NEWS of the Red Deer Region - April 1-15, 2007

 
News of the Red Deer Region
snippets and summaries of news reports from local media (primarily Red Deer Advocate and Red Deer Express).
April 2007 Part 1

Apr. 14, 2007
River Bridges Required for Trans Canada Trail
Pedestrian bridges will need to be constructed to cross the Blindman River (north of Red Deer and south of Blackfalds) and the Battle River (at Ponoka) as part of the development of the Trans Canada Trail between Penhold and Ponoka. The Battle River bridge is supported by the town of Ponoka and will cost about $250,000. The Blindman River bridge will cost more as it is wider but requires the approval of Red Deer and Lacombe counties. Preliminary design for both bridges is underway but all the necessary approvals are expected to take about two years. Funding will come from a variety of sources. Short sections of rural trail will be constructed over the next few years to eventually form a continuous link between Penhold and Ponoka through Red Deer which already has an extensive trail system built. The Trans Canada Trail will provide for cyclists and hikers to travel throughout the country without having to travel on major highways. Several tourism opportunities are expected to develop as the trail closes in on completion.

Apr. 13, 2007
Balzac Project Looks at Red Deer River Options
The Municipal District of Rocky View is apparently looking at hooking into Red Deer River water to the north rather than east now that the Town of Drumheller has said no to extracting the water there using their treatment facility. Although no official request for water has been received by the Mountain View Regional pipeline, the line from Innisfail to Crossfield is only 25 km from the project. The Mountain View water commission is waiting for government approval to twin the line and possibly expand the customer base. Rocky View is also looking at buying water licenses from other landowners in the Bow River basin. In the meantime, Rocky View already has an agreement for 2,200 cubic metres per day from the Kneehill commission from Drumheller, which is sufficient to get the 4,000 acre Balzac project started but needs another 5,000 cubic metres per day for the project to build out to its potential.
Dominion to Hold Public Meetings About Proposed Biofuel Plant
Dominion Energy Services is holding three public meetings to answer questions about their proposed $400 million biofuel plant 3 km north of Innisfail in Red Deer County. Two will be held in Innisfail April 24 & 25 at the Legion and the third will be in Red Deer at the Black Knight Inn April 26, all between 4 and 8 pm. The county has given first reading to a bylaw that would rezone 421 acres of land for the project. The proposed plant would require 6,000 cubic metres of water per day at peak production times. It would produce 379 million litres of ethanol from wheat and 379 million litres of biodiesel from canola annually. A canola seed crushing plant would be part of the complex. By-products would include water, carbon dioxide and glycerin, all of which could be used by other industries. The plant would employ about 100 people.
Auto Repair Building to be Converted to Office Space
The single-storey Western Collision repair building in the Cronquist industrial area of Red Deer will soon be transformed into a two-storey, 35,000 sq. ft. office and retail building. The structure will be stripped down to its steel skeleton and rebuilt. The project is expected to be completed by October. The area west of downtown will gradually be transformed into the Riverlands commercial, office, cultural and residential district.

Apr. 12, 2007
Climate Change Forum Assists in Provincial Strategy
Red Deer was the location yesterday of the sixth of ten workshops being held throughout the province to help the government develop a strategy for climate change. The purpose of the series of workshops is to find out what Albertans believe the government should do and what are responsibilities of the individual. There is also a goal of achieving a balance between preserving the economy and the environment at the same time. The government hopes to have a plan in place by fall.
First Quarter Housing Starts Up 60%
Housing starts in Red Deer for the first three months of this year are up 60% over the same period last year according to Canada Housing and Mortgage Corporation. This includes 282 single-detached homes and 211 multi-family units making Red Deer the third highest in the province for starts behind only Edmonton and Calgary.

Apr. 11, 2007
City Council Officially Approves Purchase of Annexation Land
Red Deer Council approved spending $3 million to purchase 2 quarter sections of land west of Highway QE2 and south of Highway 11A that are part of an 8 quarter section annexation that is expected to be completed this year. The city had originally entered an option to purchase the agricultural land in 2003 with the intention of developing it into industrial lots but was blocked by Red Deer County until a new Intermunicipal Development Plan (IDP) could be negotiated. The city and county entered a memorandum of understanding last month that included a new IDP being developed this spring and, as a result, the County lifted its objection to the purchase a couple of weeks ago. New industrial lots on the purchased land should be serviced and ready for sale in the fall of 2008.

Apr. 10, 2007
Melcor Enters Area Industrial Market
Alberta's largest publicly-traded developer, Melcor Developments, has entered the Red Deer area industrial market in a big way by investing in $45 million worth of properties in the first quarter of the year for industrial development. This includes 157 acres immediately south of the city in the McKenzie Industrial Park east of 40 Ave. and north of McKenzie Road, 73 acres north of the city and 123 acres in Lacombe. Melcor is best known in the Red Deer area for residential development.

Apr. 9, 2007
Costume Making Comes to End at Red Deer College
The Costume Cutting and Construction program at Red Deer College ends for good at the end of April after 11 years. The last 20 students put on a show yesterday at the Scott Block in the city's downtown, showcasing an array of creative costumes including some used for the college's theatre productions. The program was one of a very few similar programs in Canada.

