After a heated discussion at their meeting last Tuesday, Athabasca town council voted in favour of Gregg Distributors’ proposed expansion.
When the subject came up for discussion, councillor George Hawryluk made a motion immediately that council accept the plans as presented, a motion that had been previously defeated due to a split decision.
Councillor Colleen Powell noted that she wished to speak against the motion because when the structure was originally built, it was in alignment with the visual aesthetics of the riverfront plan, while the new proposal is not.
“The principals who want to expand that project came before council before Christmas and received some approval for some of the changes, however, the building is out of scope and too close to the train station, which is a heritage building.
“I realize that there are other issues here,” Powell continued. “When I look at the plans we’ve been given, there is no attempt to break up that large expansive space … and there is no universal approval of this project in town.
“We are violating what we ourselves and the people in the town tend to vote for, so why are we even doing this in the first place?”
Councillor Paula Evans noted that the plans had been approved at the previous meeting, pending paving and that the second line of trees were kept in place.
Hawryluk said that there are businesses that specialize in removing and replanting trees and that Gary Gregg, who owns Gregg Distributors, has made all the changes council has asked of him and suggested they should just move forward with the proposal.
Although in favour of expansion in general in a small community, councillor Richard Verhaeghe said he isn’t in favour of the proposed plans at the riverfront because there are better areas in town for industrial buildings like the one proposed and so he can’t rightfully approve the plans.
Similarly, councillor Tim Verhaeghe noted that he isn’t opposed to a two-story building on the riverfront, but rather he is opposed to the architectural design, or lack thereof. He noted he would prefer to send the plans back to the drawing board to come up with different ideas because it doesn’t fit the profile of the riverfront design.
The motion to accept the plans was ultimately passed 4-3. Councillors Powell, Richard Verhaeghe and Tim Verhaeghe were opposed.
