Village Councilors' Expense Claims

At last Monday's Council Meeting, I made another proposal with a view of saving money on the village budget. 

This time, I proposed that we reduce the amount slated for councilors expense claims.  As you may know, prior to the 2013 municipal election a committee was created - totally separate from council - to review and recommend changes to the expense claim amounts.  After that election, the newly elected council accepted and passed the new schedule designed by that committee.

It significantly raised councilors' fees.  In fact, that budget line in our books more than doubled in 2014, over what it was in 2013! 

I am suggesting that we take another look at those new figures for expense claims and possibly reduce them during these "belt tightening times."  They could be raised back to their current amounts in the future, when councilors feel the Village coffers could better could afford it.  What do you think?

Honoring Fred Walters

Last Monday night, I had the distinct pleasure of honouring a former village councillor and very active village volunteer. 

Fred Walters was a huge part of the goings-on here in Beiseker for the past twenty years.  Fred volunteered at Beiseker Recycling, and built it up to one of the biggest and most successful recycling projects in the province for a community of our size!  He was an active member of the Beiseker Lions' Club, and held a senior divisional post in that organization for a time. 

Fred and his wife Marion were very much a part of the Acme Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion, and for years they both made sure our Remembrance Day Ceremonies in Acme ran smoothly and with much dignity.  He also served twelve years on Village Council, handling many different portfolios.

I always got a chuckle over Fred's participation in the Awards Ceremonies at Beiseker Community School.  He would have to change jackets to present different awards from the various organizations he was representing.  At some ceremonies, Fred would have to make as amny as three "wardrobe changes" during the evening!

Fred did not run for re-election last October.  He and Marion recently sold their home in Beiseker and moved into smaller accomodations in Calgary.  This past Monday, we honored Fred's contibutions to village government in a short ceremony at the beginning of our council meeting.

One small thing Beiseker Village Council initiated a few years ago was to present each councillor with a personalized copy of a famous photo, the original of which hangs in Council Chambers.  The photo was taken more than 60 years ago of the Beiseker CPR Station when it was still in operation.  That building is now houses the Beiseker Village Offices and the Beiseker Station Museum.  The photo was presented to Fred with an inscription honoring his service.

2013 Year in Review

This past year has been a good one overall for the Village of Beiseker.  We’ve had our share of problems - mostly with the weather - but we’ve managed to overcome those difficulties and move forward!   

Most fortunately, we did not experience the massive June flooding that inundated other towns and cities in southern Alberta.  Our flooding problems came after a few torrential downpours dosed the village in July.  It was quite alarming to see more than 6 inches of water on Main Street, in front of the medical center!

Our fire department came to the rescue, and did their best to encourage the water to leave town. Council is now actively looking for solutions to this flooding problem. 

The other major weather incident was the blizzard of December 2, 2013!  And again, during these adverse conditions our fire department and public works performed admirably to keep Beiseker moving and keep our residents safe.

But I think the good things that happened in the village far outweighed the difficulties we had! Here are some of the good things; 

• The creation of a Medical First Response Team: this group was formed to respond to medical emergencies within the village. They’ve already saved a number of lives! I think this is a great addition to our emergency services.
• The purchase of a Fire Truck:  I couldn’t have been more proud of our village when we put out a call for a fundraiser to buy a newer fire engine to replace our old one.  When the money from the sale of the old truck was put into the pot, we managed to raise more than half the cost of the new truck.  For a village of less than 900 people that was astounding! Well done Beiseker!
• Grasslands subdivision:  the stalled subdivision on the west side of town was restarted!  Events elsewhere in Alberta prevented builders from starting this year, but we are looking forward to seeing homes built there in 2014! One of our slogans is, “If you lived in Beiseker, your kids could walk to school!” 
• The Municipal Election: I thought the electors here in the village had a very good selection of candidates to vote for. The four incumbents were re-elected, and we welcomed Dave McKenzie onto Council. We said goodbye to Fred Walters who retired. We miss Fred on Council but we welcome a new viewpoint from Dave.  I was very proud and honored to be re-elected as mayor!
• The Bassano Station: Although Beiseker Village Council has nothing to do with this project, we were pleased to see it progress to a point where it’s almost ready to be slid onto its foundation. We look forward to its completion in 2014!
• The Beiseker Country Fair, organized by the Beiseker Lions Club was a huge success once again as was our first annual Santa Claus Parade held just a couple of weeks ago.  I hope both events continue to grow and prosper.
• A new commercial building on Main Street:  A new building opened up on Main Street just before Christmas, housing Beiseker Registries!  This new structure is a great addition to our business district!

