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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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