Central East Transfer-Out Project introduced to Alix council

Altalink and Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) have been cooperating to create the Central East Transfer-Out (CETO) Project, a project designed to accommodate future developments across Alberta.

Altalink and AESO visited Alix council chambers on Wed. Jan. 16 to introduce the project to councillors and how this project will involve the village.

The proposed project is located in the counties of Red Deer, Lacombe and Stettler and includes approximately 55 to 60 kilometres of new 240 kilovolts (kV) transmission line connecting the Gaetz Substation, located east of the City of Red Deer, to a new ATCO Electric line, located southeast of the Village of Alix.

Installing new equipment at the Gaetz Substation and acquiring additional land south of the substation property will be completed to accommodate future developments.

The anticipated construction start date is set to begin in the winter of 2021 and will be completed by 2029 at the latest depending on how the process continues.

Ramaiah Divi, PhD Lead engineer of transmission system projects for AESO, began the presentation by walking Council through the roles and responsibilities of the non-profit organization.

Their mandate remains in the public interest as they connect with customers, manage the grid, plan transmissions, facilitate the market, ensure producer requirements are met and continually update a 20 year plan as to what energy will be in place and how they fit into this plan.

As of the meeting, the CETO project is in the consultation stage where the public is invited to information sessions like open houses as required by the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC).

Recreation Department delegation

Chelsie Currier, Recreation Coordinator for the Village of Alix, presented a recreation department report to council.

Each event hosted this past year from 2017 to 2018 has been itemized with subsequent costs broken down as to where the expenses came from.

The largest events in Alix is the Canada Day Parade and Family Day.

This year, they have been partnering with the Show and Shine to utilize Mainstreet for Alix Days.

If numbers continue to drop as they have for the past three years, Alix will lose the Show and Shine as it is not sustainable for another year in the village.

“Our parades have been super successful but for the event itself, our numbers die off when the rodeo starts so I’m really hoping that doing this differently and partnering with a different society will increase our numbers for that specific event,” said Currier.

Disaster Services headquarters location

Last month, Alix Council debated upon where to have disaster services if a major disaster were to occur.

Council directed administration to seek out more information from consultation with the Alberta Emergency Management Agency (AEMA) and Village Director of Emergency Management. Options included the Main Village Office or Railway House.

CAO Michelle White determined, after discussion with both parties, that the centre should remain at Railway House due to allotted space that would be required for a Type 3 or larger incident. The office could be a secondary location.

One of the concerns was the close proximity Railway House was from Highway 12 and the railroad tracks as they are prone destinations for disasters.

The other problem was money spending.

The Railway House adds an additional cost from $3,500 to $3,800 per year in phone lines and a fax machine line.

The Village originally asked the Recreation Department about cutting these lines to reduce costs but they brought up the Disaster Services requirements as they are tied into these phone lines.

After deliberation, Council moved to keep the headquarters at Railway House.

 

Terri Huxley

ECA Review

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