BARRHEAD - Two County of Barrhead residents will have to wait to learn if their request to maintain an existing trail adjacent to the road allowance allowing easier access to a property on the southwestern shore of Thunder Lake.
On Nov 19, councillors tabled a request from Bryce and Vicki Driessen, Daniel, and Natasha Lefebvre to have the administration research the potential risk to the municipality and any possible alternatives.
"There is no road access to our property. The only way to access it is by quad or boat in the summer and over the ice in the winter," Bryce Driessen said, adding that an existing road allowance is shown on the map leading to the property. "We are not asking the county for any financial contribution, equipment, or [staffing]."
He added the couples have someone willing to take a mulcher to the trail, upgrading the trail to almost that of a machinery road.
Driessen noted making the road accessible will not be easy, adding that at least two low areas are prone to flooding, saying they hope to overcome the issue using "swamp mats".
Driessen said their top concern is safety, adding that the families use the property often, especially in the summer.
"It does take a considerable amount of time to get in or out. If something were to happen safety-wise, we could get out of there faster," Driessen said, adding the plan is to make the road accessible to vehicles.
Deputy reeve Marvin Schatz asked to make the road accessible to vehicles, asking if they would need to bring in "dirt".
Driessen replied that other swamp mats would not bring in any additional materials.
Specifically, Natasha Lefebvre said they hope to widen the approximately five-foot approach, roughly 1.6 kilometres or one mile long, by an additional two feet.
She added that while they wanted to improve access to the road for themselves, they did not want to make access so easy that it encouraged others who shouldn't be there.
"We would like to keep it to ourselves," Lefebvre said. "We don't want a nice new 'highway' for people to explore. That is not the objective."
Coun. Bill Lane noted the property was the original bird sanctuary.
In 2003, the property in question and an adjacent parcel were gifted to the municipality under the stewardship of the Alberta Conservation Association (ACA) with the condition that the land remain in its natural state, except for maintenance of the yard site, which includes the derelict cabin, a garden, and a yard.
Coun. Paul Properzi was worried about the potential liability the swamp mats might pose to the municipality.
"If a quad rider or someone else runs into them and goes off," he said.
Reeve Doug Drozd agreed, adding that while the couples are willing to do the work, the municipality would be liable if anything went wrong.
Lefebvre, if that was the only issue councillors had, perhaps they could find an alternative to the swamp mats that would meet council's approval.
In April 2023, council denied a similar request when they asked the municipality to improve the undeveloped road to their properties, specifically to make it easier for them to bring their vehicles and recreation vehicles, i.e. trailers, to their prospective properties.
At the time, infrastructure director Ken Hove stated that bringing the pathway up to that standard would cost the municipality between $180,000 and $210,000, with an annual maintenance cost of roughly $3,500.
He added that even if the municipality decided to upgrade the road access to machine road standard, the county would pay roughly between $80,000 and $100,000, with an additional $1,400 in annual maintenance.
Development officer Jenny Bruns also said at the April 4, 2023, meeting that she was concerned about potentially exposing the municipality to liability.
"What happens now if there are two inches of rain and there is an emergency? We've said this road is good enough for vehicle use, and now you have a person that can't get out or an ambulance that can't get in. The county is then liable," she said.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
