Meota was the first gas co-op to be established in Alberta in 1962. Together with other rural gas co-ops in Alberta, we are now part of the worlds largest rural gas system. The Board of Directors of Meota gas co-op would like to welcome you to our web site. Please have a look around if you can’t find what you’re looking for please contact us. It is Meota’s goal to deliver natural gas to its members and customers in a safe and reliable manner. Our office is located in the hamlet of Priddis, at 178081 Priddis Valley Rd.

Meota Gas Co-operative Ltd. offers many services in our service area, from setting up gas service to new homes, maintaining and upgrading existing gas accounts, furnace cleanings, to managing safety issues.. 

403-931-2161

THE TELUS PROPOSAL TO ERECT A COMMUNICATIONS TOWER ON MEOTA PROPERTY IN PRIDDIS

As many of you have noticed last week, TELUS erected a large sign along Meota’s fence line facing Priddis Valley Road. This signage is required to provide notice to area residences of TELUS’s forthcoming application to Foothills County pursuant to the Land Use Bylaw and in accordance with the requirements of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISEDC, formerly Industry Canada) for support to construct a telecommunications tower at a proposed site on the north-west corner of Meota property.  TELUS was also required to send written notice to all residents living within 1.6 km. radius of the proposed tower’s location.  All interested parties have until November 7, 2020 to submit their written comments to TELUS for consideration before the Foothills County Council.

Meota was initially approached by TELUS as one of four potential commercial sites within the hamlet of Priddis in 2019.  When negotiations with other parties were unsuccessful, TELUS again approached Meota in 2020.

A site lease option was negotiated with TELUS this year and their application preparation work was completed during the summer, with the formal application filed in September.  Meota required that the tower location be set back as far as possible from Priddis Valley Rd and in the northwest corner next to our service building.

Meota’s position on this application is neutral.  We anticipated that there would be a spectrum of opinions both for and against the construction of a monopole communications tower within the hamlet and based on the calls and emails the office has received over the past week, both for and against the project, this has proved to be true.  The final decision should be made in accordance with public consultation and full opportunity for community concerns to be heard.  Meota takes no part in that process. 

Internally, from an operational perspective, we have experienced serious issues with poor communications here for several years that has hindered our operations and posed significant safety risks to our staff, particularly when working alone and after hours when responding to service calls, but without cell phone coverage due to poor reception.  Meota considered the merits of improved tele-communications within our service area that would result from upgraded infrastructure such as fiber optic cable or the installation of a communications tower at Priddis.  Currently, this tower proposal was the only option available.

Based on our internal evaluation of the project from Meota’s operational requirements, we concluded that installation of a communications tower would provide the following benefits:

• We will experience increased safety for our staff while performing their duties with increased coverage while reducing the areas with reduced or no reception.This is a critical consideration for Meota to remain in compliance with ‘working alone’ requirements under OH & S regulations.

• Gives us an option of equipping our meter stations with cellular connections in hard to reach areas, thereby reducing service costs and increasing timely reliability.

• Increased bandwidth would allow for uploading to the cloud, increasing our cyber security and facilitating reliable remote security alerts for our office, shop and yard.

• On a daily operational basis, it would help expedite our initiative to go paperless and allow for immediate remote access to utility files, maps and forms for service personnel while in the field.

• The annual lease rental revenue benefits all Meota’s customers.The revenue generated goes into general revenue, helping to reduce future increases in our service rates.

• With the annual revenue generated from the Telus Lease, members/customers will continue to experience natural gas costs 10% to 20% less that ATCO customers typically pay.

Based on the telephone and e-mail communications Meota has received from our members over the past week, the following is a summary of these comments.

Those residents supporting the construction of the tower have stated:

• Increased bandwidth for internet service.

• Better cellular phone connectivity.

• Elimination/reduction of reduced or no cellular reception

• Faster internet service

• Currently no other options exist

Those residents opposed to construction of the tower have stated:

• The tower will be an unsightly eyesore in our community.

• The tower poses danger in the event of collapse.

• The increased microwave intensity poses a health risk to residents of Priddis.

