Plans to service Bragg Creek with water and wastewater will provide a “huge opportunity to move the community forward,” said area councillor Liz Breakey.
Breakey was responding to a presentation updating council on a water solution for the hamlet during an infrastructure and operations meeting April 16.
With neither water or wastewater servicing in the area, encouraging local development is next to impossible, explained Breakey. She added there hasn’t been any development in the hamlet for almost 20 years.
Breakey, an obvious supporter of the proposed plan, said providing safe potable water would help bring development back to the hamlet. She said 30 of the 63 businesses in the hamlet are paying top dollars to pump-in water, some as much as $40,000 to $50,000 a year.
If a water and wastewater solution is found, she said, there are “wonderful developments on the horizon,” including plans for hamlet expansion by Banded Peak School.
“There are 200 students and they are virtually all from Redwood Meadows,” she said, stressing the school is in danger of shutting down because of the lack of local students. She added it is imperative to get more people, including younger families in the area, to keep the hamlet alive.
Members of the Bragg Creek Citizens Advisory Committee, who presented at the meeting, said they have found a “win-win” water solution for the hamlet. Sunil Mattu and Sharon Bayer of the citizen committee, presented a cost-share breakdown of the estimated $15.8-million project for consideration.
Through a local improvement tax, residents and businesses will pay $5.8 million of the total cost. The advisory committee proposes residents pay 40 per cent of the $5.8 million or $2.32 million. This would break down to $967 a year or $81 a month.
Businesses would pay $3.5 million to make up the difference.
As for the remaining costs, $3 million has already been secured through grants and is dedicated to building the wastewater line along River Drive South this year and $5 million is expected to come from grants or other funding sources. Mattu and Bayer asked council to consider approving an additional $2 million from taxes this year so the water line could be trenched at the same time.
“We want the water and wastewater line at the same time to save time and money and to lessen the environmental impact,” said Mattu.
When questioned by council, Byron Riemann, manager of infrastructure and operations at the county, confirmed grants for the $5 million aren’t “nailed down.” In the case that grants can not be received, the $5 million will be taken on as county debt to be recovered by developers, he explained. Reeve Rolly Ashdown expressed hesitation in the plan.
“I don’t want people in seven years to say that we were front-ending this,” he said, referring to council’s decision in 2007 to enter into a cost share agreement with the Lakes of Muirfield developers to create a sanitary pipe from the Dalroy to the Langdon Wastewater Treatment Plant. Expected development never came to the area, which would have helped pay to complete the line. Instead, since 2008, the county has been trucking wastewater from the Lakes of Muirfield from Dalroy to the Chestermere lift station.
This service has cost $235,000 more per year than Rocky View receives in service fees.
The deficit is covered through general tax dollars.
Councillor Margaret Bahcheli pointed out these two situations aren’t comparable and said in this situation, 70 per cent of the funding is coming from residents where the situation Ashdown was referring to was 100 per cent front-ended by the county.
Councillor Al Sacuta said council shouldn’t worry how this will look and should instead focus on “getting this right.”
He said he is ‘not a big fan’ of front-loading debt and his preference would be to get an interested developer involved but if that is not an option, he would be willing to support this initiative.
Councillor Lois Habberfield also rejected Ashdown’s concerns and said this project is a necessity.
“I think we are really close,” agreed deputy reeve Paul McLean of reaching a decision.
“It’s taken years to get to this point,” added councillor Kim Magnuson. She said she would like to hold a workshop to discuss getting the $5 million back through development levies before voting on it as a council but added this is a great step forward.
“I will support this because it is exactly what we need to do,” said Ashdown. “I just want the entire community to understand exactly what we are getting into,” he said.
The committee accepted the presentation and asked for a council workshop before having it brought back to council for consideration.
