Woodlands County - Woodlands County dipped into its reserves to control its beaver population.
During their April 24 Whitecourt meeting, councillors approved an unbudgeted expense of $10,997, not including GST, for its 2024 beaver control trapping contract. The contract is for six months of service and starts in May.
The previous contract expired in the fall.
Agricultural services manager Dawn Fortin said that, per the county's requirement, the municipality put the contract up for tender and received one bid from the previous contract holder.
"The bid was significantly higher than expected due to the increased costs that the trapper anticipates, primarily due to inflation on the items required for the job," she explained.
Fortin did not say how much the municipality had initially budgeted for the service, nor was it in the public agenda package.
She added the costs for beaver control are shared between agricultural services budgets for private lands and infrastructure.
"Unfortunately, when we drafted the budget, we did not include enough in the infrastructure portion," Fortin said
She added that the unbudgeted amount, the previously mentioned $10,997 excluding GST, would be taken from the municipality's expected 2024 operating surplus.
Whitecourt Central Coun. Alan Deane moved to approve administration's recommendation.
