The town's representative on the South Red Deer Regional Wastewater Commission is upbeat that a meeting taking place on April 17 in Edmonton with provincial officials will see some movement on the funding arrangement for the wastewater line.
The provincial government announced in March it was backing away from its previous pledge to fund 90 per cent of the cost of the wastewater line, which will extend from Olds to Red Deer, and is now only committing to 80 per cent of the funding.
Coun. Harvey Walsh, Olds' representative on the committee, said Premier Alison Redford told a gathering at the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties a couple of weeks ago that the government would be honouring all commitments made before the provincial budget was handed down last month.
“The … municipalities can't afford to take on that (cost), since the province was the one that pretty well dictated that this is how we're going to go and it's a huge increase for our municipal (ratepayers),” he said.
Walsh said to have the provincial government changing its level of funding when the line is 80 per cent completed is a tough challenge for municipalities.
“You feel like you're being held hostage a little bit, but it'll get resolved I'm sure. It's not realistic to say we go that far and then stop,” he said.
Walsh said if the municipalities were able to afford the system on their own without provincial government help, rates would most certainly double over what they were last year.
Members of the board of the wastewater commission, including Walsh, and several mayors including Judy Dahl, will be meeting with provincial Transportation Minister Ric McIver, Minister of Municipal Affairs Doug Griffiths and a representative from the provincial Ministry of Environment.
Walsh said the commission would like the provincial government to agree to its previous commitment, recognizing that the costs of the project have risen to $130 million from original project estimates of $107 million when the first cost estimates were calculated in 2007.
“The cost of pipe alone went up 30 per cent in that time period,” he said.
