New seed cleaning plant has to meet MPC’s conditions

SOUTHERN ALBERTA NEWSPAPERS PHOTO COLLIN GALLANT Operations of the 11-22 Seed Cleaning plant on Bridge Street in Medicine Hat .

By Justin Seward

Commentator/Courier

The Municipal Planning Commission (MPC) gave the final approval of development permit earlier this month for the new 11-22 Seed Cleaning Plant, but certain conditions have to be met before a shovel can go into the ground on the new site just off of the Highway 41A.
“It’ll be a little while yet until we get started construction,” said 11-22 Seed Cleaning Plant Co-op chair Garry Lentz.
MPC has required the seed cleaning plant committee to get an engineered study, aone 100 year flood plan, and 100- metre of the road paved at cost of $100,000.
“My only problem with that is the county has neglected that piece of road (Range Road 52) for so long (and) that it’s in really bad shape,” said Lentz.
“I think the county should consume some responsibility to bring that road up to standard.”
“I can’t see how the Municipal Planning Commission can justify making us build a paved road for four trucks a day hauling. We don’t need a paved road and any dust that would be created on that 100-metres of road would be up wind of the seed plant.”
The county’s director of planning Jeffrey Dowling said the MPC’s decision was “very consistent” with other similar types of industrial development that has occurred in Cypress County.
“For the requirements, we’re having to upgrade the road to a paved industrial standard is very consistent with what the Western Tractor subdivision along Township Road 120 had to do,” he said.
“It’s consistent with what the Medicine Hat Co-op along Township Road 120 (and) Ag-Plus Mechanical. I guess the other thing too is we have to look at it that while the seed cleaning plant may only have a limited number of trucks that go in and out of there on a daily basis for the use that they’re intending.
“You have to look at it from the long term perspective that if the tenants ever change on the property, that intersection from Highway 41A into the access site has been developed to the county’s standards for what would be required for industrial type of truck traffic in and out of there.”
Financing and investment shares are still being worked on by the co-operative to raise money for the project.
The current seed cleaning plant in the Flats is at full capacity at 500,000 bushels per year, which is less than 2,000 bushel loads per day.
The hope is to increase the bushel count to 750,000 per year and the truck loads to less than three a day in the new plant.
Construction could commence in the fall once the final approval from Alberta Transportation is received.
Cypress County council approved the motion for the land use reclassification for the new plant in May.