Mountain View County council has set the date for the public hearing regarding a proposed redesignation of an agriculture district property to aggregate extraction-processing district west of Olds.
The move came during council's recent regularly scheduled meeting.
The proposal would see 12.15 acres redesignated on a 159.1-acre parcel in the Westerdale district approximately five kilometres west along Highway 27 and two kilometres south along Rge. Rd. 24 at NW 28-32-2-W5.
If approved the redesignation would allow for extraction of gravel and the crushing of concrete for recycling.
The applicant and property owner is Olds Concrete Services.
The county has received a number of objection letters regarding the proposed redesignation. Administration provided the following summary of the concerns raised (quoted from administration briefing note to council):
ï impact on property values because of noise, dust, increased traffic and the deterioration of the landscape.
ï proposal will not benefit the community.
ï the gravel deposit is of very low quality that developing such a substandard resource will cause more negative impacts.
ï serious concern that the proposal is to operate a recycling operation - potential to become a large industrial operation, what volumes are allowed? What measurement would be in place and how to monitor them?
ï would the landowner be responsible for future potential of road damage?
In one letter, nearby residents Joel and Judy Thompson said, in part, that, "While we understand that the applicant is proposing what they believe to be a small scale operation, we still have concerns and feel as though we don't have enough reassurances that the site will not evolve into a much larger scale recycling-aggregate operation in the future."
One letter of concern came from Chinook's Edge School Division.
"We have concern with the added traffic this will add on this road," said Bonnie Milman, administration assistant corporate services with CESD. "The bus driver on this route indicates that the road is narrow and when the driver meets another vehicle, the bus stops to allow the vehicle to pass.
"The driver also commented on the steep ditches on either side and a blind corner on the road."
The applicant provided a response to the landowners' concerns. Those responses include the following (quoted from administration briefing note):
ï the concrete brought onto the site would be from local municipalities (15 kilometre radius).
ï volume of concrete is between one and 10 loads per week, or about 200 loads a year.
ï the intent of the business is to transport the crusher to the dumpsites owned by municipalities, businesses and construction sites on their properties. The concrete crusher is a specialized mobile machine designed for transport.
ï Seasonal part-time operation. Crushing on site would be on rain days and in between large contracts.
ï concrete recycling is a very environmentally friendly option.
ï Not expected to have a large volume of truck activity.
ï We plan on working with the county's guidelines and recommendations.
In a letter to nearby residents, the applicant said, in part, that "this is not a large-scale typical gravel pit. The area in question is quite small. It is of no comparison to other local aggregate operations, the volume of gravel to be extracted is quite minimal.
"Gravel will be produced in small quantities and only on an as needed basis. This will not be a crushing operation where the machines are working 24 hours per day."
Council gave first reading to the bylaw redesignating the lands and setting March 8 as the public hearing date.
In other news, council accepted amendments to the procedure for dust suppression to reflect two applications of calcium per year.
The approval came during the recent regularly scheduled council meeting.
The new procedure allows for one application of calcium in the spring of 2.5 litres per square metre, and a second optional application in the summer at a rate of one litre per square metre.
"We still have concerns and feel as though we don't have enough reassurances that the site will not evolve into a much larger scale recycling-aggregate operation in the future."Joel and Judy Thompson
