Update on GFL court process

By Sharon McLeay Times Contributor

Wheatland County Deputy Reeve Scott Klassen attended the Green for Life (GFL) appeal heard on Aug. 28, at Courts of Queen’s Bench.
“The process is very interesting. It is astounding to me how courts work,” said Klassen. “I do feel we are in the right.”
GFL, whose compost business is located near Nightingale in Wheatland County, appealed to Justice John D. Rooke about the previous orders delivered by Master Justice Bernette Ho on Aug. 2. They asked the justice about perceived inconsistencies in the orders.
Justice Rooke clarified and upheld those orders and then clarified the county’s request for information.
“He stated that information was very different from access, and indicated that GFL should be providing information on a go-forward basis, for the reports that were requested by administration, as part of the orders,” said Wheatland County Reeve Amber Link.
However, the justice clarified it would not apply to past report requests before July 2.
Klassen said Justice Rooke scheduled a judicial review for Oct. 30-31, to discuss many of the issues about jurisdiction, process and investigation. Klassen added that Justice Rooke made it very clear there are appeal processes in place, there are orders in place and compliance with the orders is necessary.
It was decided that the July 5 remedial order would be withdrawn to solve the standstill to remediate conditions at the site.
There may be an option for Wheatland County to file a contempt of court order because GFL ignored the court-mandated orders. Justice Rooke also gave the option to GFL to withdraw its appeal. They did not do so.
Wheatland County council is continuing to review processes, gather information and address issues raised by neighbouring landowners.

Faded location sign replacement
If anyone has trouble finding a rural address in Wheatland County, it may be due to faded printing on the signs that makes the address unreadable.
“Your constituents have probably talked to you about those faded blue signs. We have been doing a lot of intake on the GIS side of things; how we will best replace them, and letting constituents know how we will undertake that,” said Matthew Boscariol, Wheatland County general manager of development and community services.
There were 4,860 blue rural address signs installed for Wheatland County rural addresses in 2011. The address signs were to locate residences in the event of an emergency.
Wheatland County staff said inspections of the signs do show fading, making many illegible. The south-facing signs are the worst, with the east-west facing signs beginning to show wear.
Staff anticipates about 1,800 south-facing signs will need replacement now, with replacement of east-west signs sometime in the future.
There was a 10-year warranty on the signs, but it is now eight years after installation and the warranty only extends to the blue layer repair on the signs.
The installation company suggested a cut-rate of $15.40 per sign on purchasing new signage that provides a UV resistant layer, and a renewal of a 10-year warranty. The total cost to replace all signs would be $47,700, or just replacing the south-facing signs at a cost of $35,910.
Staff polled other counties, and they had used a different supplier and have not had as much fading. However, that supplier’s quote was $19.95 per sign for a batch of 1,800.
In the past, landowners were responsible for replacing signs, but given the wide-scale difficulty, the county may consider to accept the costs.
Council will consider purchase at a later date.

SAEWA update
As CO2 levels rise, the Southern Alberta Energy from Waste Association is getting closer to building a facility that will lower some of those CO2 levels.
“We are meeting on Sept. 20 and it should be a pretty interesting meeting,” said Councillor Ben Armstrong, who is past chair for the association.
Armstrong stated that reviews of potential location sites were done. Some of the contenders on the shortlist include Wheatland County, Vulcan County with two potential sites, Newell County, Coaldale with three potential sites and Special Areas with three potential sites. Project lead Paul Ryan is meeting with members to discuss the application processes and receipt of the short listings. Ryan also met with the new MLAs and received positive feedback on the project. Further networking is expected at the upcoming RMA conference.