The new county office and shop project came up at each of the county’s town hall meetings last week as residents expressed concern that the money spent on building a new county office and shop would be money not-best spent.
The county purchased land outside of the Town of Stettler with the intention to relocate at the least its shop facilities, but optimally all administrative functions, taking the county hall out of the town and back into the county.
When the county facilities were built, the land around it was relatively empty. Since then, the Town of Stettler has grown up and around it, with family homes lining the street across from the county.
Noise from the county shops then become a concern for the families that live there. The simple fact that the facilities are now not in the county but in an expanding town is also a consideration.
The time is right to build, county staff told concerned residents at the meetings, since interest rates are low. There’s been significant interest after the county put out a request for proposal, with more than 20 letters of interest.
Residents heard that the list has been narrowed down to five.
The current facilities are more than two decades old, and technology has changed significantly from when the buildings were first built and today. A new building would mean that the facilities are optimal for today’s electronic systems.
The shop itself is in immediate need of upgrades, as the county has not only outgrown it, but has safety concerns as well. In order to make the building completely viable, extensive – and expensive – alterations would need to be made for long-term use. Less expensive band-aid solutions would suffice in the short-term, but not if the county was not going to relocate. Financially, building new makes more sense than preserving the old, according to the county administration.
While each community had community-specific concerns, another frequently broached topic was roads.
Concerns about gravel quality and stockpiling as well as road and intersection conditions were brought up at the meetings.
County staff explained that the quality of the gravel stockpiled for use within the county has met the quality standards of an independent tester.
They also noted that quantity isn’t an issue at present, as after shortages some years ago, the county took precautions to ensure the same shortcomings didn’t happen again.
Weeds were a concern for some of the communities, with the county explaining that rentals are available for landowners trying to tackle noxious weed problems. Roadside spraying is also ongoing to help prevent the spread of these damaging weeds.
Stray cats were a concern for the people of Red Willow, who said that the feral population has continued to increase. A spay-and-neuter program would keep the problem from snowballing, and looking into the costs of such a program may be worthy, as well as looking at forming partnerships with animal rescue societies.
At some of the later meetings, questions about the provincial budget and the ramifications of the new taxes were asked. Overall, there’s not much change for the county, residents were told, though there may be some increased costs due to the fuel taxes.