A group of rural landowners has expressed its support for the Town of Sundre's bid to be recognized as a regional hub in the municipality's effort to secure as much grant funding as possible to upgrade its wastewater treatment facility.
The Eagle Valley Working Group recently met for the first time at the Sundre Petroleum Operators Group's office and discussed concerns about the town's sewage lagoon reaching its capacity, as well as other issues residents in that area face, such as access to groundwater. Despite frigid temperatures and troublesome weather, about 40 people attended.
"By working together, we can resolve a lot of these problems," said Frank Greif, a founding member who has been actively accumulating as much information as possible to improve synergy between landowners, government as well as companies proposing industrial developments. The group is run entirely by volunteers with a vested interest in maintaining their quality of life, he said.
"Our idea is not to go and complain about anything, but it's to be able to say, ëHere are the issues, here are the concerns, and we have factual technical information to back up why we are saying this and how this affects our quality of life.'"
Wastewater disposal was among the main points of conversation at the meeting, he said.
"In my discussions with the Town of Sundre, one issue is they have to reserve back a little bit of capacity in this lagoon for what they call their peak loading in the summertime," he said, attributing that to the additional discharges to the facility resulting from the increased activity at numerous RV parks in the surrounding area.
Municipal officials are aware of the sewage lagoon's capacity problem and have been developing a plan to upgrade the facility in the coming years, a project that is anticipated to cost as much as about $15 million.
Administrative staff have been investigating available grants, and previously discovered that Sundre could qualify for funding to the tune of 90 per cent covered by the province with the remaining 10 per cent paid for by the town. But that's only if provincial officials determine the municipality is a regional service hub. If not, the grant would break down to 60 per cent provincially funded with 40 per cent covered by the town.
Should Sundre not be recognized as a regional hub for treating wastewater, the municipality could find itself forced to prioritize servicing only residents and businesses within the town's boundaries. That's a scenario rural residents in Eagle Valley are keen to avoid, said Greif.
"We are dependant on this (facility) as our only place to get rid of that (wastewater) legally," he said.
Should the municipality find itself forced to restrict wastewater treatment specifically within the town's boundaries only, rural residents will face a hefty increase in the cost of maintaining their septic tanks, he said.
"The cost goes from $220 to $250 here. To take it to Red Deer, $700. It affects our quality of life."
So the Eagle Valley residents are very strong proponents of the town's effort to be recognized as a regional service hub, he said.
"We would support any efforts in terms of getting that designationÖThis is where we live ó we live adjacent to a town. And the town is a regional facility, it serves our area, it serves Bearberry, it serves Bergen, it serves McDougal Flats, on and on it goes."
