TELUS land lines remain a hazard
Sharon McLeay
Times Contributor
Last year, TELUS promised Wheatland County councillors that unburied land lines in the county would be placed on a priority work schedule to bury the lines. To date, the lines still remain unburied and continue to be a hazard.
“A resident said she was told by TELUS that it would be 2017 before the lines are put into the ground,” said Councillor Berniece Bland. “Skateboarders are currently flipping over the lines and it is a safety hazard.”
Other councillors confirmed the lines in their divisions were still not buried either. The problem has been ongoing for several decades.
“In any business you have an end to what you start,” said Councillor Ben Armstrong. “Not here….you have to use a brush cutter just to find the lines now. They want the property owners to do it themselves. They are relying on it.”
Councillor Brenda Knight said, “They are delaying because technology has changed.”
She suspects TELUS is hoping everyone will switch to cell service.
However, during last year’s meeting, it was stated there are many areas in Wheatland County that can’t get cell tower transmissions. TELUS promised that once booster towers were built, everyone could have phone service via a cell phone. There are many county residents who use both. They prefer to have a land line as backup, or do not want to purchase a cell phone. They are paying for land line service and part of the service includes burial of exposed lines. Councillors did not indicate what action they would take to readdress the issue with TELUS.
Cenovus backs out
of agreement
Wheatland County council approved implementing a site penalty clause on projects, such as the shared road construction projects, to prevent situations like the joint undertaking by the county and Cenovus, in the Dalum area off RR195.
Cenovus agreed to contribute to the rebuilding of the road near their plant, due to increased traffic from the site. They are still using the road.
However, Dave Churchill, Wheatland County transportation and infrastructure manager, said that Cenovus has withdrawn their offer to contribute to the project.
“We had preapproval for the reconstruction and spent $35,000 on the engineering and design specifications,” said Churchill.
Churchill said they will put the road work back on the improvement list, but wanted direction from council on how to handle the withdrawal.
“It is something they asked for and they should honour their commitment,|” said Councillor Ben Armstrong.
Churchill recommended implementing a site bonus or penalty clause, on work completed early or delayed, to similar shared projects in the future. The clause is standard in work contracts tendered out by the County, and he suggested it be extended to future shared work agreements as well. Armstrong suggested meeting with Cenovus to discuss the issue. Council suggested that measures, such as road bans, may need to be taken to reduce heavy truck traffic on the road until the road can be fixed.
Quality or quantity
for sludge results
Wheatland County Councillor Don Vander Velde has been fielding questions about the quality of the irrigation sludge taken from the Carseland lagoon and contracted to farmers for their fields. He said some of the farmers are disappointed with the results of using the product.
Farmers have told Vander Velde the county product doesn’t seem to give as good results as the product delivered from the Calgro provider out of Calgary, and the county product is not as nutrient rich as Calgro’s.
“It is a completely different product,” said Churchill.
“We use lagoons and they add extra nutrients to their sludge.”
Churchill said the county product is a somewhat lower grade, but results might improve for farmers if they increased the application cycle.
Cluny effluent contract
A new agreement was signed with a landowner in Cluny to pay $500 for effluent that irrigates his land. There previously was no contract. The new contract ensures limits and conditions will be met and it runs for 20 years with a review every five years for the term of the agreement. Wheatland County has the first right of refusal if the landowner decides to sell the property.
Disappearing mailbox
Road work has displaced some of the Lyalta community mailboxes and residents are worried they have disappeared permanently. According to Churchill the boxes have been moved to an area by the Log Cabin and will be replaced when work has been completed.