The owners of 91原创鈥檚 fear they may lose as much as $500,000 if the Township proceeds with a road closure scheduled for this summer.
In a delegation to council last week, Rhonda Driediger made a request to delay railway upgrades at the 23800 block of 72 Avenue until September, 2018.
The crossing is one of 29 in the Township that must be upgraded by November, 2021 under Transport Canada鈥檚 new grade crossing regulations.
Construction will require a complete closure of 72 Avenue and as a result will cut off access to Driediger Farms during their busiest season, Rhonda said.
鈥淪o, you鈥檇 like to close my road 鈥� the only road to my market, actually directly in front of my market 鈥� from May to September. We [will] have a lot of negative impacts,鈥� she told council.
鈥淚鈥檓 thinking I鈥檓 probably going to lose at least half a million dollars in sales.鈥�
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The Driedigers first opened their family farm to the public in 1972 with a small 鈥榩ick-your-own鈥� operation. Today, the 160-acre farm produces strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries, and the family runs a seasonal market from May to September, with about 60,000 annual visits.
Rhonda said that 10 per cent of their customers come from Abbotsford and east, 35 per cent come from 91原创, and 55 per cent come off of Highway 1 from communities in the west. These customers represent about 15,000 vehicles, which will be re-routed 鈥渄own the snake hill鈥� on 232 Street, along Rawlison Crescent, and up 240 Street, where neighbours are 鈥渁lready struggling with speed issues.鈥�
Neighbouring Thunderbird Show Park could also be affected, as their horse show season attracts thousands of people to the area in the summer, she said.
鈥淚鈥檓 going to have to reduce staff, obviously, to reduce costs, and I have 200 trucks that come in to our facility every year,鈥� Rhonda said.
鈥淚鈥檓 not sure how we鈥檙e going to get them to my place and out.鈥�
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Rhonda said she is also disappointed by the way the road closure was communicated to her family. She found out about it from a neighbour, and when she phoned the Township to inquire, she said she was told by engineering and community development manager Ramin Seifi that the work has to be completed in the summer as they 鈥渄on鈥檛 like to work in the rainy season.鈥�
Seifi said he does not recall the specifics of that conversation, but noted there is more than one reason for the timing of the project.
鈥淥ne is 鈥� not that staff don鈥檛 like working in the winter 鈥� but that winter conditions usually add a significant cost to the project, in particular those that are requiring significant fill in the order of five metres,鈥� he said.
There are also limitations with a grant the Township received from the federal government.
鈥淚t is correct that the works do not have to be completed until 2021, but the fact is that the application that was made by staff over a year ago was based on a timeline that required completion of the works by November of this year, which means that if we wish to have the grants 鈥� 50 per cent of the funding provided by the federal government 鈥� we鈥檒l have to get the work done before November,鈥� Seifi said.
鈥淲e鈥檝e actually made the request for further extension [of the grant], but there鈥檚 been no response yet, hence the issue of the risk,鈥� added Township CAO Mark Bakken.
鈥淭he value to the Township in terms of the cost of construction being shared by the federal government is about $1.5 to $2 million on a $3 to $4 million project, so it certainly has significance to both parties. I think the farm concerns are certainly paramount in some of these issues. The question still is a bit time sensitive though, because we鈥檙e hoping to get a response that could actually give us some more options.鈥�
After hearing the delegation, council unanimously referred the issue to staff for follow-up.
Mayor Jack Froese declared a conflict of interest before the delegation began, and was not present for the presentation or the vote.
miranda@langleytimes.com
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