Update: Monday, March 8th, RM of McKillop delayed further the issuance of Extraction Permit for Highway Project. More news to follow.
General Manager at ASL Regina, Jorden Hanus, said discussions & meetings with the RM have been ongoing since then. ASL submitted their first permit application on January 18th, 2021. ASL also had a contract with a local landowner to excavate material from his land near the project site.
Road building material has become a sought-after prairie commodity, which usually needs to be hauled into construction sites long distances. So ASL was happy to find the quality of sand they were looking for after drilling some test holes at the proposed site, 5 km from where the company will build the new road. Hanus said proximity reduces the project’s overall carbon footprint by shortening the haul distance and reduces the potential damage to other RM roads.
ASL’s original plan was to interim stockpile approximately 50,000 tonnes of base aggregate required for the proposed gravel pit project. However, Hanus said, “The RM was not in favour of this idea as it would mean an additional 50,000 tonnes hauled down their roads in and out of the pit, and they were concerned about damage to their roads. We agreed to stockpile this material at a different location, to reduce the amount of material hauled down their roads. This means we will have to operate an additional weigh scale & loader for the duration of the project.”
After ASL submitted the permit applications to the RM, concern arose from neighbouring landowners and area residents. Concerned ratepayers made submissions and presentations at a Public hearing on the matter. There were concerns of potential contamination of a watercourse that runs across the corner of the quarter section where the excavation site would be located and the noise and traffic the work would bring to residents. Council also had concerns regarding potential damage to the RM roads from a large project with the transport of 103,000 tonnes of sand from the excavation site to the paving location.
Hanus said they need the permit approved to process the gravel, which will be the sub base to build the road. At the time of the interview, he said the project was moving along fine. They had been crushing and stockpiling material in a race against the road bans. Hanus said that any challenges they have faced to date had not affected their start date for the project. However, further delays in permit approval could delay the project start date.
Having worked with many other RM’s in the past, getting some of the permits approved for the project has taken longer than Hanus initially anticipated. He had not dealt with the RM of McKillop before this project. “Each RM has their own council and administration as well as their own set of bylaws that instruct how the process goes,” Hanus said.
“The RM’s bylaws are very detailed and it can be a lengthy process to have a discretionary use permit approved and reviewed by Council. In other RM’s this process would look much different and would generally go allot quicker but each RM is different and they are allowed to set their own bylaws. What’s in those bylaws greatly affect the amount of time it takes for permits to be approved. “
While construction is not slated to start until mid-June, ASL has begun to move equipment to the excavation site in anticipation it would be approved soon. Hanus understands that the permit will be approved with some restrictions; however, they have not received the RM’s official approval.
At the February 23rd meeting of Council, Councillor Garry Dixon proposed two bonds on the project. A $25,000 reclamation bond on the excavation site to ensure it’s returned as close as possible to its natural state; and a $200,000 performance bond over and above what is covered in a standard road maintenance agreement. The bond will give the RM an avenue of recourse if the RM roads are damaged. RM council has also recently reduced speed limits for heavy haul traffic to preserve the RM’s roads.
Hanus said the $25,000 reclamation bond is not uncommon; however, it is usually the landowner that would ask for one. While Hanus has never been asked for a performance bond for a haul agreement with ASL, he has seen it with other RM’s asking it of other contractors.
“We get haul agreements all the time. For most of the RM’s...we deal with them every year so its business as usual so bonds are not required. Sometimes when you are dealing with an RM you have never dealt with they may ask [for one]”
This paving project isn’t ASL’s first rodeo in the road construction business. With around 280 employees, ASL has been in business since 1950. They have divisions in Regina, Lloydminster and Saskatoon. Hanus says they have done it all as far as road construction goes in Saskatchewan, with projects ranging in size from a small parking lot to a large project such as the highway 39 passing lanes between Weyburn and Milestone.
Hanus said the permit process varies from RM to RM. On one end of the spectrum, some RM’s don’t require a permit to start a gravel pit and on the other end of the spectrum is the RM of McKillop, where it is administratively heavy to get a permit in place. He said he was not sure if it’s because of the bylaws or the public opposition to the pit’s location.
