Skip to content

Gravel hauling allowed to double

A Red Deer County gravel pit will be allowed to double its number of hauling days, but there is a small catch.

A Red Deer County gravel pit will be allowed to double its number of hauling days, but there is a small catch.

Howell’s Excavating Ltd. received county municipal planning commission approval to run gravel trucks up to 180 days, as long as half of those days are from November to April.

Mayor Jim Wood suggested the condition out of deference to the 11 residences that are along the gravel pit route on Range Road 40, about eight km west of Gleniffer Lake.

Coun. Christine Moore shared the mayor’s concerns about the impact on nearby homeowners.

“I would certainly like to see some restrictions for the good of the neighbourhood,” Moore said.

Not all councillors agreed the county should be imposing conditions on an approved business.

Coun. Richard Lorenz pointed out the haul route was paved specifically because it is used by a number of gravel pits and oil and gas operations in the area.

It is not fair to impose hauling restrictions on one gravel pit and not others, he argued.

Reed Howell, who owns Innisfail’s Howell’s Excavating Ltd. with brother Dwayne, said he could live with the restrictions.

Howell’s recently bought the pit from Celera Equipment Leasing Inc., which was granted a five-year operating approval in September.

The additional hauling days were needed because Howell’s offers a different service than its predecessor.

The planning commission, which is comprised of all council members, voted 4-3 in favour of the amendment to limit 90 days of hauling to winter months. Wood and Councillors Moore, Don Church and Jean Bota were in favour.

Hauling will be limited to six days a week from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., with no hauling on Sundays or statutory holidays.

pcowley@www.reddeeradvocate.com