MD OF BIGHORN – As the populations of Exshaw and Dead Man’s Flats continue to increase, there is a need to look at the water and wastewater strategy for both places.
To that end, the governance and priorities committee of the MD was presented with a proposal by its administration to look at water and wastewater options. The committee, formerly the finance and economic development committee, temporarily put off a decision for municipal administration to create new terms of reference and a $75,000 budget to hydrogeological and comparative feasibilities of different water and wastewater options to have more capacity and accepted it as information.
“This was a surprise to our committee that this was something that was being looked at,” said Reeve Lisa Rosvold.
Once those options have been looked into, work on updating area structure plans (ASP) for Exshaw and Dead Man’s Flats can potentially begin.
Currently, water and wastewater supply in Exshaw is adequate for 1,000 people, including commercial and industrial.
Exshaw has an ASP and a separate area redevelopment plan (ARP), with a second ASP under consideration at the Exshaw Mountain Gateway that is proposing 25 to 30 single detached and duplex lots, six to eight ridge lots, one mountain lot and two multi-dwelling lots with about 15 units total, and is expected to increase the population by 130 people.
With the Municipal Development Plan (MDP) expected to be adopted in 2023, municipal administration plans to replace all the older plans with a unified Exshaw hamlet-wide ASP. The new MDP, once passed, will have a targeted build-out, according to the staff report.
The water and wastewater supply in Dead Man’s Flats is reaching its design limits, and buildout under current zoning could double the current demand.
Dead Man’s Flats currently has an ASP and ARP and the MDP is likely to pass in 2023, administration is also looking at a unified hamlet-wide ASP for Dead Man’s Flats.
“Water and wastewater supply in Dead Man’s Flats is reaching its design limits, while build-out under current zoning would approximately double current demand,” the report stated.
The municipality may look at handling water and wastewater separately for each hamlet, or combined through a piping system, per the staff report.
Understanding the limits of hamlet growth that may exist from water and wastewater is required by administration for any future detailed planning for Exshaw and Dead Man’s Flats.
Looking at options will cost about $75,000, according to the 2023 budget, to determine the different options for increased water and wastewater capacity in Dead Man’s Flats and Exshaw.
“I do think it is important that it is looked at. We can’t allow more development if we don’t have water and wastewater availability for future growth,” Rosvold said. “It is kind of putting the cart before the horse. We need to make sure we got that ability before we can add that growth into an MDP.”
