Business owners in one Ponoka industrial area are concerned the town isn’t putting its money where its mouth is when it comes to infrastructure.
Andy Sieweke, who runs Ponoka Storage, came in front of Ponoka town council during the public forum portion at the Oct. 16 council meeting to express the feeling of many area business owners about the condition of the roads in the area.
Sieweke read a letter, which was signed by 17 other businesses, that outlined the seriously deficient roads that they state are affecting their business operations.
“The business owners of the industrial park are requesting that serious road resurfacing be adopted as soon as possible,” stated Sieweke.
“The last time 64th Street was done was in the mid-1980s. We are all tired of the dusty washboard, pothole-filled roads. As heavy taxpayers, we all feel our roads have been neglected and, in our view, the roads here are negatively affecting the success of our businesses.”
The letter also asked for resurfacing to start next May, beginning with the worst stretch — 64 Street from 39 to 44 Avenue.
Coun. Kevin Ferguson, who met and toured the area with Sieweke the week before, agrees the roads are in disrepair and there needs to be a plan put in place to improve them.
“They don’t want them all fixed at once,” he said during the meeting.
“We can all attest to this, there wasn’t a lot of forethought done into the planning of putting that area together.”
Ferguson noted the one fear he has is that there could be unintended consequences if the town starts work without properly consulting businesses, especially with how drainage is being dealt with currently.
“One of the problems I thought was unique is when (Sieweke) pointed out the drainage areas being used and how interesting it is that it doesn’t follow a regular pattern,” he said.
“We need to talk to businesses before we go in doing something. It’s a hodgepodge back there. The best we can do is work with the businesses and come up with reasonable solutions. We need to get creative, work around some of the (current) bylaws. We don’t want to put anyone in jeopardy, but we have to understand we have a unique situation that we have to deal with.
In the end, Mayor Rick Bonnett explained that council will have to discuss the issue as part of its 2019 budget deliberations.
jordie.dwyer@ponokanews.com
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