ATHABASCA — The cost of dust control is set to go up both for both residential and commercial properties in Athabasca County.
At the regular meeting Feb. 8 it was noted the current rate for residential dust control was $350 plus GST for 200 metres, while commercial properties are charged $450 plus GST. That was a 40 and 50 per cent cost recovery respectively and both will now be raised by 10 per cent.
“After the last budget meeting, when we talked about looking at our various fees, I brought forward some feedback I heard from council, including the cost of the shared dust control program, that council may want to make changes to those rates,” said interim CAO Dawn Phillips.
She added as the policy states, the program must be advertised prior to Feb. 28, so council would have to decide on changes they would like to see, and administration would bring it back to the Feb. 15 public works meeting for final approval.
“That (total budgeted) amount was done many years ago,” said Coun. Rob Minns. “I did a quick calculation last night and came up with roughly $1,233 per application. That’s with gravel application, calcium (chloride) and water trucked in.”
How long the treatment lasts depends on the condition the road is in and if there are high volumes of traffic, but can last up to three years under normal circumstances.
“I also did some snooping around our neighbouring municipalities, and some don’t offer any subsidizing of the cost at all,” said Coun. Tracy Holland. “For example, Barrhead is a private program, and they charge $1,575 for 100 metres and Westlock is $450 for 100 metres; Lac la Biche is $300. So, there's quite a good range.”
Coun. Ashtin Anderson wanted to see an increase to the late request penalty as well.
“It’s an incentive,” she said. “If we have to re-mobilize crews out to that area, that’s a substantial cost.”
The new residential fee will be $385 plus GST and the new commercial fee will be $495 plus GST. The late fee also increased substantially from $50 to $250.