Overall a very good year for Beiseker, and we’re looking forward to an even better 2014!  I’ll take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy New Year and all the best in 2014.

Party Politics at the Municipal Level

Team Airdrie United, photo courtesy Airdrie Echo

A couple of communities around the province came face to face with partisan style politics during the recent municipal election: a group of candidates, all with like ideas, who run together.  If elected they would push their own agenda and vote as a bloc.

I truly believe that this would be detrimental to municipal governments as we know them.

Municipal politicians must represent their constituents; those who elected them.  Voting on an issue simply to support fellow Councillors elected on the same slate, does not wash!  In my opinion, each municipal Councillor must vote on every issue based on his (or her) convictions.  Those convictions should be formed only after regular consultation with their electors!

Calgary's Mayor Naheed Nenshi was one of the municipal politicians to come face to face with this type of partisan politics.  He came out strongly against the practice!  I totally agree with his stand.

One of the things that makes Alberta strong is its municipal governments and their ability to represent as many of their constituents as they possibly can.  We must never lose that.

Thank You!

Thank you to all who voted for me in yesterday's municipal election.  Know that I will work hard over the next four years to make Beiseker that much better. 

Congratulations to all the candidates who allowed their names to stand for election across Alberta.  You all helped democracy win!

Beiseker's council will consist of four incumbants Warren Wise, Karen Ursu, Al Henuset, myself, and new council member Dave McKenzie.  I'm excited about working with all these folks over the next four years. 

This is Beiseker's time to shine! Stay tuned!

The North Road Issue

With continuing upgrades to Highway 72, the portion which passes through our village - called North Road - has caused problems for Beiseker residents.  Speeding is the most common problem, but other issues with drivers have been noted.

Village council has met with Alberta Transportation on several occasions to discuss this very issue.  Our last meeting was held almost a year ago, at the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association convention. During that time, we devised a strategy to slow traffic down as it passed through our village.

Some of those changes have been have been done. Others are still waiting to be implemented.  I suspect that Alberta Transportation has had its hands full with the areas of the province affected by the June floods - so I think we have to be patient.

But, here's what we have already planned to do;

1. Increase the number of painted and marked crosswalks from 2 to 3. This has been completed.
2. Move the 50 km/h sign farther to the west, so the traffic has more time to slow down and will be at the 50 km/h speed limit as they pass by the Grasslands subdivision. This has not been completed.
3. To place decreasing graduated lines on the highway in the "Slowdown Zones."  These painted lines visually draw the drivers' attention to their speeds.  This has not been completed.
4. To increase the number of enforcement visits (speed traps) by both the RCMP and the Alberta Sheriffs' Highway Patrol.  This has occurred.
5. To examine the School Zone vs Playground Zone issue, and make adjustments to the signage as required.  I understand this is ongoing.  The signs designating a School Zone remain.

Other suggestions which have been made include;

Installing speed bumps and/or rumble strips along North Road.  This has been mostly ruled out, because of the noise factor.  Vehicles slowing down and speeding up, and the sound of tires rumbling over these structures, can be very annoying to neighbours - and, occurring at all times of the day.

Construction of traffic circles at both ends of North Road. Traffic circles do indeed slow traffic down.  And a traffic circle at the Beacon Heights Road and the junction of Highway nine and Highway 806 would have an effect, but this option would be quite expensive.

There has been some discussion about the Village starting its own speed enforcement program. This would involve the village buying some kind of radar unit, and hire trained and certified personnel to operate it (and issue tickets for infractions).  I don't believe the village can afford to maintain such a unit as this.   It would probably make money immediately after it started but as compliance increased, less and less revenue would be realized from this very expensive unit.  I also understand that this kind of speed enforcement by municipalities on provincial highways is frowned upon be the province.

