Saturated soil concerns
Sharon McLeay
Times Contributor
A landowner next to Eagle Lake nurseries is concerned about the excess surface water runoff coming onto his land through a culvert under the private road between the nursery and his property.
He is asking the county to help manage the problem.
“It comes down to a dispute between neighbours,” said Public Works Manager Gerry Van Ooostwaard.
“It would be nice if they take responsibility and mitigate the problem,” said Councillor Ken Sauve.
Van Ooostwaard said the nursery saturates the soil with their drip irrigation system to maintain the nursery plants, so when moisture falls on the land, it diverts as runoff. The county has a similar problem with the nursery from drainage into the ditch that runs through a culvert under a county owned road and this problem occurs in areas close to sod farms as well. Van Ooostwaard said industrial sites are required to put in storm water ponds, to deal with excess drainage, but land designated as agricultural use has no such restriction.
Councillor Ben Armstrong stated that the nursery has to apply to Alberta Environment to drain and reclaim portions of the property for new nursery development.
“The minute the neighbour complains, that is when Alberta Environment will step in,” said Armstrong.
Council asked for the matter be referred to Alberta Environment and the Western Irrigation District also be advised of the problem.
Public Works picks up the pace
Public Works crews are completing many projects and moving on to new ones. Manager Gerry Van Ooostwaard said that the Duck Lake road project is complete. Work at the Langley Siding is also complete, with changes that will keep it from washing out in this year’s spring and summer rains. Gravel crews finished projects in Div. 3-4 and moved to Lyalta or Goldsmith. Shoulder crews are reworking the Prescott road and worked with oil crews to get it into shape. They have now moved to Ardenode. Potholes on the Oxbow road are repaired.
“The patches are all filled and primed, “said Van Ooostwaard.
Graders are working on the Namaka road and finishing up in Rosebud.
The Utilities crew are fixing soft spots.
“Sometimes it works out good and sometimes it don’t,” said Van Ooostwaard about soft spot repairs.
Crews are moving to do drainage to the east side of the Namaka road and draining it to the north, leveling out the road and then will complete weeping tile installation near the hall.
Street sweeping is completed in the small hamlets and soon gravel and grading of the alleys will be done.
“It is the next thing on the list,” said Van Oostwaard.
Councillors asked crews to clean up two asphalt piles and blocks in Carseland, ditches by Cheadle on Hwy 24 and clean the debris left by CPR on the rail crossing by Hussar, before they become a safety hazard.
New road reclamation method
Van Ooostwaard travelled to Didsbury to view a new method of road reclamation using dry calcium as a stabilization product.
The calcium is sprayed on and then a reclamation unit is attached to a grader. The road demonstrated had been oiled at one time and the process chewed up two to three inches of the old oil, and mixed that with the calcium and water. Van Ooostwaard said if gravel prices continue to rise, this might be an option to consider in the future.
Break-in At Carseland gravel trailer
In spite of the installation of high quality locks, burglars were able to cut the cast steel bracket with a bolt cutter and take tools from the trailer. There were cameras monitoring equipment in the yard, but there wasn’t a good view of the culprits obtained.
More cameras were installed and all tools and equipment will be marked with county brands to make it harder to sell at pawnshops and flea markets.
Kubota vs. John Deere
Public Works was looking to replace a mower and had suppliers provide a demo day.
After a purchase of a new John Deere last year, and reflecting on the subsequent problems with the new mower, the decision was made to try a Kubota.
“How are you going to know if a Toro is better if you don’t try them,” said Van Oostwward.
He looked at all suppliers and although the Toro was a little more money, it was chosen.
Tenders opened
Two companies bid to do sidewalks and gutters in the Hamlet of Cluny. Con Site Construction Ltd. bid $169,065.00 and Brooks Asphalt and Aggregate bid $107,332.00. Brooks Asphalt and Aggregate took the contract.
The Capital Works Waterline Extension on Indus Street in Carseland had two bids, which did not include tunnelling and direction to minimize disturbance of the playground area.
“Bids were over budget and unusually high because of the small job,” said Dave Churchill, Transportation and Infrastructure Manager. He said the county plans to do underground work next year on the sewage line on Main Street. He suggested the Carseland work could be combined with next year’s work, as it was not an emergency and a new tender could be considered in 2013. Council approved the postponement of the tender.
AM Mackay bid $114,922.50 and Mid Developments bid $136,463.25 on the Rosebud well supply main tender. AM Mackay was granted the tender for the first half of the job. The tender for the supply main was deferred to the spring of 2013, as there were some problems accessing the location and it being a small project.
The Municipal Development Plan received four bids: Maloney and Associates-$81,000, Brown and Associates-$79,993.20, Dillon Consulting-$69,786 and ISL Engineering-$75,978. The bids will be reviewed and the result brought back to council on June 12 for council decision.