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Tag: Burmis

Map showing Nova Gas transmission area being twinned near Lundbreck, Alberta.

Pipeline project to boost Pincher economy this summer

A pipeline expansion project is expected to bring over 400 tradespeople into Pincher Creek and the surrounding MD by August, according to representatives from TC Energy. 

TC, which hopes to start twinning a 7.5-kilometre stretch of its natural gas pipeline through Lundbreck on June 1, anticipates an average of 150 personnel will be working on-site through the end of September. 

Up to 425 personnel will handle the actual pipeline twinning, which the company expects will take a few weeks starting in late August. 

There will be no work camp, meaning all pipeline personnel will stay at local accommodations and support local eateries, construction manager Patrick Dutka told MD council at chambers May 23. 

The project will kick off at North Burmis Road, in the MD’s Division 5. 

 

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The road isn’t designed to accommodate industrial traffic, so Dutka said the company has arranged to bring heavy loads on-site via the nearby Chapel Rock Road. 

“We want to keep a close eye on the dust situation,” Dutka said, qualifying that, “Heavy loads will be sporadic” anyway. 

TC will make it plain that all work vehicles are to respect the area’s 60 km/h speed limit, he added. 

Council thanked Dutka and another company representative for their presentation, stressing at several points that the project would come as a boon to the local economy. 

The expansion will add capacity to TC’s Nova Gas Transmission Line, which feeds natural gas to markets in northeastern British Columbia and Alberta, according to TC’s website.

Project information is available in the NGTL West Path Delivery 2023 Factsheet and on the Canada Energy Regulator website.

 

Alberta map showing location of TC Energy pipeline project near Lundbreck.
Click to view a larger image
Not Notley election sign with the word "not" in white letters on red stop-sign shape

‘Not Notley’ sign to come down, says MD of Pincher Creek

The MD of Pincher Creek has asked a resident to take down a political sign from their property, citing the MD’s land use bylaw, which requires permitting for a broad spectrum of free-standing signs. 

Development officer Laura McKinnon said the MD received a complaint about the sign on Thursday, May 18. The sign, which went up on a Burmis property owner’s fence line along Highway 3 at some point in the provincial election campaign, shows a graphic of a stop sign and bears the slogan Not Notley. 

The land use bylaw (1289-18) specifically exempts “election signs” from any permitting requirements, according to Section 55.10, subsection (i), but the bylaw doesn’t explicitly define what an election sign is.

 

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“There is definitely a precedent for this,” McKinnon told Shootin’ the Breeze

In years past, homemade signs for and against the expansion of coal exploration on the Eastern Rockies and signs for and against logging also violated the bylaw and the MD requested that some of these be taken down, McKinnon said. 

Billboards, canopy signs, free-standing signs, portable signs and other types of signs are considered discretionary uses and require permitting from the municipal planning commission, which sits on the first Tuesday of every month.

 

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The agenda for the commission’s next meeting (Tuesday, June 6) has been finalized, meaning the next available opportunity to apply for the necessary permitting would be Tuesday, July 4 — 36 days after the provincial election. 

Alleged bylaw infractions trigger notifications and requests for compliance by the MD. Formal, written requests are sent to property owners in the case of ongoing infractions. The MD can issue stop-work orders for alleged violations that continue past that point. 

The MD informally contacted the owner of the property at issue on Thursday, asking that the sign be removed. 

No letter or stop-work order has been issued, according to McKinnon.

 

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Anyone in the MD is free to put up official election signs anywhere on their property, according to the bylaw. 

Election signs can be put up on public land, provided the signs are put within safe distances from roadways, according to Alberta’s Election Act. However, election signs are not allowed to imitate traffic control signs, including stop signs, according to the Government of Alberta’s website. 

MD council passed the land use bylaw in 2018. Enforcement is driven primarily by residents’ complaints, McKinnon said.

 

Albertans head to the polls Monday, May 29.

Advanced voting is open May 23 to 27.

For voter information, including polling stations, see pages 9 to 11.

View Crowsnest Pass election forum videos here: Part 1, Part 2

Individual candidate statements:

Dylin Hauser – Alberta Liberal Party

Kevin Van Tighem – Alberta New Democratic Party

Kevin Todd – Alberta Party

Erik Abildgaard – Independent

Corrie Toone – Independence Party of Alberta

Chelsae Petrovic – United Conservative Party

 

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Read more Livingstone-Macleod articles

Snow accumulation is measured by four brown Oldman River Brewing beer cans. A storm watch has been issued for 30 to 50 cm of snow.

Winter storm watch issued for Pincher Creek and Crowsnest Pass

Significant snowfall – 30 to 50 centimetres (12 to 20 inches) — is expected in southwestern Alberta, prompting Environment Canada to issue a winter storm watch for Pincher Creek, Crowsnest Pass, Piikani Nation, Waterton and surrounding area.

The storm will hit with heavy snow falling early Monday morning. It is anticipated to slow down in the afternoon, but will intensify again later in the day and snow will continue to fall through. Tuesday.

The highest amounts are currently expected in the Waterton area.

Be prepared!

Share your weather photos with us by email or text.

 

 

The winter storm watch was issued at 3:50 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023 for the MD of Pincher Creek near Beauvais Lake Provincial Park, Cowley, Burmis, Maycroft and Twin Butte; the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass including Coleman and Frank; Piikani Nation; Waterton Lakes National Park and Blood Reserve; and MD of Ranchland.

 

 

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