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R.M. denies application for land for new North Bay lagoon in Buckland

Sep 10, 2018 | 5:28 PM

After a gavel pounding heavy second public hearing for a proposed lagoon in the Rural Municipality of Buckland, lawmakers voted 4-3 to deny the proposal.

The lagoon was set to occupy a 160-acre parcel of land approximately two miles west of Highway 2, near Red Wing Road. The new structure is needed to replace the failing system for the park.

“There were good arguments on both sides of the fence, just the cards didn’t fall in favour today,” Reeve Don Fyrk said, who admitted he voted in favour and was shocked by the result. “We did a lot of work behind the scenes that nobody knows trying to solve this and it just didn’t come to bear.”

A July vote on the application was tabled by councillors, as they sought clarity on changes to a planning document relating to setback distances for lagoons, or liquid waste management facilities, from wells and homes. Within the updated document, setback distances from liquid waste management facilities to wells were reduced from 1,600 metres to 600 metres to align with Saskatchewan’s Water Security Agency (WSA) standards. 

The decision Monday afternoon did not come without periodically sharp exchanges and punctuated back-and-fourths among trailer court, Buckland residents, and vocal park owner James Wankel, who continued his threats of playing hardball with all levels of government and to lob lawsuits at the R.M. should the decision not fall in his favour.

Speaking with paNOW after the decision, Wankel did not waver.

“Let’s go to court,” he said. “I will go after whoever the lawyer figures we should: Council, the R.M. of Buckland, the Government of Saskatchewan. That is what our legal counsel is for.”

Wankel maintained those living in the park would not be going anywhere, more so if the matter is tied up in the courts.

“No one is getting evicted. If it takes two years to go to legal, everything will be sitting there for two years,” he said. “If they try to force us out, I am sure my lawyers will get an injunction.”

An audience of over 30 packed the chamber Monday, spilling into the foyer, for the public hearing. Buckland residents repeated red flags brought up in a June hearing. They pointed to concerns around who would address leakage and what they could expect for smell, but most notably, how runoff would be dealt with in what residents said is an already wet area.

Representatives with the Water Security Agency, Buckland’s planning department and Wankel himself attempted to field an array of questions in attempts to quell a multitude of complaints from the crowd. 

“We the people do not want it,” one audience member cried out to applause.

“But we deserve to keep our property,” another resident from the trailer parked replied to equal admiration.

On the topic of smell, a representative with the WSA who is involved with lagoon operations, said he can walk on lagoon berms and “not notice any smell.”

“Sometimes you can stand right beside a lagoon and not know you are beside a lagoon,” the representative said but did note the occasional waft in the spring. 

The crowd was mixed in its reaction to his answer, with some saying they have friends and colleagues who would claim otherwise, and further outlined fly and mosquito issues. Hesitations were also had over bringing additional water to an area residents said they have had difficulties with in the past when attempting to rid the land of water. Talks momentarily turned an eye to finding alternative locations, like approaching the province for a chunk of land in the Nisbet forest. This was quickly shot down by Jason Kaptein, the director of planning and development with the Prince Albert District Planning Committee who works with the R.M. He said the ministry has made it clear they will not sell land in the forest for the lagoon.

People also questioned how Wankel expected to recuperate his million dollar investment, more so after he explained how since the lagoon issue transpired, only about 45 dwellings remained occupied and paying rent, down from the previous 65.

If a plan for a new lagoon could not be decided by Sept. 1, authorities from the WSA said work would begin to decommission the old lagoon, meaning all 200-odd residents of the park could be forced to move.

The WSA’s Patrick Boyle told paNOW in a written statement last week that the agency intends to amend the parks permit to operate sewage works at the existing lagoon until Sept. 30, 2019. The draft permit was emailed to Wankel on Aug. 27, 2018, with 30 days given to review the permit and make a written representation. 

Wankel would not comment on the state of the permit process, saying it will be up to his legal counsel to decide a path forward.

 

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr