Rocky View County (RVC) will be providing topsoil to Springbank Golf Course in what some councillors are calling a “sweetheart deal,” after a motion by council was passed at the Nov. 15 meeting.
Council voted to allow Springbank Golf Course to acquire the excess topsoil, which had been requisitioned by the County as a result of an enforcement order on the materials that were piled and not dealt with after the construction by developers of Edge School. Using the developer’s security to pay for the process, the topsoil had been tested for basic contaminants and transported to the County’s decommissioned Kennel gravel pit near Springbank for storage, and for eventual use in the reclamation of the site.
RVC Director of Operations Byron Riemann told councillors topsoil is generally not something the County sells as part of its inventory.
“This is a rarity,” he said at the meeting. “We typically do not sell topsoil out of our pits because that is used for our reclamation of the gravel pits as we continue to close out our pits.”
However, Riemann said the topsoil Springbank Golf Course was requesting was excess of what the County needed in this instance. According to Riemann, this would be a one-time only transaction for the municipality, which has no plans to sell more topsoil of any sort in the future.
Earlier in the meeting, RVC staff had suggested a selling price of $7 per cubic metre for a total sale of $5,600. This price would be keeping with the price of reject sand, which the County does sell.
However, a cursory internet search of what private companies sell topsoil for in the area averages about $35 per cubic metre ($27 per cubic yard) for screened topsoil.
RVC staff pointed out the topsoil requested by the golf course was unscreened. Therefore, the golf course would be responsible for testing the soil prior to spreading it.
Div. 1 Coun. Kevin Hanson asked if transportation of the topsoil to Springbank Golf Course had been included in the suggested sale price of $7 per cubic metre.
“Have we built that into the price?” he asked. “Or is this a sweetheart deal?”
Staff then responded that Springbank Golf Course would also be paying for the collection and transportation of the soil out of their own pockets.
Div. 4 Coun. Samanntha Wright also expressed her doubts about the price.
“I am sort of along the lines of Coun. Hanson,” she said. “I do think this is a bit of a sweetheart deal. But if it is not screened… I am not an expert enough, and if this is what you guys are coming up with (for price), and you are saying you don’t need the soil then I could (support) the motion.”
Div. 7 Coun. Al Schule said he fully trusted that staff came to the correct calculation about the price to charge Springbank Golf Course for the topsoil.
“I would like to thank staff,” he stated. “I think they did a good job of checking to figure out what the pricing is.”
He then made the motion that RVC should sell the topsoil to Springbank Golf Course for the suggested price of $7 per cubic metre amount.
The motion passed by a unanimous vote of 6-0, with Div. 2 Coun. Don Kochan absent for the vote.
