Local News - August 27, 2008

Photo by Elfie Hall

"Resort taxes will be addressed" - says councillor

Stephen Tipper
Editor
Wednesday August 27, 2008
Vulcan County has certainly heard from local resort owners.
Numerous letters have been sent to the county complaining about a substantial increase in their property tax bills. Many of these letters were published in the Advocate.
And council plans to deal with the property tax increase, said Coun. Rod Ruark during last week's meeting.
"We know there's concern out there, and we're going to be addressing this at budget time this fall," he said.
While there is nothing they can do about property tax increases at local resorts of up to 40 per cent this year, Ruark believes that it would be appropriate to tackle the issue during budget discussions for next year.
The County did not increase its mill rate this year, but assessments on resort properties have skyrocketed. Residents are asking council to create a subclass of residential property, one that include a lower mill rate, because they argue that they don't receive the same services as other residential owners in the county.

Travers Landing project moves forward a step

The Vulcan County council compromised last week to give the developer behind the proposed Travers Landing condominium project a better idea of the acceptable size of the project. Council agreed on Aug. 20 to the request put forward by West Dominion Developments (WDD) to pursue first reading of the area structure plan for the project. Notice goes out after first reading is given, and that gives agencies and the public an opportunity to comment on the proposal. After the public hearing, council could then decide upon the size of the project, suggested West Dominion representatives, and that would allow the developer to calculate the size of the water licence required. “We don’t want the water licence attached to the project without knowing if the project is viable,” Larry Paterson, representing the development group, told council at its meeting.
Only part of the water licence might need to be transferred from the purchase of three quarters of land upstream from Travers Reservoir, on Mosquito Creek. The purchase, which closes Monday, Sept. 1, gives the group 435 acre feet of irrigation water to transfer to the Travers Landing project. If only a portion of its available water licence is needed, WDD can avoid a “clawback” of some of its water licence. Wdd is waiting to hear from Alberta Environment whether the application to transfer water has been accepted. Paterson and Harvey Trimble, wdd’s vice-president, both assured council that water would be secured before the project starts. “If we don’t have water, we don’t have a project,” said Paterson. Trimble added WDD would write a letter indicating it would not proceed without water. Coun. Doug McIntyre said he was willing to move first reading based on this understanding. “We both know where we’re at,” he said. Council understood that WDD doesn’t want to transfer the water licence now because it doesn’t own the land yet. The land would be purchased from Snake Valley Farm if the project is approved. The size of the project not only determines the amount of water required but also whether the project is viable, said Paterson.
Council admits that it is “struggling” with the size of the project. Travers Landing development could include as many as 750 residences, spread over several phases. The total population could reach about 2,500, although the development is intended for mainly summer use. However, utilities would be install allowing for year-round use. If council is thinking about reducing the size of the project, it is probably better for both the developer and County to gather input from the public and agencies now rather than later, said Gary Buchanan, the County’s administrator.