Redcliff business owner raises road issues with council

Posted on July 29, 2014 by 40 Mile Commentator

By Carlie Connolly

In last week’s Redcliff council meeting, David Minor who is the owner and operator of his business on Mitchell Street N.E., discussed an issue with the road in front of his business. Minor purchased his business around Christmas time and at that time, the road in front of his building was an oil surface, smooth and the way he liked it when he purchased his property. Now the road is a gravel road with dust control applied to it. He approached the council meeting fairly concerned with the issue of his road being changed to a gravel road rather than an oil-surfaced road that he had first purchased it as. “I didn’t see anything wrong with it. I want my road back!” He told the council.

Not only is Minor affected by the roads being changed, he said his neighbours and those coming to his business are as well. He pays property taxes and wouldn’t have ever bought the area if he knew this would happen.

In the April 2014 council meeting, there was a request to remove oiled surface on a particular road. Contractors estimated that the cost to return the entire oiled road to a good oiled surface road would be $150,000 plus the $10,000 to $20,000 of minor repairs they would need to do per year on the roadways.

The Redcliff council told Minor that the roads in general are becoming difficult to treat and are expensive in cost. The budget allocation is $40,000 for the oil surface roads within the municipality, and contractors said that the first 100 meters of Minors road would be $33,000.

“There is a difference between continually maintaining an oil surface road and building a whole new road,” Arlos Crofts of council said.

Minor said he would have liked to be informed via email or some form of communication when his road would have changed from oil surface to gravel and is still having to deal with the altercations.

Crofts said they want to bring it to a state that is more sustainable in terms of maintaining it for the long term. Gravel roads fit more with the town’s budget along with the dust control being applied.

There is currently no change being done as of yet to switch these roads back to the way they were when Mr. Minor purchased this lot.