Whether or not Laebon Homes will apply to move Waskasoo Creek in order to move forward with a development in Penhold is up for debate.
According to a town official who attended a meeting with the engineering team involved in the flood plain-affected Palisades housing development planning, Laebon Homes will no longer shift the course of a drainage ditch that funnels the Waskasoo Creek through Penhold,
But the company says it hasn't ruled the move out yet.
ìI'd be shocked if they still want to move it,î the town official said in an interview with the Province.
Laebon will rework the outline plan for the area to cover the second of two options for the development originally proposed after studies found moving the creek would not lessen the affect of flooding, he said in a report to council Feb. 11.
ìThey're not going to move the creek any longer,î said Rick Binnendyk, Penhold's CAO, during a report to council Feb. 11. ìWe met with the engineering team and went through some of the servicing plans.î
Steve Bontje managing partner for Laebon Homes, said no decision had been reached about the plans for the Waskasoo.
ìMy engineers are working on all the necessary information that we would have to provide to Alberta Environment,î he said. ìThey're doing the studies and they're doing the modelling.î
Bontje says it's exciting to be involved in the rapid growth of the town, adding a lot more work needs to be done before a decision on the creek could be made.
ìWe're happy to be a part of it and moving ahead but we still have more work to do,î he said. ìOur dream and our intention was certainly take a feature that was special and enhance it. It's not all the time you're lucky enough to have something like that that is a real defining feature.î
A spokesperson for the Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Resource Development said the agency had received no further word on plans for the movement of the creek and noted the Town of Penhold was the official applicant originally.
