Mountain View County will help fund repairs to an asphalt roadway leading up to the Mountain View seed cleaning plant outside Carstairs.
A motion authorizing the county to fund 75 per cent of the cost of the repairs to Rge. Rd. 12 was passed at the recent regularly scheduled council meeting.
“I think it’s a good compromise,” said Angela Aalbers, Mountain View County deputy reeve.
There is a short stretch of asphalt on the road that extends south of Highway 581 at the entrance of the plant. That section is in need of repair.
“Historically the county has required a financial contribution from the company that is benefiting from the road upgrade/repair,” administration said in a briefing note to council.
In August council considered the request to fund 100 per cent of the cost of the repairs and asked for more information from the company, Mountain View Seed Cleaning Plant Ltd.
In a letter in response to the request, the company made a proposal to cover 25 per cent of the cost, up to a maximum of $15,000.
“With the road being gravelled we had issues with clay, dirt and gravel falling off trucks inside as we unload on the scale, this made it hard to keep the scale clean and it sometimes meant we had to chip hardened clay off the scale,” plant manager Alastair Truesale said in the letter.
“The road being paved greatly reduces the work required to keep the scale clean and reduces contaminants that would fall into the receiving pit.”
The total cost estimate for the repair project is $55,000, with the work to be done in 2020. The county's share could be about $42,000.
The seed plant is operated as a not-for-profit community-owned cooperative.
