Town council takers first step in closing road

By Rob Vogt
Claresholm town council has taken the first step in closing an unused portion of an alley on the east side of town to make room for the relocation of some storage units.
At its Nov. 3 meeting, council passed first reading of a road closure bylaw, after hearing a report from administration.
That report explained the town has been working on re-development of the storage facility south of McDonalds.
The current owners would like to move the storage units to another location and re-develop the land, with all those approvals dealt with through the regular development processes, separate from this process.
It was noted as the town works through scenarios for servicing, traffic, and so on, one idea is to utilize the current non-used roadway, or alley, for their entrance/exit to decrease traffic onto the highway and allow for better turning for delivery trucks, and so on.
This will require a road closure for that portion of the alley, which is within the Town of Claresholm’s road plan.
The town’s infrastructure department does not require the alley for servicing, storm water, and so on. The remainder of the road/alley will remain open for access.
The cost associated with the closure, surveying, alley upgrading, and consolidation will be borne by the owner.
They are aware of the procedure and wish to move ahead.
Back at council’s Sept. 22 meeting, a motion was approved to proceed with the road closure.
Therefore the road closure bylaw was being presented for first reading.
It was also noted that first reading of this bylaw is to “get the bylaw on the books”, then the circulation and a public hearing will proceed prior to second and third readings.
Once the public hearing is held, the bylaw is sent to the minister of transportation for approval.
Once that is received, second and third reading of the road closure bylaw can proceed.
Council then passed first reading of the road closure bylaw.