The Village of Rockyford is investing $480,000 into upgrades and repairs at its water treatment plant, with an additional $70,000 in work put on hold.

The Village of Rockyford is moving forward with some major work at its water treatment facility.
    At a special council meeting held Thursday, July 17, council and administration reviewed the project’s draft proposal from MPE Engineering, and gave the project the go ahead.  Mayor Darcy Burke said that means the village will be eliminating the piping from the older Building 2 at the water treatment plant, decommissioning it, and just using the newer water treatment plant.
    The reason is a water leak in the deep service piping underneath the older section of the plant.
    All of Rockyford’s water would then be treated through the newer section of the plant, Burke adds.
    Cost estimates council approved for repairing the leak and performing upgrades on the newer section of the plant were $350,000.
    In addition, Rockyford village council approved $50,000 in electrical work on the plant, and $80,000 for the purchase of a stand-by generator for the plant.
    Burke said the stand-by generator will allow the plant to work at 100 per cent capacity and produce water when the power is off.
    Currently the water plant can pipe water out but can not  produce the treated water when there is a power outage.
    Rockyford’s Mayor said there is another $70,000 in work at the water treatment plant that is on hold that Council will revisit after the work is completed on the older portion of the plant.
    The other project being completed in Rockyford this summer is the sewage lagoon expansion.
    Mayor Burke said they’re 98 per cent complete of the $2.2 million project.
    Changes to Alberta Environent rules on the handling of effluent saw the need for Rockyford to build an additional sewage lagoon.

While more than 200 riders were out for rounds 7 and 8 of the Alberta Motorsports Association (AMSA) Southern Alberta races hosted by the Drumheller Off Road Vehicle Association (DORVA) over the long weekend, it was local riders who shone on the track.
    The DORVA event is quickly becoming one of the premier events for the tour on its schedule during the season with 260 Alberta riders coming to take on the track from Friday until Monday.
    “The DORVA members are a bunch of really strong racers and definitely they are a force to be reckoned with,” said Casey Christensen, race director and vice president of DORVA.
    He is especially proud of his sons Barett and Deckin who performed well.
    “They pretty well ran first and second in all of their motos,” he said. They also ran in larger classes with smaller bikes and continued to do well.
 The reputation of the races continues to grow over the years. This is not only because of the well run races but the track. Even on non-event days, the track is busy.

    “We have a lot of traffic coming from southern Alberta and even Edmonton down. It is becoming a very well used facility and everyone loves it,” said Christensen.
    While DORVA quietly goes about its business, there is often dozens of racers from out of town riding every week. On the Sunday before the races they were 48 on the track with the families in tow at the facility.
    “A lot of the racers are calling it one of the best events in the AMSA Series and one of the best tracks for riding,” said Christensen. “We probably had 500-600 coming through the gates this weekend with riders, family, supporters, sponsors and spectators…it has an economic impact on the businesses in Drumheller.”