The greenhouse gas will then be piped 80 kilometres north and injected two kilometres into the ground, cutting CO2 emissions at the plant by 35 per cent - roughly the same amount produced annually by 175,000 passenger vehicles.
The project will generate 700 jobs at its peak, and will average 400 positions during construction over a 30-month period beginning this fall.
Light industrial
While that work will be spread out in shops and yards around the Edmonton area, Fort Saskatchewan will benefit as the urban centre closest to the upgrader - and will undoubtedly see businesses expansions as a result.
"Our light-industrial lands are now taking off. We finally have serviced lands. We have one announcement after another that's coming forward," Katchur noted.
She added that "there's a lot of talk about Fort Saskatchewan in Calgary, and what we have to offer, primarily because we're in Alberta's industrial heartland."
The industrial heartland region, already known as the centre of the province's refining and petrochemical industry, is eyeing yet another project in the future: the North West Upgrader.
The new upgrader would be situated roughly 20 minutes northeast of Fort Saskatchewan at Redwater, but it would also be a growth driver for the Fort.
While Katchur says her community doesn't need the North West Upgrader to keep booming, it certainly isn't going to slow things down if it goes ahead.
According to Harold Walters, a longtime Fort Saskatchewan commercial realtor with Royal Lepage, "We're all optimistic the North West Upgrader is going to go ahead, and we feel that will impact us quite a bit."
Like Shell's Scotford project, the North West project is tied to what happens in the Fort McMurray region and the rest of northeast Alberta.
Fort to Fort While oilsands development impacts demand for industrial land and shop space throughout the capital region, it has an even greater potential effect on Fort Saskatchewan, due to the fact the city is that much closer to the oilsands action.
Oilpatch-support businesses fabricating what's needed in the Fort Mac area are roughly 45 minutes to an hour closer to the oilsands capital than industrial hubs such as Nisku and Leduc on the south side of Edmonton, Walters notes.
But that's only for vehicles with regular travel times.
For oversized loads destined for Highway 63 and beyond, the time advantage is measured in hours.
"If you're talking about the oversized loads, we're actually four hours closer [to Fort McMurray]," Katchur explained.
It also has some key advantages, from, in most cases, lower-priced industrial land to more attractive tax rates - something the mayor can't help but mention.
Low taxes
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business certainly backs her up.
According to its survey of the 13 municipalities situated within the industrial heartland zone, businesses in Fort Saskatchewan enjoy the fifth-lowest property tax bills in the region, shelling out $775 annually per $100,000 of assessed value in municipal taxes in 2011.
While the Fort was behind such assessment-rich counties as Leduc and Parkland, it was well ahead of communities like Edmonton, the City of Leduc and St. Albert.
In fact, Fort Saskatchewan's commercial tax bill for the same assessed value was only 55 per cent of the Edmonton bill.
Residential taxes in Fort Saskatchewan are also comparatively lower (the fourth-lowest among the 13 Capital Region jurisdictions), with a $250,000 home stuck for only $1,008 in municipal taxes in 2011.
Upgrading services While the city is growing significantly - 9.77 per cent in the past two years and just over 5 per cent annually since 2007 - renewal projects have also been a main focus.
About $8 million was spent on an impressive upgrade to 100th Avenue in Fort Saskatchewan's historic downtown, and a new city hall and library expansion are currently underway.
The project also includes construction of a civic plaza that will offer opportunities to host community events.
The downtown revitalization work, which included small grants to qualifying businesses, has given the area a "boutique-ee" feel, says Walters, more like a chic inner city than a suburban street.
Permits nudge $60M
While it isn't experiencing record growth in 2012, Fort Saskatchewan remains a very active place for homebuilders and developers alike.
The city issued building permits for approximately $59 million in new construction for the first seven months of 2012, and counted 195 housing starts for the year to August 23. That includes 154 houses and 40 multi-family or duplex units. Typical rent for a two-bedroom is $1,040 per month.
from Western Investor October 2012
