Mountain View County council has approved a new gravel supply strategy for the municipality. The move came by way of motion at the recent regularly scheduled council meeting.
Operational services prepared the strategy on the instruction of council to outline options and certainties going forward regarding the supply of aggregate for road construction and road maintenance purposes.
“The county has always maintained an inventory of gravel pits throughout the county,” administration said in the report. “These pits have not only been in Mountain View County but in the surrounding municipalities of Rocky View County and Red Deer County.
“Obtaining gravel as close to where it is needed has provided the county a cost-effective way to maintain its road system over the decades and achieving a high level of service to which the public has come accustomed.”
The report looks at a number of factors impacting gravel production and its use in the county. Those include environmental and social impacts of gravel pits, supply, gravel usage in county operations, strategies to reduce gravel use, and recommendations.
The environmental and social impacts of gravel pits section of the report states, in part, that in recent years the county has made efforts to bridge the gap between gravel pit operators and the general public, including the implementation of a specific district for gravel pits and associated uses.
“The aggregate extraction and processing district was introduced primarily to allow the affected public to provide comments with regards to gravel pit applications and participate in the public hearing prior to council deciding on the land use.”
The gravel production costs section of the report states, in part, that limiting hours allowed for crushing would have an associated cost.
“This change could affect crushing costs by 25 per cent to 50 per cent. A 25 per cent increase on 500,000 yards of gravel could cost the county nearly $482,500 per year. This cost would be directly absorbed by the county re-gravel program. The result will either be a decrease in service levels or budget would have to be adjusted accordingly.”
The majority of Mountain View County’s gravel reserve is located west of Sundre in the airport pit quarters, the report states.
“The gravel contained in these quarters equates to 40 per cent of the county’s future gravel requirements.
“The Bergen and Kammrath-Bartels pits are also very important sources of aggregate equaling nearly 30 per cent of the county requirements. The county needs to pursue obtaining land zoning and permits on the airport pit and Bearberry lands to ensure access to this gravel.”
The county’s current gravel use includes a re-gravelling program, which uses an average of 180,000 to 200,000 tonnes of gravel per year. Other uses include the re-chipping program yearly average of 12,600 tonnes, the county construction program 50,000 tonnes, county facilities and county ratepayers 20,000 and sales of 282,600 tonnes.
The report’s recommendations include the following:
• Obtain development permit on the airport pit lands to provide gravel supply west of Sundre following the depletion of McDougal Pit estimated for 2020.
• Secure the surface material lease for the Winchell Pit.
• Complete 2019 project testing options for chemical stabilizers on the Lochend Road.
• Pursue the purchase of other properties that contain gravel reserves as opportunities arise.
The complete gravel supply strategy is available for viewing on the county’s website.
