Cypress County council briefs

Cypress County briefs
By Tim Kalinowski
Cavan Lake to get power upgrade
Cypress County council approved an additional $45,000 be allotted to Cavan Lake to power in next year’s budget to tie in power to its last 16 unpowered sites. The thought among councillors was that this is an investment which will pay for itself over time given that all of Cavan Lake’s current powered are largely full on every weekend during the summer months while the unpowered sites usually have a high vacancy rate, even on weekends. The money will come from the County’s Cash in Lieu parks and recreation reserve fund, so there will be no additional cost to taxpayers to get the work done.
No joy in Irvine
Irvine’s hopes to have South Railway, Walsh, Ross and Dunmore Streets completely repaved by next year took a hit when the initial engineering study results came back and were presented to councillors on Tuesday. Instead of the $1,288,400 cost expected to get the paving done alone, the study revealed that Irvine’s water and sewer infrastructure running beneath these streets was also badly in need of an upgrade.
The thought among councillors was there was no point in doing paving and having the potential for water or sewer problems creep up in a few years, forcing the newly paved streets to be redug up. Unfortunately the tally to do the paving and water/ sewer combined rose to $2,482,100.
Councillors opted to table the discussion on the Irvine street upgrades until staff came back for some scenarios where some of the work might be done next year, and some costing analysis on the various options. South Railway Street remains a priority for next year’s capital budget, but whether it will be done in whole or in part remains to be decided. Councillors also asked county staff to inquire into various grants at both the federal and provincial levels. Councillors voted to have an full engineering study done on Irvine’s sewer/ water and paving situation as soon as possible to have it ready for the grant applications.
Ring road approved for Schuler
Council voted to budget $360,000 to build a truck bypass road around Schuler to divert heavy truck traffic out of town. The bypass was particularly needed in light of a new school being built in Schuler, initially slated to open next September. With that now not expected to happen until possibly 2017, council still felt the ring road was needed due to the potential risks to Schuler’s current school and students.