The Gadsby Lake Lodge, about 20 minutes northeast of Clive, on the north side of Gadsby Lake. (Lacombe County)

By Josh Hall | @Vancan19

july 23 & 25 are critical dates for public

Treatment centre proposed for Gadsby Lake in Lacombe County

Jun 21, 2024 | 3:25 PM

Lacombe County could soon welcome a new treatment centre in the area of Gadsby Lake.

A public hearing is to be held July 25 at 6 p.m. so the public can sound off about the proposal, which comes from Dr. Ravi Chandiramani.

Chandiramani, a licensed naturopathic doctor from Arizona, has asked county council to approve a special discretionary use to the property, which is home to the Hallbauer private golf course and residence, located on the north side of Gadsby Lake, between Lacombe and Buffalo Lake.

The property includes the 1981-built main dwelling and the 2000-built golf course and lodge. It was all listed for sale a few years back at a price-tag around $15 million, and Chandiramani indicated to council earlier this month that he intends to purchase it in order to go through with his proposal.

The longtime owner is Holm Hallbauer, who in the county council agenda of June 13 has signed off on Chandiramani requesting the zoning change.

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The treatment centre, which would be for men and women, would see the buildings converted so that it could accept, at any one time, a maximum of 10 clients in each building.

It would provide residential treatment where clients stay overnight for a 90-day period. It would be staffed 24/7 by a combination of licensed behavioural health and medical professionals and non-licensed peer support staff.

According to the council agenda, clients would receive conventional medical management along with naturopathic medicine as well as therapeutic massage, deep tissue work, yoga, movement therapies, therapeutic nutrition, art therapy, acupuncture, chiropractic, biofeedback, watsu and water aerobics. There is no detoxification proposed as part of the program.

County administration notes that while the land is currently identified for continued agricultural use, the proposed amendment would not generally conflict with the Municipal Development Plan or Land Use Bylaw.

The proponent will be holding a public meeting two days ahead of the public hearing, at 6 p.m. on July 23 inside Westling Hall (Range Road 250 and Township Road 412).

In a letter to council, Dr. Chandiramani describes himself as a pioneer in the field of Integrative Addiction Medicine, with over 20 years’ experience.

Lacombe County is not new to proposals of this nature.

In 2022, the public had its say on a proposed recovery centre in the Birchcliff area of Lacombe County near Sylvan Lake. The zoning for that proposal was approved, though the proponent, a company called Adeara, is yet to apply for a development permit.

Dale Freitag, the County’s director of planning services, says the County last spoke to Adeara in 2023, and Adeara expressed its intent to eventually apply for said permit.

A similar facility which offers residential drug treatment, called iRecover, located in Tees and not much more than a stone’s throw from Gadsby Lake, has been operating for several years.

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