Beiseker is Open for Business

Beiseker's Main Street is looking a little empty lately.  The loss of a couple of businesses have really impacted the heart of our village's commercial district.

We need help!  I read often of other small communities reinventing themselves after similar losses and economic slumps.  There's the Manitoba community of Swan River, which now houses a gourmet mustard factory!  How about the New Brunswick village of Gagetown that's now making jams and jellies based on local recipes!  How about the Alberta town of Vulcan, who have used the popularity of Star Trek to advance their town!  There are many other such examples.

Beiseker has much to offer!
We have plenty of property to be bought or rented for residential, commercial or industrial endeavors.
We have a very active Chamber of Commerce.
We have excellent access to roads going in every direction on the compass!
We are on the main CN rail line between Calgary and Edmonton.
We have an airport!
We have good water.
We are on a major tourist route from Calgary to the Canadian Badlands!
We have an excellent workforce here of all skill levels, and a K to 12 school for their families!
And, we have a fascinating history. 

All we need are folks to recognize that there are plenty of opportunities here.

If you hear of someone or know someone who is thinking of starting a business, mention our village as a possible venue for their enterprise.

Here are a few ideas to think about;

• An aviator who wants to live close to his airplane
• A sausage maker wanting to make some locally inspired sausages.
• A baker wanting to open a small village bakery
• An aviation mechanic wanting to own and operate his or her FBO (fixed base operation)
• Someone wanting to open and operate a independent hardware store
• Someone wanting to promote Beiseker's connection to Sam McGee and Robert Service
• An entrepreneur wanting to make something of a local resource.

Just to mention a few!

Super Town Hall Meeting!

We had an excellent turnout for our annual Spring Town Hall Meeting last night in the Beiseker Community Centre!

Council faced some difficult questions on topics ranging from the burned out Bassano Station to sick trees.  There were some questions about the Village's finances, and suggestions on how we could save money.

The topic of junky back lanes and a disreputable Main Street business was a hot one.

Our application to the Canada 150 Fund to build a new Tourist Information Centre was questioned.  The water valve replacement program was discussed.  (Surprisingly, street paving was barely mentioned.)

We had some excellent suggestions made, too;

• We offer a babysitting service at town hall meetings to attract more young people.
• We encourage volunteers to re-engage at the recycling facility to relieve pressure on Public Works.
• We re-examine our Municipal Plan on a regular basis so it may be updated to reflect the current situation in the village
• We encourage residents to notify the village in writing of any junky or messy area within the Village.

To mention a few.

Overall, I thought it was a very productive meeting, giving council a good idea of what some of the folks out there are thinking about their town.  Now, council will take these suggestions and work out a plan to deal with them under the constraints of provincial and federal law, and available tax dollars.

Well done everyone!  Thank you so much for coming last night!

Back from Aggie Days 2016!

I'm back after an exciting week at Aggie Days 2016 at Stampede Park.  We had about 7500 students, teachers, and parent helpers visit us during last week's Education Component, and somewhere around 30,000 Calgarians came in to see us at our weekend Family Fun Days!  What a fantastic turnout!

This year Aggie Days moved into its new venue, the Agrium Western Events Centre, south of the old Agriculture Building.  What a beautiful facility!  The move produced some stress as little glitches became apparent, but overall I thought it was an awesome Aggie Days!

We milked cows, sheared sheep, milled grain, herded ducks, gave wagon rides, hatched chicks, made honey, made canola oil, planted potatoes, milked goats, and a host of other agricultural related activities - all designed to show where Albertans get their food.

What a week!  By Sunday afternoon I was exhausted, but happy!

I have (mostly) recovered now as we start to plan Aggie Days 2017!

One negative about Aggie Days is that it prevented me from visiting Doug and Heather Verbeek over at the Beiseker U.F.A. location last Wednesday, to congratulate them on their 30th anniversary as U.F.A. Agents!  That is a great milestone to have achieved.  I sincerely hope you two will be around for many years to come!  Good on ya guys!

