An updated planning report regarding the possible construction of a grader storage building on the east side of Mountain View County has been presented to the county's policies and priorities committee.
The presentation came during the recent regularly scheduled committee meeting.
“In 2014, operation services prepared a report titled ‘The Didsbury Shop Needs Assessment',” Ron Baker, director of operations, said in a briefing note to the committee. “One of the recommendations from this report was to look at constructing a shop east of Highway 2 where the county currently has no facilities to store equipment. This facility would help increase the efficiency of county operations east of the QE II and decrease response time in the winter.”
On instructions from the county, the operational services department hired a consultant to prepare a report on the future construction and estimated costs.
“The overall goal is to construct a facility similar to the one at the Luft Pit,” he said. “Operational services would utilize the county owned property at the former Elliott gravel pit in SE 23-31-27-W4. In the first phase the county would get the property rezoned and obtain proper permits.” In September the department presented a report on the costs and scope of the proposed project.
“The policies and priorities committee then directed administration to come back with a revised report with a smaller scope which would be serviced from this proposed shop,” he said.
“The report includes maps of the grader beats and the proposed servicing strategy for graders from this shop.”
The updated report presented to the committee on March 2 calls for a shop with three bays, fuelling capacity for vehicles and equipment, and a safe and secure storage yard.
The site would be on approximately 1.2 acres of developed land, and would include a water well, sewage tank, security fencing and utility servicing.
The shop itself would be approximately 4,050 square feet, down from the original proposed size of 6,300 square feet.
The updated building cost has now been estimated at $644,274 for a pre-engineered shop, plus $276,318 for yard site development.
The new building would house about $1.5-million worth of equipment, the committee heard.
The committee passed a motion accepting the report as information. A followup report will be made to council at an upcoming meeting.
Councillors Al Kemmere and Ken Heck did not attend the March 2 committee meeting.
