The City of Yorkton is moving forward to enter into an agreement with a private developer which will see the City acquire land for a storm water channel and holding pond.
"The commercial proposal is for the development of an automobile dealership on a portion of the subject property. The City has an interest in this land due to the conveyance of storm water through it and its desire to create a storm water pond adjacent to Darlington Avenue at the north end of the property. The City and the land owner came to agree in principle that the City would provide fill for the developable area if the land owner provided the required land for the storm channel and pond at no cost to the City. Since that time, Administration has been working with the land owner's representative to prepare an agreement that outlines each party's responsibility. Administration believes that this has now been achieved and seeks authority for the City to enter into it," detailed a report to the regular meeting of Yorkton Council Monday from Gord Shaw, Director of Planning & Engineering with the City.
In addition the property owner will receive monetary benefits as well.
"As part of this agreement, the City will forgo development levies on the first 5.5 acres. This means that based on the current development levy of $16,000/acre, the City forgoes $88,000. The City will also forgo the five per cent MR dedication on 5.5 acres. In this case, the City would likely have selected cash rather than dedication of land. If a conservative value of $65,000/acre is used as the price per acre, then the City forgoes $17,875. The total amount the City foregoes with this agreement is $105,875," noted Shaw's report.
The City's obligation is to provide fill to the entire developable area being approximately 10 acres. The City's immediate obligation is to fill the area where the commercial development to be constructed this year is to occur or approximately 1.5 to 2.0 acres. It is possible that a further 3.5 to 4.0 acres will need to be filled in 2011. The entire 10 acres will require approximately 100,000 cubic metres.
There is a source site that has suitable materials located three miles to the north of the project site. Trucking this material to the site and placing and compaction would cost the City $700,000 ($7.00/m3 x 100,000m3).
It is expected that excavation of the storm pond and channel will be tendered by late April to early May. The entire project is expected to take four to six weeks depending upon weather and soil conditions.
"The land owner has entered into an engineering services agreement with Stantec Engineering. That company's time table shows a site development plan to be submitted to the City in early May for review. Their schedule identifies a start by early June on the commercial project. The engineering company will be providing services to both the City and the landowner," stated the report.