If you know anything about the RM of McKillop, you know it’s an RM with a history of conflict. In 2018 there was great upheaval after Council of the day nearly doubled taxes for some residents to deal with a budgetary shortfall. After significant public backlash and allegations of financial mismanagement, the Province got involved, a review was undertaken and audits performed. While the audit didn’t find evidence of theft, fraud or misappropriation, the Province appointed a supervisor for a year to oversee the RM. After Council held a referendum, the province redrew the division boundaries, and a new Council was elected in March of 2019. The last hold out from the previous Council was Reeve Howard Arndt. He resigned in April after, as he describes not wanting to be a part of what he saw as a council taking actions around development without a long-term strategy and self-serving interests of the new Council. The upheaval left a lot of hard feelings in the RM. The breakdown in trust is palpable as questions continue in the community behind the motivations between neighbours’ actions and motivations behind the Council’s decisions.
The excavation site is located on a quarter section owned by former RM of McKillop Councillor Murray Wild and his brother Warren. Murray said they were happy when ASL was awarded the contract in early January but have grown frustrated with what he feels are roadblocks by the Council that are costing everyone money because of the delays. “These are the same people that are sitting on Council when this highway went to absolute garbage in 2014. They screamed and yelled saying that we as a council needed to do something. And they wanted us to put money INTO rebuilding this highway. We were to make it as easy as possible to get this project done and now here they are throwing up roadblock after roadblock.”
Neighbouring landowners who have concerns regarding the proposed excavation site are former Councillors Rudy Thompson and Andrew Kuderewko. They presented letters to the Council regarding their opposition to the proposed location. Rudy Thompson, who served on the RM council from March 2019 to November 2020, has land where the watercourse runs through. He said he supports the paving project on highway 322/220; however, “It is unfortunate the sand extraction is occurring in an environmentally sensitive area.” He added that he supports the Council’s action in following the processes to issue the permits. Kuderewko did not respond when asked for comment.
Hanus said the watercourse is essentially a low spot where water sometimes flows in years of heavy rain. ASL reported the RM of McKillop bylaws said their excavation needs to be 150 metres back from the watercourse, which they will comply with. However, the RM had not defined where the starting point is to measure from, which has caused the most recent delay.
Based on the RM’s Community Planner’s recommendations, Council originally asked the company to complete a legal survey of the excavation site. However, ASL explained they would need to know a starting point for the watercourse. A legal survey would be difficult because they may need to move around as they only know precisely where the material is after they start digging. This week ASL, the RM and the Community Planner met to discuss the requirement for ASL to complete a legal survey. The planner amended it so that ASL would provide the RM with a site plan with setbacks staked out to the road and watercourse. The company has since proposed to the RM where they would like to stake the offsets.
RM of McKillop Reeve Bob Schmidt said Council had approved the storage of aggregate on the corner of the 322/220 and the location of the asphalt plant.
Reeve Schmidt noted the Council is following recommendations from the RM’s community planner, Urban Systems. Schmidt anticipates the permit will be approved following the March 8th Council meeting after Council hears how ASL will meet the remaining conditions.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Highways, Patrick Book, said, “The Ministry of Highways is aware that there has been a delay in obtaining permits for the project. The Ministry is working with ASL and the RM to formulate solutions and keep the project on track. The tender indicated construction would take place in 2021, and ASL was awarded the contract in January. ASL is currently crushing material in preparation for the work’s commencement, and the plan is for ASL to start work on the road this summer and complete the project in the fall.”
Responding to the Ministry’s comment, Reeve Schmidt said he hasn’t personally spoken with the Ministry and didn’t feel they had delayed anything and that it was just part of the normal process when starting a new excavation site on agricultural land. Schmidt further said, “This is all part of our zoning bylaw that was developed by the previous Council. Which included one of the owners of the ag land in question.” He suggested asking McKillop’s Chief Administrative Officer, Brandi Morissette, for comment on what a typical length of process would be. When asked, Morissette declined to comment, saying she was not a planning officer.
When asked how he felt about the paving of Highway 322/220, Reeve Schmidt said, “Everybody is excited about getting that. Because when they stopped [the pavement] at Glen harbour, when they were working on that road everybody asked why, and the department of highways said that the traffic counts didn’t show there was enough traffic to warrant the road being built further than glen harbour. But they were wrong because... they have to keep rebuilding that little stretch of road all the time and I think it really impacted allot of people driving on it. Today if you drive on it there are big holes on it. So everybody is going to be happy. There is going to be allot of people going to the park and there is going to be allot of happy rate payers.”
Jorden Hanus told Last Mountain Times on Friday, “Our equipment has been moved into the proposed gravel pit. We are hoping that our discretionary use permit is approved at the council meeting on Monday, so we can begin processing the gravel without any further delay.”
The RM of McKillop council meets next over Zoom on Monday, March 8th, at 9 am. Zoom invitations to view the proceedings are available on the RM’s website.
- Jenifer Argue, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
Note: These reports may be abridged for content