Future of First Avenue

Beiseker village council has been pondering over what to do about the "back road" into the village.   The back road is an extension of First Avenue, south past the Public Works yard, and connecting with Range Road 261 after leaving the Village limits and entering Rocky View County.  The county's section of the road connects with Highway 9 south of the Village.

This road is a pothole breeding ground!  We've spent lots of money patching and re-patching that short stretch of road, running from the bridge to the CN rail tracks.  The County paved their portion of the road south of the railway tracks, but the village can't afford to do that.

It has been suggested that we remove the battered and pothole-ridden pavement and return the road to a gravel road.  I'm concerned about the dust blowing into town from a graveled road, but this may be our only option going forward.  Environmental concerns and rules prevent us from using many dust proofing products that we may have in the past.

We already have a dust problem along the extension of the Beacon Heights Road, south past the Grasslands entry.  Almost half of the complaints I receive are about the potholes on the back road and the dust along Beacon Heights Road.  It has been a hot topic at Town Hall meetings, too!

Quite frankly, I don't have a solution to the problem.  The back road is one of many entrances to the village.  Maybe we can live with one dusty one!

Potholes!

The streets of our village have been plagued with potholes and frost boils every spring, but this year it's particularly bad!  Thank you to those who have informed me and the Village Office about many of the problem areas. 

Frost boils are caused by too much water under the roadway, making the surface layers very soft.  We can either barricade them off and let them firm up as the water table goes down, or we can dig up the area, put in new material and pack it well.  Obviously the first choice is the cheapest.  Each soft frost boil area will be assessed and dealt with over the next few weeks.

Potholes are caused by somewhat similar circumstances but usually affect the top layers in a small area.  I think I've been informed about every pothole within the village limits.  Some have been filled with a sand, gravel and tar mix called "cold mix," while others will have to wait until our streets are swept clean during the first week of June. 

After the streets are swept the remaining potholes will be repaired.  One of the areas of big concern is at the corner of North Road and First Avenue.  That area will be attended to during that first week of June. 

If you see another pothole or frost boil which seems to have missed our scrutiny, please report it to the Village of Beiseker Office, by calling 403-947-3774!

Thank you very much for you patience.

Road Work is Expensive!

During and after the Town Hall meeting last Monday evening, the condition of Beiseker's streets has been mentioned several times.

We have a few critical streets here in the Village which need some serious work.  Here's the ones I can think of, in my personal order of priority -

• The mud bog at the corner of Second Avenue and Seventh Street.
• The Beacon Heights Road from Beaver Place to the Public Works Yard.
• First Avenue from the Public Works Yard to the CN tracks.
• Fouth Avenue from Friendship Park to Seventh Street.
• Seventh Street from Fourth Avenue to First Avenue.
• Sixth Street from Third Avenue to Fourth Avenue.
• There are also some lane-ways which need work.

But, a huge amount of road work could mean increased property taxes.  I for one am opposed to such a property tax increase.

There are some provincial grants available.  The old grant for improving streets has a new name, but it's still offered.  There are also the Municipal Sustainability Grants available, although significantly reduced by the province.  We on council would like to continue our Main Street upgrade project with a big chunk of that money, but maybe we should be looking at that decision again.

There is also the option of naming a portion of a project a local improvement and assigning a frontage tax on those properties directly affected by street improvements.

What do you think? Let me know here; it's free.  I would like your input.

Clearing Ice from Main Street

Today there were lots of smiles from the folks who have been driving down Beiseker's Main Street this past few weeks. 

The lumps, bumps and ruts in the snow and ice are history!  First Avenue received the same treatment.  Second Avenue is next.  Those huge piles of ice will be removed this next few days. 

Thank you so much for your patience and understanding.  Hopefully Public Works will be able to keep up with Mother Nature and Old Man Winter, so we'll avoid this happening again.  Don't ya just love winter?

Keeping Beiseker Moving

In my opinion, Beiseker has more unfinished streets than any other municipality in our area.  By unfinished, I mean unpaved.  We've had so many other issues to deal with, lately, that our streets have taken a backseat. I believe the time is come to start improving our streets in this village.

There are three areas of concern that I can see;

1. Seventh Street remains unpaved, many years after the petition was presented to stop that project.
2. Part of every Avenue (except First Avenue and Fifth Avenue) are unpaved.
3. Beacon Heights Road south from the entrance to Beacon Heights to the junction with First Avenue is full of potholes, washboard, and generates a huge amount of dust every summer despite the very best effort of our Public Works department.

If re-elected, I will encourage Council to revisit those three projects. I will press Council to ask our engineers to gather us some up-to-date figures on the cost of paving each of these streets.

With those figures in hand, we will be able to create a priority list for the improvements.

Our sidewalk rehabilitation program is almost complete, with very few sections left to replace.  I would like to see a portion of our streets improvement program (which is funded by the provincial government) set aside for paving.

I will also propose council meet with the residents along Seventh Street to discuss their street, and the cost of that project.  Nothing should be done to improve that street until the majority of folks who live there agree.