Resident asks Vulcan County council if he can build house south of Bow River
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A Vulcan County resident who lives south of the Bow River has asked Vulcan County council for some direction on whether he would be able to build a new house on higher ground.
Graham Anderson made his case to council May 3, saying the proposed site where he’d like to build is near several other homes that have never flooded.
“I just wanted to kind of come to the horse’s mouth or the ‘buck-stops-here-crew’ first,” he said of his reasoning behind talking to council.
But complicating matters is that flood mapping has not been completed yet of the area south of the Bow River, making it difficult for Vulcan County to know exactly where development would be permitted.
Anderson acknowledged as much, writing to the County that he would be turned down if he applied because there was no flood mapping available.
However, Anderson has had the land surveyed where he wants to build his new house, and possibly a garage/shop, and he told
council the survey confirmed that the water never got onto that land during the 2013 flood.
Anderson also he pointed out that, following the 2013 flood, there are now insurance companies offering flood insurance.
Reeve Jason Schneider told Anderson he had raised valid points, and the County will get back to him after staff have had some time to do some research on the situation.
“Obviously we have some looking in to on our end to see ... where everything stands and if they are conditions that can be put onto the development permit to mitigate all of these things,” he said.
Nels Petersen, the County’s administrator, confirmed that land on which Anderson wants to build was “essentially high and dry” during the 2013 flood.
“You’d have to have a significant event, much greater flows, to get it up to” the area where Anderson wants to build, said Petersen.
Petersen was the County’s director of operations at the time of the 2013 flood and spent about a week after the flood, when there was much cleaning up to be done, in the area south of the Bow River.
“That parcel there was dry,” he said of Anderson’s proposed building site.
Vulcan County has supported a Siksika First Nation grant application to the Canadian government to have flood mapping done, he pointed out.
“They’re looking at getting everything from basically Bow City right up to the city limits,” said Petersen, adding he hasn’t heard back about that application.
Coun Glen Gateman said development south of the Bow River is something Vulcan County is going to have to deal with.
“Those guys are out in limbo — have been since” the 2013 flood, he said.