Gravel company is one step closer to expanding its operation

BARRHEAD - County of Barrhead councillors unanimously gave first reading to a road closure bylaw during their Dec. 17 meeting.

If the bylaw is approved, it will help River Valley Crushing, the owner of a gravel extraction operation on the county's west side, north of Highway 33 and south of the Athabasca River, expand its operations and operate more efficiently.

The company is looking to expand to an adjacent parcel of land, which is separated by an undeveloped road allowance.

County manager Debbie Oyarzun said that closing the road and allowing the company to consolidate the parcels would also make it easier to reclaim the properties.

The parcels are in an Agricultural District, so natural resource extraction is a discretionary use under the land-use bylaw.

In a separate motion, council set a Feb. 4 public hearing in council chambers. 

Oyarzun also noted that River Valley Crushing would still need to apply for a development permit for the other parcel when it is ready to expand its operation.

History

In August 2023, council first directed administration to initiate the road closure process to close an undeveloped road allowance.

That was in response to the company's request to decommission the road allowance, as they wanted to mine for the gravel aggregate underneath it.

Nearly a year later, in early June 2024, River Valley Crushing entered into a Road Allowance Aggregate Royalty Agreement agreement with the province, requiring them to pay royalties on any gravel extracted.

Oyarzun noted that the municipality reached a tentative agreement with River Valley Crushing to sell the 2.5 road allowance at $2,400 an acre. 

"The original assessment was higher than that, but since the province has already given them the Aggregate Royalty Agreement and with the understanding that it is just the road surface [and that the municipality] does not own anything below, the assessor deemed it was worth less," she said, reiterating that while the agreement is in place, it is not valid until council gives the bylaw reading.

Oyarzun also noted that the developer would be responsible for any costs involved.

Deputy Reeve Marvin Schatz said that while he supported closing the road allowance, he took issue with the price the county was selling it for.

"I have a real concern about the value we are selling it for. It is good farmland," he said. "Farmland is selling a lot more than $2,400 an acre, and when you have natural resources under it, it sells for even more."

Schatz added that while he realized the land is relatively small, as productive farmland, the road allowance is worth $5,000 to $6,000.

"Now, all of a sudden, this land is only worth $2,400 an acre? I'm not sure where the value is lost," he said.

Oyarzun said the assessor valued the land less because it was a road allowance, not farmland.

She added that the county's assessor also considered his conversations with the province.

Schatz asked what the undeveloped road allowance was being used for now.

Coun. Walter Preugschas said that, according to the municipality's mapping, it was most likely being used as pasture land.

Reeve Doug Drozd asked Schatz if he was proposing they return to River Valley Crushing and attempt to negotiate for more money.

Schatz replied, saying it wouldn't be worth the effort for only 2.5 acres. He added that he just wanted to let people know that similar land should be assessed higher in the future "because it is worth more". 

"It is, but then again, it isn't," Drozd said.

Coun. Jared Stoik agreed, adding that its value would be limited even if it were assessed as farmland.

"It is not the most productive cropland in the world," he said. "That area floods. It flooded last year and does every couple of years."

Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com