Finally, there was a suggestion to install a radar speed sign (like the one pictured above) along North Road to deter speeders.  These signs have proven effective to slow drivers down, and wouldn't require hiring someone to man it.  However, these signs don't write tickets and I don't know how much it would cost to install and maintain such a unit. 

Beiseker Village Council will be meeting with Alberta Transportation again this fall during the AUMA convention.  North Road will be the topic of much of the discussion there.

If reelected, I will continue to push for these and possibly other changes to make North Road safer for all.

Keeping Beiseker Growing

We've all seen municipalities in Alberta run into problems fueled by their own desire to expand.  Growth isn't a bad thing, but municipalities that accept growth at any cost often end up creating problems that they have difficulties in solving.

Here are some of the problems I see;

1. Growth across a barrier (such as a major river, or a huge highway) and then getting residents and services from one side to the other across that barrier, will haunt the municipality forever.
2. Creating residential and commercial subdivisions to fill an immediate demand, with little thought of upgrading the infrastructure to support them. What usually happens is the long term residents end up paying for those improvements -- even though the systems servicing their residents or businesses were operating quite satisfactorily, before!
3. Creating subdivisions with little or no forethought as to how the new residents or patrons will get into and out of that subdivision.

If re-elected, I will encourage council to monitor all expansions to ensure that the growth does not over-burden our existing infrastructure, roads, and village services.

We have two residential and one industrial subdivision within the village which are currently in development.  The Grasslands (on the west side) is starting up again, while Skyland (between Third Ave. and the CN tracks) is completely stalled.  The industrial subdivision on the east side of the tracks is growing, slowly.

Our engineers tell us that the current service infrastructure can handle up to seventy homes in Grasslands.  When we get close to that number, we must insist that developers design a plan to handle any more increases.   The best solution at the moment appears to be a deep sanitary sewer line on the South side of  the village, running from the west to the east, and into our upgraded force main.

I believe that the south end of Beacon Heights Road must be upgraded so it will provide two exits and entrances to Grasslands.  In my opinion, a portion of this upgrade will have to be funded by Grasslands.

Council must stay on top of these developments to avoid the pitfalls seen elsewhere in Alberta!

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.

Election Forum Well Attended

Last night's Election Forum at the Beiseker Community Centre was one of the best attended ever!  Moderator Dave Fegan said there were almost 100 people in attendance!  It was good to see so many come out to hear their candidates speak to the issues facing Beiseker.

Some good points were made by all candidates.   Questions from the floor were wide and varied.  The issue of the Bassano Station eyesore came up.  Once again, we explained to the crowd that that project has very little to do with Beiseker Village Council, beyond the building and development permits issued.

Other questions dealt with Village pathway systems, the enforcement of bylaws, a committee to oversee Public Works, the Grasslands subdivision and possible project timelines.  I thought all were answered well by the candidates; some answers were better than others.

I was disappointed that more didn't stay to hear the two candidates for Rocky View Schools trustee for our area - incumbent Norma Lang, and challenger Jennifer Avery.  Only about half the folks stayed.

It was certainly an eye opener!  The question of playground demolition dominated the Q&A part.  It was very evident indeed that there needs to be some serious rethinking into that whole policy of school playground demolition and replacement.

Overall, it was a most enjoyable evening of municipal politics in Beiseker.

Keeping Beiseker Happy and Healthy

Beiseker is very lucky to have the support services it already has, for a community of our size.  But they can be better!

• Community Links:  This new facility in Lions' Centennial Park (across from the Community Centre) has made living here even better for many people!  Family support services, parenting programs, counselling services, and a multitude of other programs can be accessed through Community Links!  The building also houses our very active and attractive Library and Play School.
• Medical Centre:  Our Medical Building on Main Street at Third Ave. is home to a physician twice a week and a dentist once a week.  It is not operated by the Village but is supported by them.
• Education;  Beiseker Community School is now a K to 12 facility and will become one of the main attractive features for those considering moving to Beiseker in the future!
• Recreation;  Our village offers an amazing choice of recreational activities and facilities, from the village owned Beiseker Arena (operated by the Ag Society) to playgrounds and outdoor facilities such as the skateboard park and ball diamonds. 
• Youth Justice:  Young offenders in our area can be referred to the Alternate Measures Program through the Big Country Youth Justice Committee, founded here more than twenty years ago!  If they successfully complete the Alternate Measures Program, the young offender avoids having a police record.
• Fire Department;  Beiseker has a very active and effective volunteer fire department manned by very dedicated people.  Their job has been made easier with the recent purchase of a more modern fire truck! Operating in conjunction with our fire department is our first response medical team who are equipped and trained to provide assistance to those in our village injured or ill and waiting for the ambulance.

