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Future of Ag Society lands to be examined by council

Coun. Crystal Kissel's motion for the relatively new Rocky View County council to take a fresh look at the future for the Ag Society lands was met with support at the July 10 council meeting.
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Coun. Crystal Kissel's motion for the relatively new Rocky View County council to take a fresh look at the future for the Ag Society lands was met with support at the July 10 council meeting. "The Ag Society needs some answers, so we as a council need to decide what is the best scenario for that land," she said, adding that it was determined that the Ag Society lands were in fact not on a disposal list for a possible future sale, only that they were identified as "under review" to potentially be on a sale list at this time. The lands will not be put on the disposal list unless council passes a resolution to do so. Ag Society president Justin Burwash requested to speak at the debate in chambers, which was not permitted as per process. "My hope out of yesterday was to have a committee formed that would include the Town of Cochrane, the County and the Ag Society ... and for that committee to come forward with recommendations on what is best for the Ag Society," said Burwash, adding that while he remains concerned over the "physical and financial hurdles" of keeping the society at the current site rather than relocating it, he would welcome whatever the determination may be. Burwash said it's critical to determine the future of the society first, in order to best decide the future of the lands. Burwash has gone on record expressing his concerns for keeping the Ag Society at the current site. Some Ag Society members have expressed concern over a potential sale of those lands  – which are in the Town of Cochrane, where zoning would be at the town's discretion – and where that leaves the society. Council has directed administration to return to the Sept. 11 council meeting with a report outlining the history of the lands essentially sold to the county by the province for $1 in 1999 to be used for recreational purposes. The Cochrane and District Ag Society has been in a long-term lease with the county for the 146-acre site. Rather than renewing the society's 50-year lease in 2015, the last council moved forward with accepting requests for proposals for potential suitable buyers of those lands - identified as surplus county lands. Since 2016, the contentious matter has been up in the air, with many user groups concerned over the future of the Ag Society and the possibility of future residential development on the site. Mayor Jeff Genung said that Cochrane "supports the current land use of the site" and is interested to see how the county will move forward.

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