The $25,000 fee for an industrial subdivision to connect to the Town of Sundre's water and wastewater services has been waived for a developer.
Sundre council decided to waive the fee after receiving a letter from Strathmore Lakes Estates Ltd.'s consulting company, which states that the services have already been paid for. The letter is dated Nov. 26.
Developer Al Bertram of Strathmore Lakes Estates Ltd. recently submitted an application for subdivision to the town to create a 35-metre by 84-metre lot west of the existing 814 5th Avenue SW civic address lot.
Bertram claims the installation of water mains and sewer mains has already been paid for, according to the letter signed by Peter Mulyk of Mulyk Consulting Inc.
The application had been put on hold pending the outcome of council's decision.
“This past summer 5th Avenue SW was upgraded from 7th Street SW to 10th Street SW with the construction and installation of water mains, sewer mains, curb and gutter and paved roadway,” says Mulyk.
“This ($25,000 connection fee) would be an extra cost to be added to the selling price of the proposed new lot and our client is concerned that the resulting selling price may exceed what the market may bear.
“Having installed and paid for its portion of the 5th Avenue SW servicing and now having to pay, as per Bylaw No. 10.13, an additional $25,000 for water and wastewater services already installed would appear that our client would be paying twice.”
There would also be the possibility that Bertram would have had to pay the $25,000 fee more than once, according to Erin O'Neill, the town's manager of planning and development.
“If he would have made one subdivision it would have been one fee, but given that he doesn't know the size of the lots (that he might sell) he was going to have to make multiple lots. So it would have been a lot per every subdivision application,” said O'Neill.
She said there is the possibility for at least 10 lots to be created on 5th Avenue SW.
During the council meeting on Dec. 2, councillors debated whether or not to waive the fee.
Coun. Chris Vardas said the fee is too high in Sundre and that it averages $10,000 to $15,000 in other municipalities. He said it should be waived for the developer.
Coun. Paul Isaac questioned if it had to be waived or if the charge should be lower in general.
It was the decision of council to waive the fee for all of the lots that are created along 5th Avenue SW by the developer. Councillors Tony Jordan and Verna McFadden were opposed.
The previous council passed the connection fee bylaw during the Sept. 16 council meeting. The bylaw establishes a connection fee of $15,000 for residential parcels and $25,000 for commercial.
