Sundre town council has passed another motion relating the ongoing east side services local improvement plan, this one regarding property owners who reside on commercial/industrial zoned properties.
During a special council meeting on January 31, councillors passed the following motion:
ìCouncillor Chris Vardas moved that the Town of Sundre Council moves to apply a $24,000 Local Improvement Levy to the properties on the east side of the Red Deer River that are taxed residential, with the exception of the vacant lots and the mobile home park which will be levied at the commercial/industrial rate, and a $1,329.87/front meter Local Improvement Levy to the properties that are taxed commercial/industrial for the East Side Services project for Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III.
ìIf a residentially-taxed, commercially/industrially-zoned property is sold or is used commercially/industrially prior to the Local Improvement Levy commencing, the Local Improvement levied will reflect that change.î
After the motion passed, Mayor Annette Clews said: ìTo me this way is fair and equitable for everyone.î
A number of east side ratepayers attended last week's special council meeting to see the motion passed.
Sundre town councillors have already approved the local improvement plan for eastside services, as well as a 20-year timeline for resident and commercial owner repayment of the levy.
The plan calls for the provision of water, wastewater, storm water, fire hydrants, paving, curb, and gutter to the properties on the east side of the Red Deer River.
The plan covers all parcels of land on 7 Street NE, 1 Avenue NE, Main Avenue East (of Red Deer River), 5 Street SE, 6 Street SE, 1 Avenue SE, and 11 Street NE.
The total estimated cost of the local improvement is $4.5 million. The estimated residential local improvement is $1,320,000, and the estimated commercial/industrial local improvement is $3,180,000.
The estimated local improvement includes the capital costs of construction of the water, wastewater, storm water, fire hydrants, paving, curb, and gutter.
The provincial and federal governments are contributing $6 million towards the project.
Owners of property on the east side of the Red Deer River, prior to the 2010 annexation, are liable to pay the local improvement.
Residents and commercial owners will have 10 years to connect to the system from the time of availability of services at their respective property.
Councillors also gave administration a direction to look for grants that might be used to help residents pay for the capping of their existing water wells and the decommissioning of their septic systems.
In a note to council accompanying last week's motion, interim CAO Wanda Watson Neufeld said: ìThere are 16 lots of the east side that are zoned industrial/commercial but currently house residents. Based on frontage calculations, some residents living on commercial/industrial-zoned lands may pay much more than the residential levy. Some, however, will pay less.
ìWhen the Town of Sundre began working on the east side servicing project, council indicated to the residents of the east side that they would not be responsible for more than $3 million of the project by way of local improvement.î
Engineers from BSEI say the installation of water and wastewater lines is scheduled to take place in three phases, with Phase I starting this spring.
Phase 1 will involve the installation of water and sewer, including new curbs and gutters, to 38 residential and three commercial/industrial lots. Phase II will involve 22 lots, and Phase III will involve 51 lots.
The local improvement bylaw and the local improvement borrowing bylaw could come before council for first reading on February 7.
The petition period for interested parties to petition the borrowing bylaw runs from Feb. 23 to March 10.
Other scheduled timelines include mid-April for the deep utilities construction to begin, and June or September for the borrowing from the Alberta Capital Finance Authority.
