Westlock County aims to open the Tawatinaw Valley Ski Hill on Boxing Day, but it might take a Christmas miracle to make that happen.
Following an in-camera discussion at its Dec. 9 meeting, council passed a motion to “direct administration to work towards a Dec. 26 opening.” No further details were offered at the meeting.
In an interview Thursday, reeve Bud Massey said the plan is to bring in three portables at a cost of $42,500, plus $10,000 to make the facilities wheelchair-accessible.
He later confirmed the company hired is Horizon North, and said the county is awaiting confirmation of when the portables will arrive.
He said he did not believe any of the county’s bylaws or the Municipal Government Act (MGA) had been breached in coming to this decision.
The development permit for the portables wasn’t advertised until Dec. 9, and according to county’s Land-Use Bylaw (LUB), a development permit doesn’t come into effect until 15 days after it’s advertised — in this case, Christmas Eve. And if someone appeals the development permit, the work could be delayed even further.
When asked about this apparent discrepancy, Massey said he hopes work can be done on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in time for the Dec. 26 opening.
“Our desire is to have everything ready to go and have it done. Is it going to be close? Absolutely,” he said.
“The only other option would be to make an exception to that bylaw, and that would take a special meeting.”
Massey added that as of Friday, Dec. 12, no special meeting had been scheduled.
According to the MGA, council meetings and committee meetings must be advertised 24 hours in advance of the meeting.
The Westlock News discovered in October council has previously breached that requirement by holding Committee of the Whole meetings without advertising them properly.
The county has yet to bring forward a policy to rectify that issue.
There was no formal motion from council to go with the option of portables — other options on the table had been to use the old chalet or to get the new chalet open.
“What happened is administration suggested this option was the best one,” he said. “It was discussed the other day there; it was discussed in-camera.”
The reason administration applied for a development permit prior to council passing a motion, he said, is because “that was what they were going to recommend.”
When pressed, Massey conceded council knew about the 15-day requirement in the LUB. “That’s why (the motion) did not say we’re going to open on Dec. 26,” he said. “We’re going to put the effort into getting it open. Will there be some delays? I don’t know. Hopefully not.”
He added administration and staff are having ongoing discussions to try to get the work done as quickly as possible — without breaching the LUB.
“Is it fishy? Is it sneaky? Absolutely not. What we’re trying to do is have a ski season,” he said. “Are there issues? Absolutely. Is the permitting process an issue? Absolutely.”
As for the cost of the portables, roughly $52,500, it’s significantly lower than the initial estimates of more than $200,000. Massey attributed the price reduction to “a different configuration” of three units instead of four, and “very positive negotiations.”
“Administration has done an excellent job of seeking our various options and discussing opportunities with different organizations,” he said.
Massey added there was no need to pass a motion authorizing that expenditure, because administration was able to find other “efficiencies” and the money will come out of the 2014 Operating Budget that’s already been approved.
He explained there was no public debate about the options out of an interest in getting the best price on work done.
“I guess the best answer to that would be if we debated in a public forum before we made the decision, it might have had a negative impact on the negotiations with several different people to try to achieve a reasonable price to get the ski hill open.”
According to the notice of the development permit being issued, the plan is to have three portable trailers on site: two skidded trailers of 720 square feet each, plus a 320-square-foot lavatory trailer.