With your vote, I will continue my efforts to enhance these services.  Here are some of my goals;

• To investigate the possibility of having the Community Links program open more than two days per week.
• To help get the word out as to what the Community Links programs and facility can do for you.
• To communicate with the operating board of the Medical Building to make sure they are receiving all the assistance they need to operate this important facility.  I do firmly believe in the adage, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" - and I will recommend the village become involved only if invited!
• To keep reminding the provincial and federal governments that we need effective policing from our RCMP detachment here, with a full complement of officers at all times.
• To remain serving on the Big Country Youth Justice Committee and I will be active in recruiting new members to that committee.
• To continue supporting Rocky View Schools and their efforts to make Beiseker Community School an active part of our community.
• To ensure that the recreational facilities meet the need of our villagers and to keep them in tip top order.
• To do my utmost to create mutual aid agreements with all surrounding jurisdictions in regards to emergency services.  I believe this is imperative to maintaining a strong volunteer fire department, providing emergency services to Beiseker and the surrounding area.
• To once again throw our voice into the debate to have a full hospital built in Airdrie.

Keeping Beiseker's Water Flowing

My second issue is water!  We in Beiseker have difficulties getting inexpensive drinking water into the village - and getting storm water out! 

Drinking Water

Beiseker is a member of the Aqua7 Regional Water Services Commission.  The commission buys treated water from the town of Drumheller, treats it again, then pumps it through to two rural municipalities and five urban municipalities from a treatment and pumping station at Kirkpatrick, in the Red Deer river valley.

Beiseker buys water from Aqua7, then treats it a third time, before pumping it out to our residents from a pumping station at the corner of 9th Street and 4th Avenue.

The price of water at our homes is controlled by four factors;

1. The price the Town of Drumheller charges Aqua7 for water.
2. The cost of operating the pumping station at Kirkpatrick.
3. The cost of managing the Aqua7 Regional Water Services Commission, including servicing their huge debt created during construction of the system.
4. The cost of re-treating and pumping water after it arrives here in the village.

Facts;

• The Town of Drumheller raised its price of water to Aqua7 twice in the last two years - totalling 10%!
• Rocky View County is a full member of Aqua7, but has not bought or sold any water!

I believe that Beiseker Village Council must keep working to lower our water rates by;

• Helping to find ways which Rocky View County can sell water.  The more water sold means a lower rate for all of us.
• Making sure all the water Beiseker buys is sold; no leaks or bypassed meters.
• Continuing to pressure the provincial government to help us eliminate our huge debt as they verbally promised to do when the project was first proposed.  They have done that for other water commissions set up after Aqua 7!

I have been very close to this water issue ever since Aqua7 (which was originally called the Kneehill Regional Water Services Commission) was first proposed.  I took over from past Mayor Dave Fegan as a member of the commission, twelve years ago.

With your vote, I will continue to fight for our right to have safe, plentiful and inexpensive drinking water here in Beiseker.


Storm Water

Beiseker was built in a low spot here on the prairie.  As a result, we continue to have storm water and runoff water issues.

The situation has greatly improved over the past few years but there are still shortcomings within our system.  Council has initiated a program to allow water to leave town as quickly as possible, by clearing drainage ditches and installing lift pumps at low spots.

With your vote, I will continue to work toward perfecting our drainage system so that floodwaters will drain more quickly from our village and the impact on residents will be lessened.

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.

The Upcoming Municipal Election

On Nomination Day - Monday, September 23, 2013 - between 10:00 a.m. and Noon, I will be filing my nomination papers to our Village Returning Officer to become a candidate in the upcoming Municipal Election.  My campaign will officially start on that same day.

I am looking forward to this election!  I believe I have much more to offer Beiseker, and I relish facing the challenges of the next four years on Village Council.