The owner of one of the largest gravel pit operations in Mountain View County decided to retire from the business last month ñ and one of the reasons was the increasing amount of fees and paperwork imposed on him by the county.Eli Dobush, in a letter to the reeve and council dated Nov. 7, totals up the added costs since 2009, when the county required gravel pit operators to apply for development permits.The permit itself cost $700 while the consulting firm recommended by the county to provide technical information for the permit charged $13,000, Dobush said. Dust control cost $2,500 in 2010 and $6,000 in 2011, and a $25,000 cash bond was required under the county's road-use agreement.That brings the total expenses ñ or in the case of the bond, money that's been tied up ñ to $47,200, he wrote. And because of the permit, he added, Alberta Environment has requested the company post a $78,000 refundable deposit.Added to all this, the county will levy a 25-cent-per-tonne charge to sand and gravel operators under the Community Aggregate Program starting Jan. 1. With his company's sales averaging 80,000 tonnes annually, the CAP levy will take off another $20,000 a year.ìIf that's not bad enough, I have to hire office staff to complete your gravel sale returns,î Dobush wrote.ìWhen you size this all up, it doesn't make much sense to stay in business.îIn his letter, Dobush quotes a comment from Reeve Bruce Beattie that recently appeared in the Gazette, where the reeve noted that each application is different and suggested council evaluate each case on its own merit.ìIf you inspected our pit operation, saw the landscaped, reclaimed areas that no one asked me or made me do, you would agree we don't need deposits to operate our pit,î Dobush wrote.ìBecause all of the above, plus my age,î he concluded, ìit is my intention to remove myself from our present operation, which I managed. I also intend to cancel all documents that are signed by me.îIn a postscript, he added: ìYou must well realize that all of these extra expenses are passed on, mostly to your taxpayers, as a hidden tax. Personally I would much rather pay a few hundred dollars more to my county tax bill than create all this extra work.îDobush, 74, had operated Olds Contracting since 1965.
