Westlock County council has raised the possibility the new Tawatinaw Valley ski chalet might not be ready in time for this year’s ski season — and the old chalet may not be usable either.
Coun. Jim Wiese raised the issue at a Sept. 2 Committee of the Whole meeting — in which councillors discuss issues but make no formal motions — asking what would need to be done to get the chalet operational for the beginning of December.
Reeve Bud Massey said in speaking with former interim CAO Rick McDonald during an “exit interview,” the county’s options are fairly limited.
“His suggestion as we were leaving is either raise it or raise it and move it. He believes that would be the most cost-effective,” he said. “Dewatering is an option, but it has a low-percentage guarantee.”
The problems at the ski chalet began this spring when water got into the basement crawlspace, apparently when the contractor was bringing the utility lines into the building. This raised concerns about mould in the crawlspace and about the building’s overall structural stability.
Dewatering has already cost the county an extra $50,000 on the contract, although that may be covered by construction insurance. While the true cost of the facility remains unclear, as of Aug. 20 the cost overruns had reached about $100,000, or 5.5 per cent of the total $1.82 million contract price.
“We need to look at options,” Wiese said. “Can we use that building this year, even if we had to bring in portable washrooms? We need some options.”
CAO Peter Kelly, who was in his second day on the job as of the Tuesday meeting, said it was an issue he had already discussed with staff and will look into further.
“I’ve also asked to discuss this situation with the lawyer who’s involved and I wanted to know what some options are, and what we do to get it operational,” he said. “I’ve just started that conversation.”
He cautioned against taking possession of the building in order to use it in a limited capacity as Wiese suggested, since that could make the county liable and could mean missing some opportunities to recover the costs.
Massey said using the old building for another season is a possibility, but it’s by no means a certainty because the health department has concerns about that building.
“We had a request that was granted to have it stay open for one more year, and it was granted on the basis that we were building a new one,” he said. “We would have to go to the health department and ask for another year of extension if we’re going to operate out of the old one.”
He said this council was only recently made aware of the health situation with the old chalet — although Wiese, along with councillors Don Savage and Ron Zadunayski, were on the previous council as well — and he didn’t know what, exactly, was the concern about the old chalet.
“Council is not aware of what those health concerns were and we were not aware we had to apply for special permission to keep it open,” Massey said.
In the event the new chalet is not ready for the ski season and permission to use the old chalet is not granted, the county will have to make some quick decisions.
“Today, we don’t have a backup plan,” Massey said. “Administration was taking the position that everything was okay. Council was taking the position that there appeared to be issues.”
Massey said if it comes down to having to make that decision, the county would have to get temporary trailers brought in, or as a last resort close the hill for the season, but it’s too soon to make any decisions.
“Until we find out whether or not the place can open, it’s premature to come up with all the other options,” he said.
Kelly said while it may be an option to use the old chalet for one more year, he would have to look into the matter further and report to council at a future meeting.
“There are many issues here. This is a problematic situation that needs to be resolved,” he said. “I don’t want to speculate on what’s going on until I have more information.”
