Water fill station gets go-ahead

By Sharon McLeay Times Contributor

The pressure-booster/water truck fill station situated in Wheatland County near Range Road 222 and Township Road 240, received approval with third reading at Wheatland County council’s meeting on March 6.
There were three written objections from neighbours, but no spokesperson was at the public hearing.
Rockyford and Wheatland Regional Corporation (WRC) will be maintaining the site. WRC, Wheatland County and the federal government share financing of the facility.
“I want to highlight the fact that this is a proposal for a public utility as part of the regional system intended to serve the farming community for both rural water supply and rural fire departments,” said Theo Owel, engineer for MPE, who submitted the proposal on behalf of WRC.
Objections to the development included concerns about fragmentation of farmland, noise, traffic, lighting and dust control.
The engineers addressed the issues of concern with rationale listed (attached to the March 6 council agenda). They stated agriculture fragmentation was limited by containing the site to less than two acres with only a small building on site. The site was considered to offset the agricultural redesignation due to its value to area residents. A survey done by WRC indicated 44 per cent of residents in that area were not happy with their water supply and would like access to better quality water.
“Another consultation was done with the fire departments and the municipalities and they supported the idea,” said Baha Hasasneh, WRC general manager. “It is actually in the middle between Standard and Gleichen, so in case there is a fire in the area, the fire trucks would have easier access and quicker access to a station where they can refill their trucks.”
WRC felt the noise factor would be contained through limiting hours of operation. They anticipated that only about two vehicles per day would be using the site, based on monitoring similar sites in the county. Fill amounts would also be restricted, which rules out larger trucks.
Dust control could be included in the development conditions. Lighting was addressed stating there would be one light, tilted to the ground, placed on a motion sensor.
The engineers looked at other sites for its location; however, they were unsuitable as they were too far from the pipeline and electricity, and the ground conditions were too soft to support much traffic.