Council for the Rural Municipality of Ritchot has approved phase two of the Tourond Creek development on the southern edge of St. Adolphe.

Mayor Chris Ewen says it is a great project and phase two should include more ponds and walkways, creating more of a sense of community. 

"We're excited to see that," notes Ewen.

However, he says there have been some concerns from local residents with how unkempt the development was during phase one. He notes residents were pleased to see new homes go up, but felt the developers could have done more to take care of overgrown weeds, keep construction sites more tidy and prevent garbage and debris from flying all over the place. Ewen says residents felt there was a general lack of respect by developers.

"It sounded like construction vehicles were parking in the park and on top of fresh grass and fresh sidewalks," he notes. 

Ewen says it is important for the public to bring this to the attention of Council and Administration. He notes they want to know if neighbours feel that developers are taking advantage of opportunities given to them. 

"Let's all learn together how to make this work so the residents that are there now feel comfortable and feel part of the community without feeling so separated because of the construction going on," he adds. "Council did approve the second phase and we are going forward with working with the development to improve the situation in Tourond Creek."

Meanwhile, Ewen says one of the questions that gets asked is why that development does not have a second access. He notes there are at least two reasons. First of all, Ewen says a pipeline runs through that area and the municipality must work with the company to make sure that everything is done in a safe manner.

He says the second reason is that a second access would involve St. Adolphe Road. However, this road is the former ring dike. Ewen says St. Adolphe Road will one day be shaved down to be in line with other streets in town. However, he notes that is the jurisdiction of the province and as of yet there are no plans to touch it. 

Ewen says they need to figure out a time for when the pipeline company, the province, municipality and developer can all get together and sort things out.