A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the town and owners of the Southbow Land will be terminated if a subdivision servicing agreement (SSA) isn't finalized by Oct. 12.
While not legally binding, the MOU lays out the responsibilities of both the town and Qualico in completing Stage 3 of the James Walker Trail (JWT) that would see it connected to Hwy. 22. It calls for Qualico to complete one kilometre of the trail's expansion and the town would complete 1.5 km.
"It's been a very collaborative work between the town and Qualico," Pinky De La Cruz, Cochrane director of engineering and asset services, told council last night at its committee-of-the-whole meeting. "We're both committed to providing this very important critical infrastructure for south Cochrane."
The SSA includes a commitment by the town to front end the funding to expand the River Heights Reservoir that will provide water servicing capacity for future lands developed in south Cochrane.
The initial cost estimated to complete stage 3 of the James Walker Trail is $18.8 million over two years (2025 and 2026). A more refined cost estimate is expected to be completed within the next few weeks in time for inclusion in the 2025-27 town budget estimates. The town intends to borrow the funds for the project and claw it back through offsite levies.
The town is currently budgeted to spend $880,000 to complete the detailed design for stage 3 of the trail. Sixty per cent of the design work is expected to be completed within the next few weeks.
There is a fourth stage to the project that would see the two-lane road from the SLS Centre to the Southbow lands expanded to four.
