Coaldale resident calls for public vote to reconsider location of proposed high school

The Location:

The Town of Coaldale had identified six potential locations where a school and recreational centre could go.

Potential locations for the proposed high school and multi-use rec centre. (Supplied by Town of Coaldale)

As shown in the graphic above, the six sites span many different areas of the community.

Site D was immediately ruled out as it is the current site of Kate Andrews High School.

Site A has been identified by council as the ideal place but is the only one that is north of Highway 3 and the train tracks.

“Site A is the preferred location because it was the most ready site of all the sites we had when the opportunity for the joint high school/rec centre became available. That was one of the primary criteria that we were looking at,” says Craig.

Sites A and C are both on properties owned by the local government so there would not have to be any financial transactions to acquire the land.

The mayor claims the infrastructure costs for Site A would be much more affordable, since, as the area is currently undeveloped, no roads or other existing infrastructure would have to be torn up to install things like sewer lines or utilities.

The two charts below show the total estimated cost to acquire and build on each site as well as the total cost to taxpayers.

The total cost for each potential site. (Supplied by Town of Coaldale)

Estimated cost to taxpayers for each site. (Supplied by Town of Coaldale)

Currently, approximately 77% of Coaldale residents live south of Highway 3.

Craig claims the north part of Coaldale has traditionally been “orphaned” and often appears to be a disconnected part of the community. By building these facilities on the northern end of town, he believes this could make all of Coaldale feel like one whole community and would encourage more growth to that section.

Safety:

The current demographics, however, means that the majority of students attending a school on Site A would have to cross the highway and the railroad.

Allen says this is particularly problematic.

“We consider that a huge safety issue with the people walking. Way more children would have to be bussed just for the sheer distance that it is, which makes the highway crossing even more unsafe with every single bus having to go to both sides of the highway.”

Coaldale RCMP was one of the groups that was consulted as part of this investigation.

Between 2016 and 2018, they reported that the majority of collisions occurred along Highway 3.

The locations for all collisions in Coaldale between 2016 and 2018. (Supplied by Town of Coaldale)

Since some students already have to cross the highway to attend schools on the southern end of Coaldale, Craig does not think the safety situation would drastically change.

“I have a lot of faith that students are quite intelligent and know how to travel through an urban centre, so that’s one thing. A lot of them will be highschool-aged students that will be driving.”

It is currently proposed that the school would accommodate students in Grades 7-12.

CP Rail and CN Rail said that, in 2016, an average of six-to-10 trains passed through Coaldale on any given day, while Alberta Transportation said just over 36,000 vehicles travel through the community using Highway 3.

Craig says the town would look to make a series of improvements to the major intersections that cross Highway 3 to try to improve safety.

The report found that the response routes and times for Coaldale and District Emergency Services and Coaldale RCMP typically falls “within an acceptable range,” and should improve once the expansion to the fire hall the new RCMP detachment are completed.

Consultation:

Regardless of how safe a high school in the northwestern corner of Coaldale might be, Allen believes that is overshadowed by her belief that the community was not properly consulted.

“[Town of Coaldale council] already made up their minds and they’re not interested at all in what the citizens have to say about it. Other than that, we can see no earthly reason why they wouldn’t look at other sites seriously. It seems to be their own agenda.”

While Mayor Craig did apologize for “that perception,” he believes the municipality has already done its job in this regard.

He claims that the siting of schools is typical “not in the public domain” and tend to be decisions made by the school board and the local and provincial government.

Craig says discussions surrounding the school go back to 2017 and includes meetings with the Palliser School Division, a public hearing to rezone the land for Site A, two public meetings in February 2019, and a series of posts on the town’s website and social media pages.

Still, Allen called for a plebiscite, or a public vote, to be held on this matter.

If the plebiscite were to happen and the community decides that Site A is indeed the best location for the school and rec centre, she would be satisfied with the result, but she believes there was never any effort to let all residents voice their opinions at the same time.

Because a lot of work has already been done since Site A was identified as the prime choice, Craig told LNN that it would take a lot of extra time and money to go back and potentially have something else chosen instead.

“It wouldn’t be in the community’s best interests to reconsider the site, you know, especially since that is the most viable site going. Council would have to make a determination on another matter.”

The report that this article references was conducted by several departments within the Town of Coaldale as well as the community’s emergency services.

Craig mentioned an external study that was being done as well, but LNN could not confirm with him or the town’s administration at this time the details of that.

by David Opinko

Coaldale resident calls for public vote to reconsider location of proposed high school

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