New Public Works Division

Times Contributor 

 

Wheatland County gave approval to Public Works for a new grader division. The division delivers better service to residents in the eastern sections of the county.

“We looked at the logistics of running the graders as part of our decision making,” said Gerry Van Oostwaard, Public Works Manager.

The department looked at suitable locations for the shop and felt that Rosebud would be the best site to locate the grader. They are looking to place the site in an area in which early morning start-up will not disturb local residents. The new division will require reorganization of the adjacent division boundaries.

Winter Windup

Public Works wound up projects that were weather and frost affected.

 •The concrete pour completed on the Hammerhill Bridge and forms removed. 

•The Gleichen Water Reservoir work is complete and signs posted. 

•Carseland sewage lagoon modifications shut down for the season. There were leaks on the berm. Snow fence surrounds the site for safety purposes.

“It is too late in the year to fix (berm leaks) with the ground freeze-up,” said Dave Churchill, Transportation and Infrastructure Manager.

Spring work will include:

•Further work on the bridge across from the Springvale Colony approach.

•Placement of the guard rail near Rockyford, 

•Gravel application on the Township 230 road 

•Pre-construction meetings for the Bridge File 7918. 

Reclamation Work

Soil cleanup will remove salt residue on land next to the Standard Shop. This will help secure reclamation certification for the site.

Carseland waste transfer burn pit is cleared and tests per reclamation standards done.

Wheatland Council discussed concerns about old dumpsites. Currently a leaseholder in Cluny is questioning whose responsibility it is to clean old sites up. He leased land that was originally pasture and decided to crop instead. On tilling, garbage from the old site was unearthed. The site occurred prior to regulations governing dumpsites and it exists on private land.

“I can think of several similar old sites. They are not on our land,” said Councillor Ben Armstrong. “There was one in Nightingale, it cost a lot to restore it and it was eventually put back into pasture. It should be up to landowners to keep records on the land and make agreements for the cleanup. This goes back three generations and the onus goes back to the landowner.”

Surveillance upgrade to Hussar Transfer Site

Hussar Transfer site gained approval for the purchase of new surveillance cameras that will beam improved images directly to the County office. The site has had a rash of vandalism incidents.

“It will give better video images and improve chances of catching someone,” said Churchill.

“We want whoever is doing this to know that it is costing them money. Every repair and upgrade comes out of their pocket,” said Councillor Ben Armstrong, regarding tax dollars spent on the damage repairs and upgrades.

Natural Gas Vehicle Conversion

County officials want the Public Works staff to bring more information about natural gas conversion for county vehicles. They heard about a presentation given by Encana about the process. Council was interested and raised questions about the possible cost savings such conversions could bring. Councillor Alice Booth commented that the Handibus Association had looked into the issue for their vehicles but found the $17,000 conversion price per vehicle too high for them. Staff was directed to send a letter to Encana inquiring about a possible presentation on the subject to council.

Constructed Wetlands

Development staff discussed information from the Water Smart meetings they attended. Mike Ziehr said the committee was busy and was in the process of finalizing its terms of reference. They were moving into technical discussions about some of the water issues and looking to develop regional solutions for them. 

“There are a lot of good ideas out there,” said Ziehr. “It is still a work in progress.

He commented on the issues surrounding storm water runoff. One idea is to use constructed wetlands. A constructed wetland is an area of land developed to allow shallow water coverage, with different kinds of plants that act as natural treatment systems to purify water. Roots and stems of the wetland plants form a dense mat where biological and physical processes occur to treat the water. Discussion suggested that WID was hesitant to use existing storm water runoff until better guidelines and processes were in place.

“If correct treatment is done, it can be reused. It currently is not regulated for use by Alberta Environment,” said Ziehr.