Major repairs and upgrades to County of Stettler roads and buildings have been set over the next few weeks.
At its regular meeting Aug. 11, county council awarded tenders and authorized funding to upgrade Fenn Resource Road ($3.4 million), reroof the county administrative building ($36,000), share the Stettler Fire Station roof renovation ($29,000) and to release funds for another cost-sharing road upgrade ($3,000).
Central City Asphalt Limited was awarded a contract to pave Fenn Resource Road for $3,445,674.58, including contingencies as the lowest bid received.
“The county needs to consider the current condition of the road and added expense to maintain it for the rest of the year,” said chief administrative officer Tim Fox.
Funding is being provided by the county and the provincial government under the Resource Road Grant Program.
Discussion also focused on the timing of the tender, the budget and operational costs.
Over the past several years, the road has been upgraded several times with the last upgrade being in 2007 with cement stabilized soil and chip-sealed surface.
“Despite all these efforts to upgrade the roadway, heavy-truck traffic as a result of continuous mining activities over the past few years has resulted in poor roadway conditions and the failure of the roadway,” said Fox.
About $2 million has been invested on the road since 1999, he noted.
Fire hall roof urgent
Council authorized a cost of $29,580 as the county’s portion to pay for roofing of the Stettler fire hall that has been leaking the past two years with the balance of the cost shared with the Town of Stettler.
Roofing problems were discovered as an addition to the hall is being constructed by Shunda Construction which states that the contractor will not be able to provide warranty to the finishes unless the roof is repaired.
County funds for this roofing project will come out of the fire capital reserve.
County office getting new roof
Council awarded a contract to Joe’s Roofing of Red Deer to re-roof the administration building with 40-year IKO shingles at a cost of $36,750.
“The current building is 21 years old and in recent months we have noticed a number of significant leaks into the building during rainy weather and these leaks appear to be getting more serious and will cause significant inside damage if not dealt with,” said CAO Fox.
Water fill station for Erskine
A water truck fill station for Erskine will soon be constructed next to the landfill off Highway 855 as council authorized staff to tender the project to review in September at a cost of $130,000 which will be covered by the County of Stettler Rural Water Servicing Strategy.
Dust-control policy
County adopted a policy that allows the county to impose dust-control requirements by a subdivision or development permit applicant as a condition of application approval.
“The goal is to protect county ratepayers from having to pay for dust control when the dust may have been a result of subdivisions and developments approved by the county,” said CAO Fox.
Public hearing for land-use bylaw Sept. 7
Council confirmed a public hearing for the updated land-use bylaw (1443-10) for Sept. 7 after giving first reading.
“This bylaw is a key document in the development of lands throughout the County of Stettler and is currently under a major review,” said Johan van der Bank, director of planning and development.
Funding approved
Funding of over $500,000 has been approved for the county through the Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) program with $277,055 to support recreation programming and $237,500 for rural water projects.