The RM of Portage la Prairie's approved conditional use applications for expansion of the Portage la Prairie Consumer's Co-op bulk fuel station just east of the city.

The upgrades will be handled by Federated Co-op, who'll lease the property from Portage Co-op.

General Manager Kevin Dales says the current configuration's at the end of its life, and the new facility will store 1.8 million litres, but there won't be any significant changes at the site.

Kevin Dales

"It gives us the storage to handle our volume during the peak seasons. It's going to create some efficiencies within our organization as well for bottom-load trucking. And we'll definitely meet all the new environmental regulations."

RM of Portage Reeve Kam Blight says Council's satisfied the impact on the area will be minimal.

Kam Blight"It's going to be upgraded to newer and better facilities, and more environmenmtally friendly, and i think it's just a win-win. They're saying there's not going to be any increase in traffic, etc., so for us, we just couldn't see why we wouldn't approve this."

Kevin Dales adds some site preparation's likely this year, and he anticipates construction will be complete next year.