Some Gull Lake homeowners may be able to use holding tanks for sewage, instead of high-tech wastewater systems, under new changes to Lacombe County`s land use bylaw.
The previous bylaw required individual sewage treatment plants, but it emerged that the systems are not suitable for all lake-area homes.
In an amendment approved 6-1 by Lacombe County council on Thursday, the county will allow a holding tank if staff are satisfied that site conditions don`t permit other sewage systems.
The balance of economic prosperity in Canada is tipping further to the West as Alberta`s cash-flush petroleum sector fuels the most robust growth of jobs in the country, while Ontario`s manufacturing sector wilts.
The trend is accelerating, raising the likelihood of political fireworks, said Todd Hirsch, a Calgary-based senior economist for ATB Financial.
"The pot is ready to boil over if it continues for too much longer," Hirsch said. "I`m a little afraid of that.
Alberta`s employment rate hit an all-time high in June, reaping the highest rate in Canada, as the province`s legendary red-hot streak in job growth continued full steam ahead.
The numbers, in Statistics Canada`s latest labour force survey, should put to bed any niggling worries that Alberta`s economy may be faltering, said Frank Atkins, associate professor of economics at the University of Calgary.
"Everyone thinks that because the housing market went through a correction that the whole Alberta economy may be heading in the wrong direction, but these employment numbers certainly don`t point that way," he said.
New housing prices increased at their slowest pace in nearly six years in May, continuing a deceleration that started in September 2006, due mainly to the softening market in Alberta and British Columbia, says Statistics Canada.
In releasing its new housing price index on Friday, the federal agency said contractors` selling prices across the country rose 4.1 per cent between May 2007 and May 2008, a slower pace than the year-over-year increase of 5.2 per cent in April.
This was the slowest rate of growth since July 2002, when year-over-year prices increased four per cent.
The value of building permit applications at the midway point of this year is down from a year ago, dropping from $3.2 billion to $2.5 billion, according to figures released by the City of Calgary on Friday.
Labour shortage may slow drilling boom, analysts say
Strong commodity prices and strengthening land sales point to a boom in Western Canadian drilling activity this fall, but a looming labour crunch will blunt its impact, service industry insiders warn.
Duane Mather, CEO of Nabors Canada, said record resource rights sales in B.C. and Saskatchewan, combined with Alberta`s best conventional land sale since 2005 on Wednesday, are evidence that the oil and gas industry is recovering from the slump of the last year and a half.
"It`s my belief from the market demand that`s pent up right now that the industry will run every piece of equipment that we can staff (this winter)," said Mather.
Stage set for record results in Alberta energy sector
The energy sector is staring down another blowout quarter when oil and gas companies start releasing first-half numbers next week.
Nexen and OPTI Canada kick off the reporting season Thursday, followed by Husky, Suncor, Petro-Canada and EnCana the week after.
"Likely another record-breaking quarter . . . driven entirely by strong commodity prices," is how Andrew Potter, an analyst with UBS Securities in Calgary, summed up the outlook.
Despite a moderate increase in multi-family homes, total housing construction starts in Edmonton dropped in May compared to a year ago, says a federal agency.
Starts of all types in the census metropolitan area fell to 586 units, a decline of 48 per cent, says Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. in a tentative estimate.
"For the year to date, housing starts across the capital region have declined by 42 per cent to 3,584 units, compared with 6,200 units started in the first five months of 2007," says Richard Goatcher of CMHC.
The City of Calgary recently unveiled a $10.6 million, 41-unit housing development in the city`s northeast quadrant, the latest in a number of steps that, officials hope, will help address the local shortage of affordable housing.
Dubbed the Vista Grande, the three-storey complex on Vermillion Street N.E. features 32 two-bedroom rental units and nine one-bedroom apartments. Rents are expected to be in the $295- to $550-per-month range.
"Any additional units contributing to the solution (to the affordable housing problem) is significant," says Gail Sokolan, affordable housing coordinator with the City of Calgary, noting the municipal government has identified the issue as one of the most serious facing the city`s economy.
Fewer new residents, rapid price growth slacken sales
It`s getting more difficult to uncover optimistic news when it comes to housing in Alberta -- but I did find some.
Let`s face it, the worm has turned. After riding high for so long, things are piling up and making it tough on everybody -- including builders and buyers. What good news there is won`t kick in until next year.
"Despite a respectable economic performance in Alberta, a multitude of factors will lead to lower housing demand this year and next," says Richard Corriveau, Calgary-based regional economist for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.
You can`t miss the retail centre that is Deerfoot Meadows -- anchored by the distinctive royal blue and bright yellow of IKEA, the shopping area offers a number of home design and decor stores, conveniently located next to the decor hub of Heritage Gate (which we`ll visit in a future article).
Plan on spending a half to full day here, especially if you`re going to IKEA -- it can easily soak up half a day all on its own. The location is just off Deerfoot Trail south of Heritage Drive; the development`s (slightly outdated) website is deerfootmeadows.com.
Numerous Calgary communities need a deeper shade of green, a report coming to a city committee next week says.
