Rocky View County (RVC) council accepted a 31.66-acre private land donation from the River Ridge Estates Corporation at the regular meeting on July 29. In exchange for the donation, the landowners requested a tax receipt for $1,685,000, which is the full appraised value of the land.
The three properties, which total 31.66 acres, are located in Springbank, and are adjacent to the Spring Gate Estates, Springshire Estates and River Ridge Estates communities.
Drew Hyndman, with planning and development services for the County, said the River Ridge Estates Corporation previously proposed development on these lands, but it was met with concerns by administration. In 2010, the landowners also proposed a land swap, exchanging the three properties for two Municipal Reserve parcels, however, the proposal was met with concerns by the surrounding community, said Hydman.
Concerns included the loss of existing Municipal Reserve parcels.
He said administration thinks the land donation will be a benefit to the County. Future uses could include: a natural stormwater solution that may provide future local and regional stormwater solutions; preservation of the lands within the Elbow River valley; expansion of the open space and trail network system in the area; or community support for the protection of a natural landscape.
Councillors Earl Solberg, Lois Habberfield and Greg Boehlke had concerns about the potential cost of future plans and that it would fall to general tax revenue to fund.
Hyndman said the first step is to acquire the land and the potential uses along with funding will be explored with the community and nearby landowners over the next few years.
Council approved the donation in a 6-2 vote. Councillors Earl Solberg and Lois Habberfield were opposed. Councillor Bruce Kendall was absent for the vote.
Funding Re-allocation
RVC council approved re-allocating $1.1 million from the Rocky View Schools (RVS) section of the public reserve to a project at the Banded Peak School in Bragg Creek.
RVC Community Services Coordinator Sue Graham said the project would involve decommissioning the Banded Peak School Lagoon, reclaiming the lagoon site and installing a pump-out tank for the school’s wastewater. The project will allow the school to tie into the Bragg Creek wastewater plant in the future, she added.
Graham said $1.5 million in funding was originally allocated to a project in Springbank in July 2011, to construct a water and wastewater line to tie into the sewer line from the Springbank lagoons to the Cochrane-to-Calgary sewer line.
She said the project was not completed, and is being reschedule for construction in 2015. In the meantime, RVS has requested to use the balance of the funds for the project in Bragg Creek, and funding will be re-evaluated at a later date for the project in Springbank, according to a County report.
Council unanimously approved the request.
Land redesignation
RVC council was presented with a request from administration on July 29, to redesignate a portion of the land where the new Bearspaw Emergency Services Centre is.
RVC Land Specialist Mike McLaw said redesignating a portion of the land from municipal reserve to community services reserve (CSR) is the final step required to bring the new facility into full operational status and to make it compliant with the Municipal Government Act (MGA).
He said the MGA was amended in 2010, and only allows for certain uses on municipal reserves, such as parks, recreation or school purposes.
The CSR designation was created, which allows for public libraries; police, fire and ambulance services; non-profit day care and special needs facilities; affordable housing; and facilities providing municipal services directly to the public. McLaw said the Bearspaw Emergency Service Centre is scheduled to open this September.
The motion received unanimous support for first and second reading, but failed to receive the required unanimous support for permission for third reading.
Boehlke voted in opposition. The application will come back in September for third reading.