Apr. 7, 2007
Communities Study Gasification Plant
Several communities including the City of Red Deer, Red Deer County, Innisfail, Penhold, Sylvan Lake and Blackfalds are considering the development of a gasification plant in Central Alberta and are looking at the success of a new technology that turns trash into electricity. MP Bob Mills has been promoting the concept for several months. The plant would use organic waste such as that found in landfills. The County has been looking for a garbage solution for quite some time generating about 25,000 tonnes per year. The plant would need 68,000 tonnes of solid waste annually to feed the process that extracts methane gas from the garbage and turns it into electricity, some of which would be used to keep the cycle going, the balance sold to the provincial power grid.
New Sense of Optimism in City-County Agreement
The business community, particularly the development component, around Red Deer is feeling very optimistic as a result of the memorandum of agreement signed by the city and the county recently ending more than a year of friction and disputes between the two municipalities. The agreement forms the basis of a new Intermunicipal Development Plan that is hoped will be completed and ratified by both parties this summer. The county is proceeding with the development of Gasoline Alley and the city is proceeding with the annexation of several quarter sections of land to meet industrial demand.

Apr. 6, 2007
Red Deer College Considers Bus Service
As part of a strategy to be more 'green', Red Deer College is considering a bus service between several regional communities and the college. Students, staff and others from area towns such as Sylvan Lake, Lacombe, Ponoka and Innisfail could use the service rather than their own vehicles saving money on gas, reducing parking space requirements and being environmentally-friendly. The strategy is being developed as the college undergoes a $110 million expansion that will add 3,000 students by 2010. A workshop on April 24 will examine the idea and others to make the college more green.
Communities to Conduct Own Census This Year
Partly due to rapid population growth and partly due to some dissatisfaction with last year's federal census, several Central Alberta communities are considering conducting their own census this year. Mountain View County has already decided to proceed with a census and Clearwater County is seriously considering conducting a count even though their population is quite spread out. The Canada Census had shown low or negative growth in some communities during a time when the residential construction rate was much higher. Trochu, Eckville and Lacombe County had expressed surprise at last year's census results. The city of Red Deer is also conducting a census this year. Provincial infrastructure grants are based on population.
Home Sales Up in Region, Average City Price Down
The Red Deer and District Real Estate Board has released figures for March indicating that house sales, at 594 in the region, were up from February as well as March 2006. In Red Deer, the average price for single detached housing decreased $5,000 to $351,743 since February but still up significantly from the same month last year when the average price was $268,522. Outside Red Deer however, the average price of a single detached home was up $15,000 from February when the average was $263,079. In March 2006, the average outside Red Deer was $191,000 for a single detached home. Red Deer produced 305 listings last month, compared with 208 in February and 188 last March.
Sylvan Lake Condos Back on Track
An apartment-style four-storey 99-unit condominium project is back on track in Sylvan Lake after a new developer took over from the original project developer. The Sommerset condos on Lakeway Landing Boulevard are expected to have the first residents moving in by year end.

Apr. 5, 2007
Drumheller Pulls Plug on Balzac Project
The Town of Drumheller, which operates the water treatment plant for the Kneehill regional pipeline, has determined that there is no advantage to its citizens in supporting the additional use of water from the Red Deer River for a mega project at Balzac. The Municipal District of Rocky View, which is already a member of the regional pipeline and has some access to Red Deer River water from it, was hoping to get a water license to get a significant amount more for a major development that includes a race track, casino, hotel, veterinary college, 1.1 million sq. ft. mega mall and industrial centre. The project is already in the early stages of construction and the first phase is expected to be completed next year.

Apr. 4, 2007
First Quarter Red Deer Permits Up 24%
The number of building permits for the first three months of the year in Red Deer was up 24% from the same period last year at 745 valued at $61.8 million compared to 603 last year valued at $55.1 million. In March, there were 262 permits worth $21 million, including $15.7 million for residential, $2.4 million for industrial, $1.6 million for commercial and $1.4 million for public projects. The largest permits for the month were for an industrial building for Sanjel Corporation, a commercial expansion for Jackpot Casino and renovations at Red Deer College.

Apr. 3, 2007
Riverlands Medical Clinic Project Approved
The Red Deer municipal planning commission has approved a scaled-back version of a medical clinic project in the new Riverlands area, currently known as Cronquist Business Park. The two-storey, 26,000 sq. ft., $9 million office building will be home to the Central Alberta Hip and Knee Clinic, Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre's cast clinic, the city's six orthopedic surgeons, as well as physiotherapists and other professionals. Originally, the building was to be three storeys to accommodate 18 physicians at the Associate Clinic who were planning to join the project but have since decided to stay where they are. Construction is expected to start this year. Riverlands will continue to develop into a commercial, residential, professional and entertainment area as several city departments relocate to Three Mile Bend.

Apr. 2, 2007
Lacombe Starts Birth Memorial Forest
Parents of children born in 2007 and thereafter in Lacombe can now have a tree planted in memory of the birth. Birthplace Forest has room for 50 trees in 2 acres with each memorial tree costing the parents $60 which includes a plaque. Trees available include paper birch, Schubert cherry and Russian mountain ash.

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