ATHABASCA – A local couple’s ask for Athabasca County to reinstate paid-for dust control at their rural property at the expense of River Meadows R.V. Park left councillors weighing the pros and cons of requiring businesses to cover those types of costs.
Muriel and Wayne Richards pleaded their case in front of Athabasca County’s nine councillors during the Nov. 12 regular council meeting, where they asked the county to hold the R.V. park responsible for the $200-a-year dust control service.
“We are at a dead-end road — what comes in must go out,” said Muriel, who handled the brunt of the presentation. “The dust, it’s awful. You come over a hill and it’s everywhere. I could write on my car every day if I wanted to.”
River Meadows is located about 10 minutes northwest of Athabasca — the Kapâwinihk Wilderness Triathalon finishes at the campground — and it started construction in 2020.
The Richards said they paid for dust control before the campground existed, but once River Meadows opened its 54 lots to the public the campground took over the yearly fee. Until 2024, that is.
“This year, we went in to check on the dust control and see if we could pay for 200 metres and have River View paying for 200 metres,” said Muriel. “We were told it was too late and they wouldn’t be paying.
“It was previously (paid for), as part of their permit, and between 62 and 70 per cent of the traffic originates at the R.V. park.”
Muriel said they had been unable to obtain a recent traffic count — they had requested one from the county, but it was unable to be completed — but Muriel estimated 15,750 vehicles travelling on the road per season, using an older traffic count that showed an average of 105 vehicles a day.
“When this was done, there was construction on the road, so I don’t know if it would put it up or down. When doing the construction, they took off any previous dust control that had been built up over the last 10 or 12 years,” said Muriel.
“The dust has been horrendous, worse than normal the last couple years because of that.”
Councillors ultimately voted to receive the presentation for information, effectively shelving the request, but also directed administration to bring a report back to an upcoming committee of the whole meeting.
Historically, campgrounds in Athabasca County have been responsible for dust control costs, under the theory that the increased traffic would require residents to pay for a service they hadn’t otherwise needed. During an early 2024 policy review on dust control, councillors started to question the practice.
“The requirement for a campground to have to pay for dust control seems really pinpointed and unfair, because I don’t believe we require it of other industries and subdivisions,” said Coun. Natasha Kapitaniuk. “In this situation, this home is on a road that is dusty. The owners mitigated that dust on their own, with no problem, for many years until all of a sudden they got the bonus of a campground on their road and they got a few years of reprieve.”
Councillors also said they would like to see residents have the option of paying for extra dust control at cost — the 200 metres each property can apply for is split 50/50 with the county — to help catch outliers.
Town and Country This Week reached out to River Meadows for comment, but didn’t hear back before publication.
