A five-year subdivision project in the area is riding on the City of Cold Lake and the MD of Bonnyville coming to an agreement over water and sewer servicing.
A five-year subdivision project in the area is riding on the City of Cold Lake and the MD of Bonnyville coming to an agreement over water and sewer servicing.
The Heights at English Bay, which sits just west of Horseshoe Bay Estates, received subdivision approval from the MD of Bonnyville in March 2014, with the condition that all lots would be serviced with City of Cold Lake water and sewer. Prior to that, in 2010, the area structure plan for the Heights of English Bay was accepted at 300 lots serviced by connection to City water and sanitary systems.
After receiving the engineered service plans earlier this year, the final barrier for the subdivision moving forward was up for discussion at city council on Aug. 25 during a special corporate priorities meeting.
"Right now, the request is for 32 lots. For the development to proceed, the water and sewer need to be provided by the City of Cold Lake," general manager of infrastructure services Azam Khan told council.
For the time being the developer, Prestigious Properties, has requested that the 32 lots of phase one be serviced through existing city infrastructure. At the time of build-out the subdivision will be at 300 lots and require a separate sanitary line to connect to building-four lift station in Cold Lake North.
Being as the subdivision is on MD property, the city would entering into an agreement with the municipality to service their residents - an idea not all councilors are on board with.
"Looking at the bigger picture that is existing, north of Horseshoe Bay is still not hooked up. We're looking at servicing sewer and water to the MD but is there any way we can tie on our own Cold Lake residents?" said Counc. Kelvin Plain. "I have no problem, if there are the right agreements in place, but there are still residents of Cold Lake without city sewer and water."
For councilors Duane Lay and Bob Buckle, they expressed concerns that the city might not end up getting the necessary contributions from the other parties involved to run and maintain water and sewer to the subdivision.
"We have a water service agreement for Fort Kent and Ardmore that still is not signed. We've been waiting for two years. Why would we bring them in for something else when that's not even signed yet," said Buckle.
Lay added, "I have no problem with the developer, but we could ahead with it and carry on and then not end up having a signed agreement."
CAO Kevin Nagoya settled the concerns somewhat, explaining that user fees or rider fees on utility rates could be implemented should contributions from the residents of the Heights at English Bay need to be made.
The other main concern council voiced was the effect adding a subdivision could have on the existing water. For the 32 lots in phase one, all of the run-off would go into a wet storm pond before draining into Cold Lake (the actual lake).
"Intensive development would equal more use of pesticides and chemicals that would seep into the run-off and into Cold Lake," said Counc. Chris Vining. "If this is a wet pond, I want to make sure it has the capacity to clean the water otherwise we're going to see green growth and algae, the last thing the residents want to see. You already see that happening a lot in areas with intensive development."
In order for development to move forward, there needs to be an agreement between the MD and the City, as well as the developer and the City. In order to keep on a level playing field with development happening within city borders, administration recommended to council that tie-in fees should be at least equivalent to the development fees in the City of Cold Lake.
The matter will be back before city council at the next regular council meeting.