A study into city-wide open space coming before the community and protective services committee on Wednesday suggests 17 communities, mostly inner city, lack sufficient park space while five others are at risk if they continue to grow.
Over the next decade, the report suggests $16 million will be needed to upgrade existing parks and establish others in both established and newer communities, Ald. Druh Farrell said she`s not surprised to see the city is short-changing some residents and wants a renewed focus, particularly on inner-city communities where the city is hoping to attract more people to live and play.
The Ferintosh Recreation Centre has long been the heart of the small village, but the group which has traditionally run the hall fears its future may be in jeopardy without a jump in interest from volunteers.
Organizers were forced to cancel this year`s Ferintosh Farmers` Festival, a popular event for the last 30 years, due to a lack of support.
If this trend continues, the hall itself may be closed, said Colleen Buskas, past president of the Ferintosh and District Recreation Association.
"It is the last structure we have that ties the community together," Buskas said. "I think it would be as devastating to Ferintosh as the school (closing) was to Edberg."
The new location of the Lamphouse Centre for the Arts has thrown a wrench in the town`s powerline burial project.
After learning that the proposed Lamphouse Centre will front onto 6th Ave, Senior Manager of engineering Kevin van Vliet told council the town would have to move several switches and transformer boxes as part of its utility right of ways.
"It became clear that moving them wasn`t going to be easy or cheap," van Vliet said.
"Now is the time to relocate the right of ways."
Van Vliet told council that moving the switches now would be easier than moving them at a later date.
Council approved spending up to $80,000 to relocate the power infrastructure.
After waiting over ten years, Assumption Jr. & Sr. High School officially broke ground on Friday for the building of a much-needed addition.
The Lakeland Catholic Board of Trustees has received approval from the provincial government to start the addition that has been in the works for over a decade. The addition will have 10 classrooms, a kitchen and cafeteria and a double-station gymnasium. Renovations to 80 per cent of the existing school is also slated to be done at the same time.
The total cost of the project is approximately $21 million.
Now that ground bas been broken on the Southwest Community Recreation Centre, proponents of the project are turning their attention to a proposed adjacent ice arena complex.
A request to fund construction of a four-rink facility next to the $103 million centre at 23 Avenue and Terwillegar Drive will go to city council for approval this fall during yearly budget deliberations.
The rinks have a high-level cost of $48 million, says project manager Monique St. Louis, based on a concept design that is being refined.
City representatives are consulting with an arena users group and the Terwillegar-Riverbend Advisory Council (TRAC), which has long been involved in the facilities` development and is pushing to have a leisure rink, similar to what exists at Millennium Place in Sherwood Park, added to the plans.
The city is predicting big economic payoffs and a higher profile in the lucrative U.S. convention market after two major foreign conferences recently chose Edmonton as their host.
From July 12 to 25 this year, science and physics educators from around the world will be descending on the University of Alberta for a meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers. And after beating out facilities in Montreal and Quebec City, the Shaw Conference Centre will be hosting the Society for Conservation Biology in 2010.
City officials expect over 1,000 delegates to attend each conference, most of whom will book hotel rooms, take taxis and eat out at night says Glenn Duncan, a director with Edmonton Tourism.
The department predicts the physics conference alone could inject $600,000 into the local economy, while the 2010 convention has the potential to bring $1.5 million.
Elmwood community league president Nicole Akhenak says she was pleasantly surprised by the turnout at a meeting held last month to raise awareness on a proposed west-end LRT route.
While the June 25 edition of The Examiner reported that the turnout was around 100 people, Akhenak says about 160 attended. She also wanted to clarify that, of those remaining at the end of the meeting, about 50 per cent voted against the 87 Avenue route while 50 per cent did not express an opinion.
"They want some answers, they want some information. They don`t think they felt qualified – that`s what I heard from a few people who I spoke to afterwards," she says of the undecided half. "I think they hadn`t thought about it enough to really have an opinion one way or another.
There will be minimal disruption for motorists when the province begins construction to replace the bridge over Bench Creek on Fourth Avenue (Highway 16 west) today, according to the project`s bridge engineer.
Despite a provincial travellers` advisory that indicates traffic will be streamlined into one lane, bridge engineer Afzal Piracha says reductions down to one lane during the four-month project will be rare.
"This is on a busy corridor, on a highway, so traffic accommodation is an issue there. So, we want to maintain the traffic as it`s going now, we won`t be reducing it as such."
He noted there will be multiple signs indicating that motorists are passing through a construction zone and that they should exercise caution.
The Town of Edson will expand a single parcel of land from 70,000 square feet to nearly 2.7 acres after council approved the purchase of two new pieces of abutting land from private owners last week.
The price for the two new properties was $230,000 and the acquisition will make the combined land parcel more attractive to businesses, assistant Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Brigitte Lemieux said.
The land is located at Third Avenue and 59 Street.
The town wanted to make the property more marketable, Lemieux said. The original 70 square feet wouldn`t allow a business to do much with the property but the new chunk of land "will be sized to accommodate larger developments," a background document indicated.
