By JULIE BERTRAND
Independent Reporter
Stettler county council voted to amend two policies that could create some contentious issues for residents and the county administration.
Under the first amendment voted on at the Feb. 9 regular meeting of the council, residents will not be able to push snow across county roads and pile excess snow in the county right of ways anymore.
The decision was taken on grounds that the practice compromises the safety of both road users and county equipment operators. It is also said to negatively impact the quality of the roads and quantity of gravel remaining on the county roads.
“This becomes quite a dangerous practice. It tends to be a liability issue. It’s on our right of way,” said Ron Bannister, director of infrastructure and operations.
“We didn’t put it there but I’m sure that if somebody gets into an accident and a lawsuit happens, it’s going to fall on the county.”
Council also decided to adjust the current agriculture policy on stubble burning. Residents of the county will have to obtain a fire permit to burn stubble on land.
“It is just to have a mechanism to notify the fire department that there is going to be any kind of fire for burning stubble. It’s just a fire concern,” said Tim Fox, CAO.
Council passed unanimously a local improvement plan for Rochon Sands Estates. The county will issue a tender for the hard-surfacing of streets in Rochon Sands Estates.
The estimated cost is $250,000. The cost will be equally shared by the county and the benefitting landowners. There will be a 10-year debenture at 347.81 per year per landowner.
In another tender, council has awarded the hauling of 45,000 yards of gravel from the Bashaw and Hand Hills pits to Re-Em Transportation. The gravel will be hauled to the Highway 53 stockpile, the Nevil stockpile and the Asdee stockpile.
The tender will also be expanded to include an additional 15,000 yards of gravel from Hand Hills.
The total cost should be $ 474,136. Council hopes to have all the gravel out of the Bashaw pit by 2014.
Encana presented its 2011 plans for the county at the meeting
The company plans to drill roughly 50 wells per year likely over the next five years in the Ewing Lake area, the council was told.
Encana has been drilling a number wells deeper there to target the Mannville coal bed methane as well as the Mannville sands, which are situated 400 metres deeper than the Horseshoe Canyon coal bed methane and the shallow gas sands.
By drilling deeper, Encana wants to see if it can capture more gas reserves in a single well bore. If the tests are successful, it could help Encana keep its footprint and its cost down.