Village of Rockyford
Work on getting the village’s subdivision expansion rolling is still underway in Rockyford. In order to build on the subdivisions, the village must expand their sewage lagoon to accommodate. It’s at a standstill as the village waits for their two-year-old applications for funding for lagoon expansion to be approved.
“Right now, the Alberta government is not able to fund their 75 per cent share in the sewage lagoon,” says Rockyford Mayor Darcy Burke.
The subdivision expansion would need the lagoon to double in size.
If lagoon expansion takes too long, Burke says the village may rethink how the subdivision would be divided.
“If we can't get the money to put the sewage lagoon in place, there are other options available to us to get people to live there,” says Burke.
Alberta Environment would not approve the subdivision expansion until the sewage lagoon was expanded.
Rockyford is also looking to bring a regional water line into the village. They are looking to move water from Calgary or through Kneehill Regional Water Services.
As it stands now, Rockyford has its own water treatment plant which is nearing the end of its life expectancy, says Burke.
“It’s getting too expensive,” says Burke, “it takes thousands of people to pay for them, and municipalities with 300 to 400 people can’t afford that expense.”
“Hooking onto a larger system can be very efficient for municipalities,” says Burke.
Rockyford village council will be deciding this January on whether to initiate a study. Real changes aren’t expected for this year, but Burke expects work to be done in 2012.
Village of Standard
Infrastructure upgrades will be considered this year in Standard, although Mayor Don Cuthill says there are no major issues as of yet. The 50 year old sewage lines are nearing the end of their life.
The village is working on selling 19 lots in their new lot subdivision, but Cuthill doesn’t foresee much changing in 2011.
Cuthill says other than advertising the 19 lots, none of which have sold yet, the issue is, for the most part, out of their hands.
“It’s been hard to find developers,” said Cuthill. “The economy has gone down since we built it, but with it coming around we hope we’ll see some interest in them. Everything is pretty slow at the moment.”
“At the moment, the main bill is to get our infrastructure upgrades underway, to start planning changes over the next five to 10 years,” says Cuthill.
He adds the community is still looking for funding for the building a new village hall.
Around half of the money for the estimated $2 million project has been collected, with the group hoping to break ground this fall.
Village of Big Valley
Mayor Rick Kargaard said plans to establish a new museum in Big Valley are underway, and although vague, he says the museum will display a unique lifetime collection of a Big Valley resident, and “is certain to be of broad interest.” Kargaard believes the museum will house the largest collection of its kind in Alberta and probably Canada.
He said further details will be made public in the coming months.
Village of Hussar
Hussar Mayor Bruce Kaufman says the village is looking at finishing plans on upgrading their water lift station, and finishing maintenance work on 2 Ave.
“That’s where all the traffic comes in, so council will be meeting to figure out how to keep traffic flowing,” says Kaufman, also adding the wet construction season has not encouraged work.
The village is waiting to hear back from the province on their water allowance, and searching grants in order to complete work on the water pump house. Kaufman says they wish to equalize pressure throughout the village’s water supply and the lift station is in need of repair. They’re looking to either repair or rebuild the lift station, which is in “need of major repair.”
Village council will meet this week to figure how to move forward on projects.
Village of Carbon
Carbon Mayor Valorie Reed will be hosting a planning session this month– on the books will be the village’s need for a new fire hall, and the organization of a task-force to oversee the building of an outdoor pool.
Their existing outdoor pool was built over 40 years ago, and has become an attraction for campers and residents alike in the hot summer months.
Reed expects the project is still five years down the road.
Planning on building a new fire hall has not yet started. “Maybe a year from now we’ll have a concrete plan: a place for it to go, and to put tenders out,” says Reed, while adding the current fire hall was built in 1988. Carbon recently received new fire trucks which are much bigger than the current shop was built for.
“We need more space to make it work better for the fire department,” Reed said.
Village of Munson
CAO Lyle Cawiezel says work on building a new community hall is still underway, but no plans have been set in stone yet. The village will be celebrating its centennial on July 9 and 10– a parade and an informal social supper are planned.
Village of Delia
CAO Caroline Siverson said Delia is planning upgrade work on their sewer infrastructure lines, saying they are in need of replacement.
“We don’t know how many blocks we will do yet,” said Siverson. Tenders for the project are said to be sent out in the spring. Siverson said they hope to upgrade five blocks of line, but it will depend on the prices returned by contractors.
“Most of our work has not been touched since it’s been put in place (1960’s).”
De-sludging of Delia’s sewage lagoon will take place this fall, something that has not been done since it was installed.
Wheatland County
Reeve Ben Armstrong says Whealtand has a deal with Western Irrigation District (WID) to provide 1,000 acre feet of potable water to the hamlets of Lyalta, Carsland and Cheadle. WID is applying to the government for this water. If supplied, Wheatland will provide the infrastructure to move the water.
Wheatland is carrying on with a growth management study and area structure plan for Rosebud, which is hoped to be put in place in the first part of this year.
“It will allow us to have controlled and orderly growth,” Armstrong said. "We’re getting growth in our rural areas. It’s one of the ways to preserve agricultural land.”
Starland County
Reeve Barrie Hoover says Starland hopes to see deals with CN for the Lyalta to Delia line to go through, after the Hanna east line deal was denied by the rail company.
Work on the Hand Hills wind power project has stalled, as they are waiting for a powerline between Drumheller and Sheerness to be put in place. Determining location has been the set-back for development.
The Starland County offices are looking to start expansion work in the spring.
Kneehill County
Planning for the construction of a new county shop is set to be completed this spring after extensive work was done last year, says Reeve Carol Calhoun.
Calhoun adds that work on the fourth phase of their water service area is hoped to be completed this year. It will provide potable water to the fourth and last section of the water area, the Sunny Slope area.
