Although most north side property owners on Sundre's east side have paid the $7,000 service fee before the controversial Nov. 14 deadline, it has been a struggle for some to come up with the cash, especially seniors and retirees.
“If the town had it together then it could have been on our taxes and there would be none of this hassle,” said retired east side resident Janis Kristjanson. “They have just gone so extreme and it's almost like loan sharking – if you don't pay up by Nov. 14 then it's going to be more than 100 per cent more.”
Kristjanson said she “unwillingly” paid the $7,000 by the deadline, but said if it's not finished in two years she then wants her money back.
“I gave them the money on good faith that it was going to be done and they don't even know what they're doing down here, they might not even do it,” she said. “Luckily I had sold something so I was OK that way but I know there are people who just can't afford it.”
Kristjanson said everybody in the east side is going through the current inconvenience and even hardship, which she adds is because of the construction of the new 80-unit Best Western Mountain View Inn and Suites which will be serviced by the new multi-million dollar water and waste water lines.
“You'll probably get the same opinion from everyone, we all feel the same.”
Another east side senior, who declined to be identified, said the town's policy on payment was "handled badly", adding, “It was $7,000 for a non-existing thing.”
Retired east side resident Grant Frasier said the deposit fee was just “throwing money away” and that the payment has not added anything to his property and could have been better spent elsewhere.
“It came out of our retirement and to be quite honest there was other designations for it so now that's gone,” said Frasier.
He said for a megaproject this size in a small town like Sundre the cost is out of line for what it is actually servicing.
“I think the project economically makes no sense. There is going to be a lot of issues to come up yet with money. I don't think it's going to be a cakewalk,” said Frasier.
“Why do they (town) need the money so badly and so quickly? I think there's a story there somewhere.”
His wife Jan said it's the “all-of-a-sudden part” they really can't fathom, and that the short 28-day timeline they were given by the town to make the $7,000 payment made no sense.
Jim Brosh, retired east side resident and former council member, agreed, adding the short notice was unacceptable because members of that community simply do not earn “six-figure salaries.”
He said he told Mayor Annette Clews she should be ashamed of herself by the poor way the issue had been handled and how it has adversely affected east side residents.
"I phoned the mayor up...I said and I felt it, you should be ashamed of yourself, you don't do these things to people,” said Brosh. “The mayor should be going around knocking on our doors saying this is where we're at. If we're in a financial fix, tell us.
“The biggest thing I found with council, even being on it, was the lack of communication; they do not communicate with people,” he said.
