The proposed $12 million Stony Valley gravel project should be presented to Barrhead County Council in October or November.
It follows three years of talks between developers and landowners, Barrhead County and Lac Ste. Anne County over potential haul routes.
If given the go-ahead, developers plan to spend 2014 on a huge infrastructure scheme to ensure routes are up to standard. Gravel operations will probably not start until 2015 or 2016.
Fort McMurray-based Stony Valley Contracting Ltd., the company behind the project, still requires two regulatory approvals before it can apply to council for a development permit.
It needs Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development consent for a Master Site Development Plan and a water licence.
Site plan approval is anticipated very soon, while a water licence application has already been submitted and reviewed. The company hopes it will be granted in mid to late October, pending advertising.
“We are getting close to the stage where we want to try to get a development permit,” said Dan Fouts, Stony Valley general manager last Monday.
Speaking at a public meeting into the proposal, he accepted there would be a negative impact on some residents living near the haulage route, but there were also benefits.
He said up to 50 jobs should be created, half through work subcontracted to gravel haulers, and half at the pit site, with positions available for mechanics and welders.
“We will definitely give first opportunity to local people,” Fouts said.
He also said Stony Valley employees would be encouraged to become involved in the community.
In addition, he pledged the end land-use plan would be for low-impact, water-based recreation, as requested by stakeholders. This would not include camping, he stressed.
It was last year that it emerged Stony Valley Contracting had found a “significant” gravel deposit at a 640-acre site in TWP61-R7-W5M, about 30 miles from downtown Barrhead.
Developers say there is a potential for 2,700-3,000 tonnes of gravel to be delivered daily, primarily to the Edmonton market. Pit processing operations will take place about ten months of the year.
More than 60 people turned up at the public meeting at Mystery Lake Community Hall for an update on the project.
Among them were Barrhead reeve Bill Lee, deputy reeve Bill Lane and fellow county councillors Darrell Troock, Doug Drozd and Marvin Brade. County Manager Mark Oberg was also present.
They were greeted by Fouts, his wife Janet, also with Stony Valley Contracting, and a team of consultants. These included: Grant Potolicki, Green Plan lead environmental consultant; Chantelle Kilbourn, Green Plan environmental consultant and the coordinator of the Water Act approval; and David Coombs, from Talking Stick, who is responsible for public consultation. Also there was Alan Hallman, president of Alan Hallman and Associates.
Missing was Fouts’ business partner, Wayne Woodhouse, operations manager and joint owner of Stony Valley. Company business kept him away.
A series of displays on the project had been set up in the hall, two of them showing the potential haul route – identified as one which affects the least number of residents and landowners. Developers say the routing option through the Connor Creek Provincial Grazing Reserve protects sharp tailed grouse habitat and reduces fragmentation of the landscape.
After reaching Highway 18, the route will be on provincial highways and not county roads. The return route is along 757, 43 and 764.
Fouts said Stony Valley was a home-grown Alberta company which had been incorporated in 2002. The number of employees had shot up from five to more than 160.
“I have been in the gravel business 32 years, Wayne 27 years,” he said.
Fouts said traditional gravel deposits were being exhausted: Fort Saskatchewan is virtually depleted, Villeneuve is four to five years away from drying up. Meanwhile, Onoway deposits were very deep, costly and of quite a poor quality, he said.
New sources of supplies were now required. The huge deposit discovered in Barrhead county would provide aggregate materials for 25 to 30 years, said Fouts.
“This is a long-term project,” he added.
Fouts said creating the infrastructure for the project – including paving of seven miles of road – represented a significant investment.
Stony Valley will be responsible for maintenance and upkeep of the designated haul route on county roads, he said.
In a question and answer period, concern was expressed about cattle movements conflicting with gravel trucks. Fouts was also asked whether there would be an orientation program for truckers. Such a program would be in place, he replied.
Ian Wesenberg wondered why Stony Valley had not decided on a private road for its gravel haulage.
He also asked what was to stop other gravel developers using the haul route.
“We could have 100 trucks on that road,” he said.
Wesenberg said more traffic increased the chance of accidents and he suggested that a culvert or overpass could be constructed.
“I think a life is more important than the cost of an overpass,” he said.
Rianne Bouma asked Fouts about infrastructure plans, and how roadwork would be managed. Would it be done in one go or piecemeal?
Fouts said he did not have a construction plan, but imagined it would be carried out in two-mile sections.
Asked by Bouma about what would happen to the project once he retired, Fouts pledged that Stony Valley was committed to a long-term venture.
“Some day I will retire, but I hope it won’t be for another 12 or 15 years,” he said.
He urged Bouma to take a leap of faith, saying that as a grassroots Albertan he held the same values as people in the hall.
Deputy reeve Bill Lane described the turnout to the meeting as “fantastic.”
He said safety was the County council’s priority.
“We can’t stop the project,” he said. “We want to get them on provincial highways as fast as we can and in the shortest way, so the company is looking for the best routes.
“Our main concern is safety. We want these guys to realize that and I think they are really working hard to do that.”
Reeve Bill Lee said the project represented the inevitability of progress.
“This area has been quiet,” he said. “It is a little farming community and I take my hat off to the developers. They have tried hard to find a route that impacts us the least, although of course there will still be some impact.
“Anytime you do a major project that will happen, but they are doing their best.”
Lee said the consultation process had started before he came on council.
“It is a long-term project and the company is investing time to have it done right,” he said.
Lee welcomed Fouts’ comments that there would be employment opportunities for local people.
Green Plan’s Grant Potolicki said the aim was to strike a balance between development and environmental protection.
He said the consultation process had gone on so long because of Fouts’ desire to address concerns of residents and stakeholders.
“Dan is very good to work with,” said Potolicki. “He listens to what we have to say, and we listen to what he has to say.”
