Village of Burns Lake council re-addressed the phase one downtown revitalization plans during their meeting last week in order to appease local business concerns about proposed curb bulbs at the intersection of Hwy. 16 and Third Ave.
As reported in the Lakes District News edition of June 20, 2012, local business owner Wayne Brown previously expressed concerns about the phase one plans negatively affecting his business during a downtown revitalization committee meeting.
Brown said the location and size of proposed curb bulbs [a traffic calming measure used to extend the sidewalk] near his business would significantly reduce parking for his customers and cause difficulty for delivery trucks to his business.
At a subsequent council meeting the issue was brought to the table by Coun. Frank Varga, who said he thought the proposed plans should be left unchanged, despite the concerns of Brown.
However during council's meeting last week, in which both Brown and his landlord Wilf Dueck, attended, the issue was re-addressed.
In a letter addressed to council by Dueck, he said he was appalled by council's decision.
"When businesses owners bring a valid concern to council as did Mr. Brown of Process 4 circle arts Gallery, we should be appalled at council’s lack of consideration,” he said.
Dueck said when he joined the downtown revitalization committee for a walk around town Coun. Frank Varga excused himself to attend another function. “We never went to the area of Hwy. 16 and Third Ave. During any meetings I attended, very little time was spent on things like parking on Hwy. 16. The most time was spent discussing parking at the post office area.”
Mayor Luke Strimbold said he appreciated all the comments and letters that had come into council about the issue.
“We want to address safety concerns and sight lines along that stretch of road, as well as add a left hand turn lane into Third Ave and I realize that this takes away parking.”
Mayor Strimbold said the Village of Burns Lake has now spoken with Shell Canada Inc. about the vacant lot on Hwy. 16 in the downtown core and he said there is a possibility that the site could be used for an RV parking and pull through.
“This is very exciting as this will provide an opportunity for downtown parking and provide people with a safe place to pull over. A lot of research has been done on phase one and the downtown revitalization committee has spent a lot of time on the plans, so this news from Shell should alleviate some of the concerns,” he said.
Mayor Strimbold asked Sheryl Worthing, village chief administrative officer if Shell Canada has indicated any time lines about the project.
Worthing said, “We would be able to do the entrance way [to the site] in phase one ... we would hopefully be working with Shell either later this year or next year ... we had a positive response from them by email and they seem happy to work with us.”
She later said to Lakes District News, “The entrance to the Shell Canada site off of Hwy. 16 will be maintained and will be incorporated into the highway resurfacing project this summer. Paving the entire site will be up to Shell Canada. The entrance to the Shell Canada site will be similar to what it currently is. As the property is owned by Shell Canada, it will be their discretion if cars, RVs, or pedestrians will be able to access the site.”
She also said that the Ministry of Transportation staff and their design contractors are currently reviewing the proposed phase one plans, including the curb bulbs and have only made minor edits to meet their standards.
Mayor Strimbold said the downtown revitalization committee is set to meet early in the month and he said village staff should pass on the information about the possibility of working with Shell Canada.
Lakes District News spoke with Brown following the council meeting. He said he is concerned about the time line for the remediation of the Shell property and how local businesses will be affected until the proposed parking development at the site is completed
While he said the site development, once completed, would address customer parking for the local businesses, it would do little to alleviate future issues with deliveries to the businesses in that area.
In the Lakes District News edition of April 17, 2012, Jeff Gabert, from Shell Communications said there was no set time line for completion of the remediation of the disused Shell property.
He said there is still more testing to be done, which will take as long as necessary to insure the site is properly remediated.
“It is important not to have a time line and not to rush along with this type of work,” Gabert said.
Further drilling was conducted at the site earlier this year as part of the remediation process in order to determine what kind of contaminants exist on the property.
Suntanu Dalal, Ministry of Environment media spokesperson said, “The Ministry’s decision restricts future land use until Shell Canada has applied for and obtained either; a determination that the site is no longer contaminated, a voluntary remediation agreement, an approval in principle of a remediation plan, or a certificate confirming the satisfactory remediation of the site.
Worthing later said to Lakes District News, “Shell Canada has indicated that they are interested in working with us on this project. Communications are ongoing. No time lines have been discussed. We are hopeful that they property will be available for use by next summer, but this has not been confirmed.”
Steve Doolan, Shell Canada spokesperson confirmed that Shell Canada is working with the municipality and the Ministry of Environment on the remediation aspect of the property but he said that Shell Canada does not have an opinion on any future uses for the property.
He said the site will remain off limits to the public during the remediation process and added that the sole focus of Shell Canada is site remediation.
“We are interested in getting this site cleaned up so that it can be a usable piece of land. Any future uses will depend on the site and would be done in accordance with the Ministry of Environment recommendations. I can’t offer any time lines for when the remediation work will be completed, but we are till working on the site.”