The Town of Crossfield has commissioned a high-level engineering report to uncover environmental constraints associated with the potential development of a recreational park space in an open area located slightly southwest of town.
Mayor Nathan Anderson said at the July 5 council meeting the report was an important first step to determining if the Town’s primary treated water storage lagoon located near the proposed area was a “showstopper” for the project.
“From an environmental standpoint, can we do it?” he said. “If we have to do some funky chicken thing to those ponds, well then it’s not going to make sense right away.”
Crossfield’s Chief Administrative Officer Ken Bosman said budget is also a factor determining when and if the park could be developed.
He said the study will also identify the cost estimate of remediating the water storage cell and give a sense of when the project could actually get off the ground.
“If it’s a crazy and absurd number then, obviously, the project is dead and we’ll look at some other alternatives,” Bosman said.
Council’s vision for the proposed park include the eventual construction of baseball diamonds, soccer fields, motocross and BMX tracks, an RC aircraft area, Frisbee golf course, fishing pond, connected pathways system, possible rodeo grounds and campgrounds.
Much of this, Anderson said, depends on whether potable water is viable in the proposed development area.
“Once we get past those constraints, we know what the other development costs are,” he said. “If we’re allowed to do it without some huge regulations, we know that the land… (has) lots of acres.”
Anderson said the study must also determine if the natural environment can support and sustain each particular component council has envisioned for the park.
“It makes sense (to do the study) because we have to get that out of the way,” Anderson said. “We might not be able to get straight to the ball diamond, particularly if there’s some roadblock (that arises from) the study.”
Council agreed to set aside $20,000 to fund the study and Bosman said he expects a high cost estimate will be available in about six to eight weeks.
If the cost is a reasonable one, he said the next step would be to develop a detailed design study of what’s going to be built in the park as well as a breakdown of what each individual component would cost.
“Let’s not spend any money (developing this project) unless we know we can do this,” Bosman said.
