A proposed $11 million project to connect Town of Canmore water to Dead Man’s Flats in the MD of Bighorn is a go after a special meeting, Monday (Aug. 19).
On Monday, Reeve Dene Cooper and Councillors Paul Ryan and Carolyn Montgomery voted to move forward with the water and wastewater servicing project, with Erik Butters voting against going ahead with the project, which will be designed and built by Bremner Engineering. Reid Thomas did not attend the meeting.
While funding for the project largely relies on provincial grants, creation of a local improvement levy on property owners and $1 million up front (of $1.5 million) from the developers of the River’s Bend/Limestone Valley project, as much as $2.9 million will come out of MD reserves, a situation Butters said he is not comfortable with.
Butters said he doesn’t have a problem with the actual project in Dead Man’s, “and I don’t have a problem with connecting to Canmore. I have no grudge against the developer, but I’m going to vote against it, it’s beyond my threshold of risk.
“Three million dollars is a huge risk for us. I hope it’s famously successful, but it’s beyond my risk threshold.
“I think our reserves are woefully inadequte and we have flood issues, our workshop is substandard, Exshaw Fire is barely standard and I think all these projects will be set back for a number of years from this project.
“It’s more risk than I’m comfortable with and I’m not happy with the funding model.”
Ryan said he doesn’t share Butters’ concerns and said he thinks money made from the sale of land in Dead Man’s to developers is now being put back into the hamlet and the MD.
“I think we sold with the intention of developing and we will get it back.”
Montgomery said Dead Man’s has limited opportunity for development, “and I think the only way to do this is to support something like this.”
Cooper said he acknowledged that everyone has different comfort levels with risk. “If one person is risk adversive and one isn’t, I’m not sure who is right.
“I am sure you’re right on one thing; we’re happy, not wealthy, and it could result in other projects delayed, that’s a very real aspect.
“On the other hand, some things with Dead Man’s Flats are in place. Three years ago, I didn’t have real optimism. But this is what the Government of Alberta funds highest for and they would rather have a regional system than a standalone system.
“This could have been $25 million (without provincial funding), but this is $11 million. This is the careful and prudent way of putting a high quality water system in Dead Man’s Flats.
“I think having residential and commercial and visitor accommodation is a very balanced approach. I think it’s good for the economy of the hamlet and of the MD in the future. This allows Dead Man’s Flats to find its way as a much more developed community and making a greater contribution to the whole MD.
“I believe the risks are manageable.”
According to the MD, the funding breakdown for the Dead Man’s Flat water and wastewater services projects is – $6.45 million from the provincial Water for Life and Alberta Municipal Infrastructure grants, $1.5 million from the Rivers’ Bend/Limestone developer, $700,000 from property owners via the improvement levy and the $2.9 million from MD reserves.
