as Cochrane-Springbank. The changes aim to maintain communities of interest while ensuring effective representation and received strong local support from municipalities.
  
  
• Airdrie’s Clean Energy Improvement Program (CEIP) has completed its first year, approving or beginning 89 home upgrade projects, with 50 financing agreements signed and 18 projects finished. The total value of active and completed projects is $2.15 million, with financing offered at 2.75% interest, repaid through property taxes and tied to the property rather than the homeowner. Completed projects are estimated to save 510 gigajoules of energy annually and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 44 tonnes. The program, funded through a combination of municipal reserves and loans and grants from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, experienced slower uptake initially as homeowners learned about the process. Marketing efforts totalled $31,000 in the first year, covered by the FCM grant. Full energy savings and emissions reductions will be reported in 2029.
  
  
• As the Bearspaw feedermain repairs continue, Calgary officials report that daily water consumption recently reached 506 million litres, exceeding the desired 500 million litre threshold. Staying within this target range is necessary to ensure the system can support firefighting while reinforcements are made to the South Feeder Main. To reduce demand, residents are encouraged to save 25 litres per person daily by limiting showers to three minutes and only running full loads of laundry or dishes. Regarding construction progress, Section 3 is returning to service after valve work at the Shaganappi Pump Station. As a result, residents in north Calgary and Airdrie may notice temporary cloudiness in their water. Authorities confirm the water remains safe to drink and specify that flushing home faucets is not required.
   

🚨 This Week’s Action Item: 🚨

Join us for Pints & Politics with special guest Angela Pitt, MLA for Airdrie-East. 

Where: Atlas Brewing (#100, 2000 Market Street SE)

When: Wednesday, April 8th, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Cost: Free (Snacks provided, meals and drinks available for purchase)

RSVP: Required due to limited capacity

🪙 This Week’s Sponsor: 🪙

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