Thank You!

To all of you who sent me best birthday wishes today, thank you so much.  Your comments and best wishes were most heart warming!  I had a super birthday; one of the best! Thanks again!

Are Local Improvements the Answer?

I have received responses to my post yesterday on paving streets in the village.  Other problems have been mentioned such as sidewalks and existing paved streets in need of big-time repair or replacement.

Other municipalities have addressed these kind of issues by declaring them a "Local Improvement".  That means that part of the cost of the major repair or replacement of the street or sidewalk can be assigned to the property taxes of those residences fronting onto the sidewalk or street being repaired or replaced.  It is called a frontage tax.  Taxpayers pay a couple of dollars per foot of frontage per year for a period of years or they are given the option of paying it off outright.

This is quite common in a city's or town's older residential areas where the streets and sidewalks have seriously deteriorated.  The cost of streets and sidewalks in new areas are paid for by the developer and added on to the price of the new homes there.

Taxpayers along the street being repaired or replaced have the right to cancel the project by petitioning the municipal council.  This is what happened along Seventh Street a few years ago.

Local Improvements are a way to go to get some of these projects done sooner than the village could otherwise.  The village has to wait for street improvement grants to be issued by the province before such work can proceed.  At our present rate, all existing street and sidewalk issues would be completed well into the 2030s!  And that's not counting any new issues which might pop up!

Let me know what you think.

Merrry Christmas...again

The twelfth day of Christmas has now passed.  Time to put away the decorations for another year.  For those celebrating the Epiphany or on the Eastern Calendar this weekend, I wish you Merry Christmas!

2012 Priorities: Paving

Our first council meeting of 2012 will be held on Monday, January 9 at the Village Office.  I'm sure we'll start talking about priorities for the 2012 budget which for us is set in May of each year.  Besides the issues I mentioned in my New Years message a few days ago, there are a number of other projects we need to consider.  One of my favourites is pavement.

 There are a number of streets in the Village which need paving!  They are;  the avenues starting with Second Avenue going south at the Mountain View Credit Union, then Third Avenue going south from the Community Links building, and Fourth Avenue going south from the entrance to Friendship Park.  Beacon Heights Road going south from Beacon Heights also needs paving. 

The residents along Seventh Street turned down pavement a few years ago, but I think we need to ask them again!

All of these can't be paved over one year, probably not even over five years, but I believe we need to start the process of engineering, base preparation and applying for grants.

Let me know what you think.

The Station is Coming!

On Wednesday, January 11, the Bassano Railway Station is due to arrive in Beiseker!  The station was purchased by the railway museum here about two years ago.  The plan is to move it onto the newly built foundation on museum land south of DynAgra.  Contrary to past reports, it is unlikely that the power company will have to shut the power down in the whole village to get the station under the wires.  They may have to shut some lines off, but they will inform those affected.  I don't recall hearing a time schedule nor a route plan to get it here. 

We've been waiting for this move for a very long time.  For a while there, it looked like it would never get here!  Let's wish them good luck and a smooth move next Wednesday.  Everyone take lots of photos, too!

Main Street Redevelopment Photos

A local photographer, Donna Chow, has graciously allowed me to post some of her photos of Beiseker's new Main Street, which she took a few months ago:

photo by Donna Chow

photo by Donna Chow

photo by Donna Chow

photo by Donna Chow

Donna has lived in Beiseker with her husband Elvis Chow for more than twenty five years, and is able to work her talents and creativity into her photography. 

Thank you, Donna!

Happy New Year, 2012!

Here comes 2012!  I'll take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy New Year! 

Our little village is facing some very difficult challenges in 2012, but I am confident we will be successful in finding solutions during this calendar year!

Challenge One:  The Water Crisis;  Our water commission has a new name but the same old problems exist.  We are paying some of the highest water rates in the province!  I really believe that 2012 will be a "Make or Break" year for this water crisis.  The fact is that the five urban municipalities in the Aqua 7 system cannot afford to continue buying water.  And the Aqua 7 system cannot afford to continue on its present funding course!  Stay tuned.

Challenge Two:  The Beiseker Fire Department;  The Village of Beiseker cannot afford to equip its fire department to an appropriate level on its own.  Nor can Rocky View County properly give fire protection to its north east corner without Beiseker's firefighters.  I predict that an agreement will be hammered out over this next twelve months that will meet the requirements of both village and county.

Challenge Three:  Residential Development;  This is related to Challenge One.  We have two stalled residntial subdivisions in Beiseker!  Both need a swift kick in the butt to get them moving again.  All five councillors are putting on their steel toed boots for this one!

Challenge Four:  Economic Development;  In 2012 we're all going to have to find ways to stimulate economic development within the village.  We have too many empty lots and shops on Main Street and too many people taking too much of their shopping to Airdrie or CrossIron Mills! 

Challenge Five:  Waste Water Disposal;  Beiseker has always had trouble pumping its waste water out of town!  Both runoff water and sanitary sewer water systems are overtaxed in the spring of each year.  Council is going to have to work on ways to make these systems work efficiently and effectively throughout the seasons!  We've made some significant headway this past year but more needs to be done!

Well, there they are; the five biggest challenges I see the Village of Beiseker facing in 2012!  I am confident that we'll tackle these problems head-on and prevail!

 HAPPY NEW YEAR!