Heartland recommendations
Sturgeon County should consider tax relief to compensate homeowners who are stuck in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland, says a county task force.
Council voted 5-0 to accept the report of the Heartland Residents Task Force Tuesday and to have administration create a plan by Sept. 10 to address the group’s recommendations. Councillors Karen Shaw and Dan Derouin abstained from the vote due to potential conflicts of interest (Shaw lives in the Heartland, and Derouin’s brother, Marty, was on the task force).
Council struck this task force last year to address ongoing concerns from the 30-odd residents who live in the Heartland.
Council adopted the Alberta Industrial Heartland area structure plan in 2006, which changed the land those residents lived on to heavy industrial. The task force found that this had brought considerable industrial development to the region, resulting in crime, stress, heavy traffic, air, light and noise pollution.
Some Heartland residents did accept industry buyouts from the Voluntary Purchase Plan, but that fund ran out of money and was not open to these 30 residents, task force member Marty Derouin said in an interview.
Everyone who’s left is essentially stranded, task force chairperson Ron Shaw said. No one wants to buy their homes, since no one wants to live in an industrial area and industry just wants their land. The banks won’t let them extend their mortgage either. Many are getting old, and may soon have to sell their homes and land at a huge loss.
The task force made 14 recommendations to address the concerns of the Heartland residents.
Five called for compensation to landowners, which could mean tax relief, compensation if a homeowner has to sell at a loss due to circumstances (e.g. poor health), or a sequel to the Voluntary Purchase Plan.
While Marty, Ron and task force member Rob Shaw called on council to buy out all the Heartland residents for $50 to $60 million back in 2017, Marty and Ron now say that the exact size and nature of the compensation proposed by the task force would have to be worked out with each landowner, as not everyone wants to leave the Heartland.
“We’re not asking to make millions of dollars here. We’re just looking to get a fair process,” Ron told council.
The task force also recommended enhanced bylaw patrols, more air quality monitoring stations, a dark sky policy to address light pollution, and the creation of an one-stop shop for air quality, emergency response and other Heartland information.
Administration now has to figure out what these recommendations would cost and how to implement them, said task force member Mayor Alanna Hnatiw. The cash needed could come from the revenue the county expects to get from megaprojects like the Sturgeon Refinery, of which three per cent has been flagged for quality of life issues in the Heartland.
Reserves replenished
County council has shuffled more loose change from last year’s budget into its piggy banks to help pay for a new solar array atop its Protective Services Building.
Council voted 7-0 on a series of measures to allocate the rest of its surplus cash from 2018.
Sturgeon County had about a $2-million surplus coming out of 2018. Council diverted about $1.1 million of that towards various reserves last March, and asked administration for information on how the rest ($940,896.22) could be used to pay off debt.
Council allocated $202,000 to help pay off four loans that would save the county some $49,610 in interest payments if eliminated. It shunted $101,760 to the contingency reserve to pay back what it used to finance an $188,409 solar array atop the Protective Services Building last May, and put the rest (roughly $632,390) into the drainage reserve.
Flame on, Sturgeon
County residents can shoot off fireworks once again (with a permit) now that the county has lifted its fire ban.
Sturgeon County suspended all fire and fireworks permits last May 21 due to high winds, dry conditions, and the gigantic wildfire raging up near High Level.
High Level evacuees are now returning home, and the county has received several dumps of rain.
County administration put out a notice June 11 that it was lifting its fire ban as of 10 a.m. All non-expired permits are once again in effect, and residents can apply for new fire permits.
Call Protective Services at 780-939-8400 for details.
