Athabasca County council wants to know why the Athabasca Ultra 100 race was cancelled so abruptly by its board of directors.
In an announcement May 29, the board announced the cancellation via a message on its webpage, claiming unforeseen circumstances and logistical challenges.
At their meeting June 11, councillors unanimously agreed that an explanation needs to be given to council.
"I was in Halifax when I found out the project was cancelled, and I was shocked," Coun. Dennis Willcott said. "And I thought everything was going good, and then all of a sudden, bang. I did not know things were going this bad, and I did not even know they had a committee running it. This has been in the planning for over a year, and all of a sudden, bang."
Coun. Travais Johnson said the board needs to be invited to council and answer some questions about the cancellation.
"Even if we go in-camera, we need answers," he said. "The Tourism and Economic Development committee donated $5,000 in seed money to the Ultra 100, and now it's gone. There are a whole lot of things the county needs to find out."
County manager Ryan Maier said to council the only information they got is the note from May 29.
"Administration has no more answers then council members do at this point," Maier said.
Coun. Christine Bilski said it was very disappointing that the event was cancelled.
"But how is this any different when you have a business, and you have a bad debt," she said. "We have somebody who gave $5,000, a decision that in the end, did not work out. This is no different from when anybody comes in for a grant, so I'm not sure if there is anything more we can do."
After discussions, Coun. Dwayne Rawson made a motion to invite the Ultra 100 board to a future regular council meeting to find out why the race was cancelled. The motion carried unanimously.
Water Distribution System
Coun. Kevin Haines also brought up an issue regarding water distribution from the Town of Athabasca to some rural properties west of the community.
Haines, who also serves as chairperson of the water commission, said they received a letter from a couple who live at one of these properties at the location SW19-66-22 W4, complaining about a large weakness in the supply line, and requested a complete and technical investigation into how the water flows to their house.
"This is taking place literally at the university, where they are building the new Edwin Parr Composite school," Haines said. "Basically, when the new school was being put in, the town infrastructure being used to flow water to the locations had to be upgraded because the pressures were going to be a lot higher. So, they required a new vault upgrade to be put in."
Haines said they should approach other people who live there, adding that he's been approached by other people in the area about getting town water supplied there.
"The more I dug into this issue, the more I got thinking that this is much like servicing a subdivision," he said. "I was thinking may we should be looking at the feasibility of putting our own line in, which would likely involve some sort of agreement with the town to supply the water to the area."
Coun. Willcott moved to allow administration to gather further information from the Town of Athabasca regarding its water distribution system, and forward it to the county council. The motion passed unanimously.
