This article has been updated with information posted from Melcor on July 2 about an administrative delay halting progress on the lake development.
Correction: In the printed version of this article, it was reported that administrative delays around the lake development had been resolved. However, Melcor had told the Gazette many, not all, of the issues had been resolved.
After receiving several inquires from Jensen Lakes residents about the lack of activity for the lake development, Melcor posted a statement on July 2 as an update to an ongoing administrative delay.
"Yes, on June 11th, we did think that we would begin construction on the lake imminently and that hasn’t happened. As we stated back then, and again on Friday, we are working through an administrative delay," the statement reads.
The delay is a complicated matter and includes "expensive commitments to offsite infrastructure that does not benefit the lake."
Construction on the lake is unable to go ahead until "all parties are satisfied with the required monetary offsite commitments so that the lake and lake amenities are not financially impacted and can be developed as we've envisioned."
All other components needed to be done before the lake is filled, including the edge wall, onsite servicing, and lake infrastructure installation, are dependent on administrative approval, according to a rough timeline posted with the release.
"We are fully committed to completing the lake as soon as we can and have it in our budget to proceed with the lake."
In the release, Melcor said they have committed to providing residents with an update on the lake every second Friday.
Davis said in an email to the Gazette they had expected to solve the outstanding administrative issue "imminently, but with people working from home, its resolution is taking longer than expected."
"Our intentions and priorities have not changed. Timelines are still roughly the same," Davis wrote.
No further details are available at this time.
Residents frustrated
Several Jensen Lakes residents say a plan by their neighbourhood’s developer to have a central lake filled with water by this winter are unrealistic, but Melcor Developments says it should be open in time for winter skating.
Jensen Lakes is St. Albert’s first beachside community, located north of Villeneuve Road and northwest of Walmart. It features a mix of residential housing, some commercial, and amenities such as 40 acres of parks and ponds, five kilometres of pathways and a 20-acre freshwater lake, beach and beach club.
To date, roughly 440 lots have been developed in the neighbourhood, plus one townhome multifamily site. Three hundred seventy lots have been sold and 300 are occupied.
Angie Weber’s family was the first to move into a single-family home in Jensen Lakes two years ago. She said she was told by Melcor, the developer, that the plan was to have the lake completed within a year.
But a combination of wet weather and, more recently, delays due to COVID-19 stalled construction, according to Melcor, pushing back plans to fill the lake by another year.
Photos she took of the lake site, hoping to show the progress of development, now serve as reminders of the lack of activity on-site.
“We never saw people working in there,” she said.
For Mitch De Coteau, hearing the lake would be done by last fall was a major selling point when he decided to move into Jensen Lakes last October.
“We thought we’d be skating December 2019 or January 2020, and swimming this summer. So we said, ‘Let’s pull the trigger now and move in,’” De Coteau said.
“Then we heard about the delays.”
He said getting a response from Melcor about what was holding back construction was difficult, and multiple calls went unanswered.
“You almost have to get to the point where you feel like it’s borderline harassment,” he noted.
With the lake and other amenities not yet complete, De Coteau questions whether residents should be paying an annual $225 prorated homeowners association (HOA) fee. Those fees are being used to build up a reserve fund for the Jensen Lakes Homeowners Association, which manages and maintains neighbourhood amenities like the lake, beach and dock area.
“Paying HOA fees to shoulder the reserve funds for people coming in after they waited until the lake was built – that’s a little bit tough to swallow for people,” he said.
Work to resume
Michaela Davis, Melcor’s Edmonton North regional manager, said plans for the lake’s development haven’t changed since Melcor met with the community last year. Work is still “full steam ahead.”
The lake’s excavation was completed in 2019, and a clay liner was completed at the end of the year along with part of the lake edge.
Poor weather last year hurt the developer’s ability to install the liner and stone rock features around the lake edge – work that needs to be done on solid ground, Davis said.
“The domino effect that followed that resulted in some delays with other aspects of the lake.”
All partners and contributors to this project have had delays, she noted.
"It has taken them longer to complete their components of the job, or they have experienced disruptions in their workplace that have led to the delays on the project. l can't be any more specific on that, it's just that everything takes a little bit longer right now. We're in the middle of a health crisis."
Meanwhile, there has been work going on in the background – the project team has been working on engineering solutions, water quality, architectural elements for the maintenance and future amenity building, construction methodology, landscaping and other areas.
A lot of administrative issues with the city and consultants have been resolved, and with good weather, “we should see progress resuming very shortly,” Davis said.
There’s a lot of work on Melcor’s list this year. The installation and completion of the stone edge around the lake will be a focus, along with finishing other infrastructure components like the aeration system. Prep work for the boardwalk and piers, on-site servicing for the maintenance building and future amenity building, grading and landscaping, sand for the beach, and fencing are all on the list.
The lake will hopefully be filled this fall, Davis said, just in time for skating this winter.
Recognizing skepticism from residents about timelines, Triona Cosgrave, HOA manager, said she stands behind that goal.
“The only thing that would come against us is the weather,” Cosgrave said.
Any HOA fees residents are paying now will go toward a fund for the operation – not construction – of the lake and its amenities, Cosgrave added. Construction is still privately funded by Melcor.
“When we hopefully have skating in the winter or early next year, we will need money to do that,” she explained.
Melcor didn’t have to hold an annual general meeting (AGM) last year because the HOA wasn’t operating, though there have been information sessions held in the past. Davis said once an AGM is held, four resident directors will be elected to the HOA board by the community.
Cosgrave said when Melcor does meet with residents, they want to have “concrete information” to share.
“Our goal is not to frustrate them any more, right? Construction is so unpredictable for the most part, we just want to be very factual,” she said.
