New grain elevator
Sturgeon County will soon be home to two grain terminals, and they’ll both be next door to Morinville (and each other).G3 Canada Ltd. confirmed Dec. 13 that it would build a new grain elevator just west of Morinville, with construction set to wrap in 2020.
The company telegraphed this development last summer when it asked the county to rezone a chunk of land west of Range Road 255 and north of Highway 642 so it could build such a facility. County council agreed to do so in October.
The elevator, once built, will hold up to 42,000 tonnes of grain, create 14 full-time jobs, and ship about 1,600 tonnes of grain per hour to a port in B.C. It will stand just west of the Westmor facility, which is currently the only grain terminal in Sturgeon County.
Jerry Kaup, who lives next to the G3 and Westmor sites, said he met crews surveying the G3 location this week, and they told him they hoped to do additional groundwork next month.
Kaup said G3 had addressed most of his family’s concerns about the project and hoped this elevator would push Westmor to become more efficient. This was an ideal site for an elevator, as it was at the crossroads of the county and near rail and power.
There’s a lot of money in the grain hauling business, and having two local elevators instead of one could create jobs and cut costs for farmers, said Jeff Nonay of Lakeside Dairy. Still, he wanted to know more about how G3 operated before he would commit to selling grain to them.
Bon Accord farmer Murray Mulligan was more ambivalent about this announcement. While the county had just one grain terminal now, there were several others within a 45 minute drive, and they all seemed pretty competitive.
“I personally don’t think it will make much of a difference to us here.”
G3 spokespeople were unavailable for comment.
Fire insurance
Some 5,300 Sturgeon homeowners might be in for an insurance discount now that the county has earned a new certification for all its fire departments.County fire chief Pat Mahoney told council last Dec. 11 that all seven of the county’s fire departments had earned superior tanker shuttle service accreditation.
The accreditation means these departments have the equipment, training and water capacity needed to crank out at least 950 litres of water per minute for two hours, council heard.
Mahoney said the department first set out to earn this qualification in Namao in 2017 and did so easily, achieving some 1,440 litres per minute of flow – enough to fill nine bathtubs in 60 seconds, the Gazette estimates. Over the last year, they did tests and submitted documentation to get the county’s other six fire departments accredited.
The roughly 5,300 homes that are within eight kilometres of the Bon Accord, Calahoo, Gibbons, Legal, Morinville, Namao or Redwater fire halls and within five kilometres of a recognized water source (such as a hydrant, dugout, lake, river or truck-fill station) may now qualify for cheaper fire insurance, as they are now essentially hydrant protected instead of unprotected, Mahoney said in an interview.
Some residents have reported 30-per-cent drops in their insurance costs and savings of up to $1,000 per year because of this accreditation, Mahoney said. He also noted some companies might give you a discount even if you don’t fall within that eight-kilometre circle.
“We encourage residents to check, since it could be a substantial reduction for sure,” Mahoney said.
Check the agenda package for the Dec. 11 meeting for maps showing which areas are covered by this accreditation.
