By Jasmine Franklin
Instead of directions such as — west on Highway 53, left at the gravel road and five miles past Johnny’s barn — an accurate rural addressing system is being considered by Ponoka County council.
In a meeting Oct. 13, Coun. Paul McLaughlin expressed the need for rural addressing in the county.
“We certainly can’t avoid it in new subdivisions,” McLaughlin said. “Some people I’ve talked to have even offered to pay for the signage themselves.”
If the system were implemented and the county responsible for the estimated $300,000 costs, it would take some time, said Charlie Cutforth, chief administrative officer.
“It will take until the end of this year to create a layout plan,” Cutforth said. “The amount of time it would take to implement the plan depends on how the signage is done — if individuals bought their own signs it could kick-off right away.”
Signs would be needed for 3,000 properties.
Council agreed the system would be useful for emergency response services, allowing the teams easier access to finding locations.
The council proposed for direct administration to put together a potential plan that would entail details of the system and cost coverage.