• The tower and resulting improved telecommunications is unnecessary.

• Fiber optics would be a better, less intrusive means of providing better internet access.

• The presence of the tower will depreciate the value of nearby properties.

It is readily apparent that the TELUS application is controversial within our community.  We understand and appreciate that reality.

Accordingly, we strongly encourage anyone with comments or concerns to address those to TELUS and to the Foothills County Council by written submission prior to November 7, 2020.  In our negotiations with TELUS, we advised them to consider ways to change the colour or even the design of the pole to address community concerns.  You may wish to also consider such options in your comments to the formal application process before County Council.

Attached for your convenience and reference is the formal notice from TELUS concerning public input for the Foothills County proceeding:

Linewalking

To our Member’s

We have started Line walking to detect natural gas leaks throughout our distribution system. This is a mandatory reporting requirement from the Federation of Gas Cooperatives, Rural Utilities and Measurement Canada. You may see our Technicians walking along our underground natural gas line on your property. Our Technicians will not be driving through your fields and will leave the all gates as they are found.

Our Technicians will be following all Federal and Provincial recommendations and precautions during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Our Technicians will be easily identified by wearing blue coverall or high visibility vests and hard hat. They will be driving a white Chevrolet or white Dodge service truck.

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact Meota Gas Cooperative by email; manager@meotagas.com or by phone at (403) 931 2161 during business hours.

Cash as Payment

Dear Member/Customer,

During these unprecedented times of the coronavirus pandemic Meota Gas has taken the opportunity to review our policy regarding accepting cash as payment for services. We have determined that by accepting cash we are increasing a health and safety risk to our staff and customers. For this reason the Board of Directors have directed the Manager for Meota Gas to no longer accept cash as payment for your monthly natural gas consumption invoice or any other service we provide. This new policy will take effect immediately.

 We do have other payment options such as paying by cheque, online banking, Pre-authorized debit, or pay at your bank or ATM. If you would like to participate in our Pre-authorized Debit program, please send an email to admin@meotagas.com or fill out a Pre-Authorized Debit form on our web page at www.meotagas.com and drop it off (though the mail slot)to us or email it to admin@meotagas.com. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

 General Manager

     Luc LeBlanc                                                                     

Operations Update 

Dear Members,

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Meota Gas, the Board of Directors and Management have been closely monitoring the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation since its development and have been making preparations to safeguard our staff, members, and community. Following the announcement by the Alberta Government to introduce sweeping measures to slow the spread of COVID-19 across the province, Meota Gas is activating its Business Continuity Plan.

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Effective, Monday, March 16, 2020, the Meota Gas office will be closed to the public and all non-essential operations will be suspended for the time being. The staff will still be available by phone and email. To make payments to the office,  payments can be dropped through the door mail slot. However, we would prefer all payments be made by pre-authorized debit or online. To set either of these payment options up please phone the office.

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Meota Gas remains committed to maintaining effective communication with our customers; you can continue to reach us through our emails and office phone. All voicemails left on our office lines are automatically forwarded to our on-call service technician so we can follow-up as required.

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On behalf of the Meota, the Board of Directors and Management, we encourage all of our members to understand that these are unprecedented times and we all need to work together to help reduce the impact of this growing pandemic.

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Feel free to reach out to us should you have any questions or concerns.

Meota Office: 403-931-2161 & admin@meotagas.com

Manager, Luc LeBlanc: manager@meotagas.com

Operations Manager, John Martin: johnmartin@meotagas.com

Annual General Meeting Postponed 

Please be advised that the Board of Directors of Meota Gas Co-operative Association Ltd. has determined that the Annual General Meeting originally scheduled for Monday, March 23, 2020 has been postponed. This action is taken in the best interests of our members and our staff in line with the directives issued on March 12, 2020 by Alberta's Chief Medical Officer of Health as well as guidance from the Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, Rural Utilities Branch in efforts to contain or slow the progress of COVID-19 virus in the province. We will monitor this situation carefully to determine when and how we can proceed with the Meota Annual General Meeting this year. We regret any inconvenience this may cause but the health and safety of our members and staff is of primary concern.