Where to Go, When You Have to Go!

If you've been following the Village of Beiseker's Facebook page, you might have seen that Beiseker is taking heat for one business refusing to allow visitors to use their washroom facilities.  One business is again being singled out repeatedly, as being rude and obnoxious to visitors wanting to use the washrooms. 

I've addressed this problem once before in this blog, but obviously it still persists.  Every summer, we get numerous complaints from folks who ultimately vow never to visit Beiseker again.  This latest complaint will probably be the first of many this year.

I don't have the answer for this problem.  Business owners have the right to dictate how their property is operated.  They have the right to limit washroom use to customers only.  But I believe that all of Beiseker suffers, as more and more comments about our "Unfriendly Village" pop up on social media and by word of mouth. 

We already have a public washroom at the Beiseker Campground.  A solution may be to build a another public washroom facility in Legacy Park, next to the Village Office.  That would be expensive and it would have to be cleaned and maintained by the Village throughout the year.  During the summer, we place a portable latrine behind the Information Booth in Legacy Park for "emergencies". 

Visitors may also use the washrooms at the Village Office during office hours.

But I wonder - is that all we can do?

Keeping Beiseker Open for Business

It is important that a community keep its businesses and industries vibrant and growing. 

Municipal government has a role in supporting projects which make local businesses attractive to residents and visitors.  And each of the recent promotional projects done in Beiseker over the past few years - like the Main Street beautification program, the new business signs, and the highway signs - have been supported by Village Council.

A strong commercial Main Street is one of the keys to success for smaller communities like Beiseker. The large box stores, just a few kilometers to the west of our village, are a strong pull for consumers.  All of us on Village Council have worked towards the promotion of our Main Street as a shopping destination, too. 

I will continue to support projects which keep Beiseker's commercial and industrial community strong and growing, and encourage residents to shop locally.  I will do this;

• by doing what I can to make building in Beiseker attractive.
• by informing others through the trade and commercial media what industries and commercial entities are needed here.
• by keeping commercial taxes as low as possible while ensuring that all services will not be compromised.
• by staying appraised of all developments in both existing and future industrial and commercial prospects.
• by working together with the commercial community (such as the Chamber of Commerce) to promote Beiseker.

Together, we can make Beiseker a shopping destination.

Beiseker's Election!

It's not official yet, but it looks like Beiseker will be having a municipal election this fall!

Today was Nomination Day and by my count more than five candidates submitted their nomination papers.  The list will not be official for twenty four hours.  During that time any candidate may remove his or her nomination.  I submitted my papers, which means I am one of the candidates for this election!

Sadly missing from the roster is Fred Walters, who decided some time ago not to seek re-election.  Fred's work on village council, especially in regards to recycling, the railway museum, and solid waste management was greatly appreciated.  Fred's boots will be hard to fill when the new council has its reorganizational meeting, at the end of October!

The election issues have yet to be disclosed by all the candidates, but mine are quite straight forward;

1. Keeping Beiseker's industries and businesses vibrant and growing.
2. The water problems;  getting storm water out of town and clean drinking water into town, both as economically and efficiently as possible.
3. Keeping Beiseker's health, education, safety and social services attractive, effective -- and growing.
4. Street and sidewalk upgrading: need I say more?
5. Encouraging Beiseker's population to continue a slow but steady and well managed growth.

There are my FIVE.  I'll address each one on my blog in days to come.  I'm sure that some of my fellow candidates will have others, and I eagerly await their presentations.

New Commercial Signs Downtown

Hey, here's a tip of the old hat to the businesses along Beiseker's Main Street who have been working on a new signage project.  Probably around half the the Main Street commercial entities are now sporting very classy signs announcing their wares to all passers-by!  These colourful and eye-catching signs are a positive addition to the newly renovated Main Street between First and Second Avenues.  I'm waiting for the rest of the businesses along Main Street to put up their new signs!  Well done everyone!

Here's some photos of a few of the signs already up;