Officials are taking the plan for extending water and sewer to the east side of Sundre back to the drawing board in an effort to scale back costs for property owners.
No timelines have been given for when a revised plan may be ready but interim Sundre CAO Ryan Leuzinger says the expectation is as soon as possible.
"We still want the project to go through but we're not going to rush through anything," said Leuzinger.
After defeating two bylaws that would have allowed the town to borrow $4.5 million for the project and forced east side property owners to pay it back, council agreed to take another look at the project which is already underway.
Council recommended the Public Works Committee go back to the drawing board and present to council alternative options that lower the cost to the property owners.
"The engineers are looking at other options at how we can scale back the project," said Leuzinger.
Many east side property owners objected to the costs they would be saddled with under the current plan and petitioned council against them.
Some of the funds for the $19 million project have been secured through grants. Council proposed securing the remaining funds through taxation, both for the municipality at large as well as for east side property owners.
Council approved the East Side Services Local Improvement Plan that would see residential property owners pay a levy of $24,000 and commercial/industrial property owners pay $1,329.87 per front meter to have the services extended to the east side.
Council authorized administration to send a notice of intent to property owners on Friday, February 4.
Even though the petition was deemed invalid, council members said they are taking petitioners' concerns into consideration.
Four letters written by concerned east side property owners were also accepted for information by council during last Monday night's regular council meeting.
Leuzinger says that even though the actual servicing plan for the east side is on hold right now, it does not derail the whole plan.
Phases of the project are still underway with piping currently being installed on the west side.
"Everything from the west side to the lift station will be completed this year," he said.
Council recently accepted a tender for the $741,266.32 construction of a lift station on the east side of the river which is expected to get underway this year.
"We still want the project to go through but we're not going to rush through anything."Ryan Leuzingerinterim Sundre CAO
