Council agreed to pay $4,000 towards the construction of a storm sewer culvert to complete a sale of land to Poplar Grove Property Development Inc. Aug. 27 instead of the $9,000 requested by the buyer.
In order to build a road to his land through the new property, formerly owned by the province, developer Dennis Wall must install an 1,800-millimetre culvert so runoff from southwestern Innisfail can pass beneath fluidly.
“The town is certainly responsible for a portion of it,” said Mayor Jim Romane who voted to split the $18,000 cost of the new approach with Poplar Grove. “I felt the town had a slightly larger obligation.”
The $60,000 price tag for the 2.29 acres, which emerged for sale after the realignment of Highway 54, covers the cost of acquiring the parcel from the province and subdivision expenses.
“All the landowners down there pay for their own approaches,” said Coun. Brian Spiller who put forward the motion. “In this case an oversize culvert was needed.”
He felt $4,000 was a fair amount to put on the table to close the deal since that is the additional cost above and beyond the price of a regular culvert.
“The developer wanted the town to pay half the cost,” he said. “That's not the normal deal.”
Spiller added promoting industrial growth is important.
“It's always a priority,” he said, adding, “We can't be giving away too many concessions.”
Coun. Heather Taylor also voted against the motion, in an effort to give a bit more and cut Poplar Grove some “slack.”
“I kind of look at the bigger picture,” she said. “He has done a lot of development in town and that was his case.”
Wall appeared in front of council Aug. 27 to support a speedy resolution and expressed interest in future industrial development opportunities.
“He has tons of interest from people who would want to start an industrial business,” said Innisfail's Chief Administrative Officer Helen Dietz, noting negotiations have not yet taken place. “People are checking out industrial land in Central Alberta.”
Wall's statements to council underscored a larger issue with industrial land in Innisfail – there isn't much more.
“At this time we're getting to where we're close to full for industrial,” she said. “Council needs to talk about that through their priorities and their budget.”
It's a problem the mayor is acutely aware of.
“It's becoming more urgent that we resolve that issue,” Romane said. “We're working on it very adamantly at this point in time.”
The way the vote was set up, if the motion to contribute $4,000 was defeated the equal cost split option would automatically be accepted. The motion passed 4-3 with Coun. Taylor, Mayor Romane and Coun. Tracey Walker voting against.
