BARRHEAD - The County of Barrhead council says the province needs to do more to streamline the regulatory process for approving or renewing gravel pit development permits.
To emphasize that point council authorized, during its March 5 meeting, the reeve to bring up the topic during the upcoming Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) spring convention's bear pit session and mayors and reeves meeting.
County manager Debbie Oyarzun will work with public works to draft the question.
During the bear pit sessions, municipal representatives have two minutes to ask a question from a provincial cabinet minister.
"It takes a lot of time and money to get these approvals in place," Oyarzun said.
Currently operates four gravel pits near Fort Assiniboine, Vega, and two in Moose Wallow. The municipality has also investigated the possibility of expanding its gravel extraction operations by examining the potential of acquiring a surface material lease (SML) for an additional gravel pit on Crown land near its pits in Moose Wallow.
The most significant problem for municipalities and private businesses attempting to get gravel pit operation approvals is the lengthy timelines involved.
"A private pit can take two or three years to get permits. For a public pit, it is even longer, taking three to 10 years," Oyarzun said.
She added that applicants could deal with that issue if that were the only issue.
However, Oyarzun said what often happens is due to the long timelines involved that the province changes the application process or the regulatory requirements needed for pit approval.
"If it takes eight years to get approval, they can change the criteria during that time. So, you have all these bits and pieces complete, and you are in the final stretch, and you can see the goalpost at the end, but no, [the province] says you have to redo [a test] because the rules have changed," she said.
For instance, Oyarzun said the county conducted a series of soil tests at 10-centimetre increments.
"We did that, and everything was good, but in the meanwhile [Alberta Environment and Protected Areas or AEP], things have changed, and you have to do the soil sampling again, but now you have to do them in two to three-centimetre increments," she said.
Councillors all agreed with Oyarzun's recommendation.
Reeve Doug Drozd suggested the bear pit session with AEP minister Rebecca Schultz would be the most effective; however, Coun. Paul Properzi suggested Drozd also target Red Tape Reduction Minister Dale Nally.
"Ideally, how I picture it, is that [the question from the bear pit or the mayors and reeves meeting] will spur an off-line meeting where we can supply them with all the information," Drozd said. "But, I don't think it is worth a resolution. That would be our next step, maybe at the fall [RMA convention]."
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
