At the regular council meeting on February 6, Sparwood Council debated whether the Elk Valley firewood site is a suitable location for further exploration and development of a gravel pit, asphalt plant and/or material storage area.
The Sparwood gravel pit is presently located where Sparwood Heights Drive intersects with Highway 43. According to Sparwood Mayor, Lois Halko, a large company is currently looking at that site for possible purchase and development.
If the property is purchased for development the gravel pit will have to be relocated, meaning the District of Sparwood would need to find another site. The Elk Valley firewood site is presently being looked at as a possible site for relocation. This site is located on the road just past the Sparwood Golf Course. In past years it was the proposed site of the Mining Interpretive Centre.
“There is an untold amount of gravel at the Elk Valley firewood site,” said Halko. “With gravel being a premium commodity right now, council agreed after a long discussion to do an assessment of the area to see just how much gravel is there.”
The concerns that were raised by council with regards to a gravel pit were dust and noise. The asphalt plant is not popular with councillors right now because of the smell when the plant is in operation.
Staff was directed to report back to council on ways to mitigate noise and dust levels as well as proceed to complete more analysis of materials, quantities and costs to determine if the site warrants development.