Competing groups of Cypress County residents are opposing two sites proposed by the City of Medicine Hat to construct a new electrical substation near the city's southern limits. The preferred site, (left), is located on Township Road 122, near the junction with Highway 3, while an alternate site is located near S. Boundary Road, near the intersection with Range Road 61A and the Rolling Acres Greenhouse.--SUPPLIED IMAGES COURTESY CITY OF MEDICINE HAT
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
A regulatory hearing to locate a new city substation has been postponed as a second group of mostly Cypress County residents organize opposition to a potential second location.
The City of Medicine Hat utility department says the substation is needed to regulate and expand service in a wide area of the city’s south end.
Last spring planners narrowed down eight potential locations to two sites, including a preferred option inside city limits near the junction of Highway 3 and Township Road 122.
That drew heavy lobbying and formal opposition from the owners of a group of country residences across the road.
Calling themselves the “Clearview” group, they are worried about the noise and the station’s effect on property values and ground water they use for domestic wells.
Now, the alternate site, near the county hamlet of Desert Blume, is the focus of late requests to be represented at an Alberta Utilities Commission hearing that was set to begin this week.
In September, 54 residents of Desert Blume signed a petition opposing the second site, located in a hay field across S. Boundary Road, next to the Rolling Acres greenhouse.
In early January, the AUC granted standing to a smaller number of residents who live closest to the site at the hearing that was supposed to begin this week, but is now scheduled for March.
The second group has until the end of the week to formalize initial questions for the application, Medicine Hat Power and Water. The parties will exchange information up until a three-day hearing begins March 13.
That will also include the “Clearview Group” from near the initial site, which is represented by the law firm McLennan Ross.
Edmonton-based Bishop’s Law will represent Desert Blume homeowners who live within 150 metres of the site, as well as Hatview Dairy, which owns the specific land in question.
The Clearview Group argued against the Bishop’s group inclusion due to late filing. The City of Medicine Hat took no position. Cypress County will take part as an observer.
City utility officials state in filings that the facility is needed to reinforce the distribution system in the south of the city and better regulate power flows. They initially evaluated eight sites and narrowed that down to two.
The estimated construction cost at the preferred site is $20 million, about $2.9 million less than the alternate owing to better road access and ease of construction.
Homeowners near Highway 3 say the work and resulting facility will be an eyesore that devalues their properties, and Desert Blume residents also question the proximity of large electrical infrastructure to the residential community.
