Water Shut Off

Last week's water main break made it necessary to shut off the village water system for about 45 minutes. Many of you have asked me why Public Works had to shut down th whole system and why there was no warning.

When tending to a water main break, the usual way is to isolate that one line by shutting valves off at either end. This was attempted but the valves were badly frozen and could not be shut down. After hours of frustrating work trying to move the valves, the decision was made to shut down the entire system and make the repairs as quickly as possible. This was an eleventh hour decision so there was no time to warn anyone.

In the future, if this situation arises again, the heavy or critical water users (restaurants, the medical centre, and hair salons, etc.) will be given a brief warning so they may stockpile a small amount of water before it is shut down. In the meantime Public Works will endeavor to thaw the valves so the isolation techniques can be used if we have another water main break. Thank you again, everyone, for your patience.

A New Name!

The Kneehill Regional Water Services Commission has a new name! It will soon be known as the Aqua7 Regional Water Services. "Aqua" of couse means water and the 7 stands for the seven original municipalities who created the water distribution system; Linden, Acme, Beiseker, Carbon, Irricana, Rockyview County and Kneehill County. Hopefully this will reduce some of the confusion between the water commission and the County of Kneehill. We even had some provincial Ministers confusing the county with the water commission! I think that confusion cost the water commission dearly!

No Water!!

Thursday, March 10 marked our first major water main break of 2011! It happened just off Main Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues. Our Public Works Department arranged for the repairs to be done as quickly as possible but they had to shut down some of the system to make the repairs. The water was off for about an hour. Thank you all for being so patient and a huge thank you to our Public Works folks for getting the break repaired so quickly.

I hope this is the only water main break we'll have this spring but I'm probably being overly optimistic. The freezing and thawing cycles around here may produce more breaks as we move into spring.

I just hope SPRING hurries up!

Water Quality

It has come to my attention that some residents are concerned about the water quality in the village. Our water comes from the Red Deer River via the Drumheller and Kirkpatrick treatment and pumping stations. It is typical Alberta surface water and therefore has a calcium or lime content and is "hard water". Our well water was high in dissolved salts (it was soft water) and was chlorinated only once. Beiseker's well water had very high concentrations of naturally occuring flourides. Now our water is chlorinated at Drumheller, then again at Kirpatrick, and finally at the Beiseker pumping station. The calcium and that chlorine gives the water a different taste to the well water we used to have.

Our water is tested very frequently. We have excellent water quality in Beiseker. Many residents not liking that chlorine taste have invested in a small water filtration unit to keep in the fridge. This does double duty as a water conserver because ice cold drinking water is always available! No need to run the tap waiting for cold water.

What's Up

Hey! Want a free energy kit to monitor and control energy use in your Beiseker home? If so, head down to the Village Office and ask for a Fortis Energy Kit. There are dozens of ways you can save energy use in your home and save money, too. And it doesn't do the environment any harm either!

Reminder; if you have a dog or cat, 2011 licenses are now due!

Check out the fabulous skate program at the arena. There's a program for everyone.

Start planning for the Beiseker Lion's Skatathon. Sunday March 27

Giddy-Up Aggie Days! If you have a youngster with special needs or you know of one, consider having them participate in Giddy-Up Aggie Days at Stampede Park in April. Aggie Days is a program which brings Alberta's Agricultural Industry to the city. We turn the BMO Center into a giant barn! We milk cows, shear sheep, raise chickens, saddle horses, make flour, make butter and a host of other ag. related activities so urban Albertans can see where their food comes from. We have teamed up with the Stampede Queens' Alumni to open up Aggie Days for special needs kids and their families to come down and experience it together! We start with a free breakfast and the fun goes on from there! If you're interested and you need more information, contact the folks at Community Links in Beiseker! 403 947 2841

I am frustrated that I can't afford to shop at the grocery store in my own village!

2011 looking good for Beiseker

As the economy gradually recovers, it looks like 2011 will be a good year for our village! Here are a few things to look forward to;

1. There`s some activity in the stalled Grasslands residential subdivision. We`ve seen workers out there surveying over the last few days. I have heard nothing official, but I`m hoping this means the subdivision may be made ready for the builders come spring. I hear stories from folks buying lots to build on in Calgary. They`re looking at a 20+ minute bus ride for their kids to attend school! Beiseker Community School is within walking distance! They`re looking at a 45 minute to an hour commute across the city. You can drive into northeast Calgary from here in about 45 minutes with practically no traffic! They`re looking at an hour drive one way through choking traffic to the nearest hockey arena. The Beiseker Arena is within walking distance! I`m thinking a lot in the Grasslands subdivision is looking better every day!

2. Our great little municipal library is on the move! The Beiseker Municipal Library is about to take up its new digs in the Community Links Building! The new Library should be open by late spring of 2011. The Library Board is now in the process of applying for grants to facilitate the move. Stay tuned!

3. Beiseker`s Main Street Redevelopment will be starting in the spring of 2011! Phase One will include the block between 1st and 2nd Avenues. I`m excited to see it started. As you`ve probably heard, Village Council agreed to modify the plans to delete the median down the middle of the street. This was done after residents voiced their concerns about including it.

There are three things to look forward to. I`ll bring you updates on these and other developments as soon as I hear more.

Happy New Year, 2011!

I take this opportunity to wish all of you a very Happy New Year! The First real weekend of the new year really blew in a storm for Beiseker! Public Works is busy moving snow out of the way so that traffic can move. I think they've been going almost continuously since the storm let up. Well done Bill and crew!

A hearty thank-you goes to those Beiseker residents who helped stranded motorists over the weekend at the Beiseker Community Centre. We had over 40 "special guests" in town thanks to the blizzard. Most managed to resume their journeys by Sunday afternoon. Again we showed Beiseker to be the "Friendly Village"!

A reminder to all that we have a snow removal bylaw here in Beiseker. The public sidewalk in front of your home must be cleared after a snowfall.

Council is still working on our water problems. We still have yet to figure out why Beiseker is buying twice as much water from the Kneehill system than Irricana! Is it a metering error or a major leakage, or maybe a combination. We've got to find out! We're starting our investigation at the #2 Pumphouse (on the south side of ninth street where it meets the CNR tracks) and moving out from there. Stay tuned!