City council gave the go-ahead for the commission in charge of a proposed $60-million regional wastewater line to seek the expropriation of about seven acres at a north-end industrial park.
The request came before council on Monday from the North Red Deer Regional Wastewater Services Commission looking to expropriate land at Chiles Industrial Park.
The line will move wastewater from Lacombe city and county and Blackfalds to Red Deer’s wastewater treatment plant.
The motion passed 6-1 with Coun. Tanya Handley voting against it. Councillors Lawrence Lee, Dianne Wyntjes, Buck Buchanan, Ken Johnston, Lynne Mulder, Frank Wong and Mayor Tara Veer voted in favour. Coun. Paul Harris was absent.
“It’s not the city that’s engaging in the expropriation. It’s an application of the North Regional Line. Now the commission can proceed in making application before the provincial government,” Veer said.
She said the city had to give its consent under the Municipal Government Act.
Matthew Goudy, the commission’s chief administrative officer, said it was the first parcel of land requiring expropriation because an agreement could not reached with a landowner.
He said expropriation is a quasi-judicial, highly-regulated process and the first step was to put the request before the city.
Construction of the wastewater line is expected to begin in the new year and be completed by the spring of 2018.
“We have looked at a number of other options of how to treat sewage locally and on the regional level. This is the lowest cost and most environmentally sustainable way to do this, to treat wastewater from the communities of Blackfalds and the City of Lacombe so were happy to see it move ahead,” Goudy said.
The first phase of the line is an eight-km link from Blackfalds to Red Deer along with a pumping station.
szielinski@www.reddeeradvocate.com