DIDSBURY - After about three months on the job, Craig Fox is settling into his role as manager of public works and infrastructure for the Town of Didsbury. Fox replaced Greg Skotheim, who left to take over as CAO in Bowden.
Fox came to Didsbury after working for a stormwater firm out of Calgary. He and his fiance have been living in the county, on an acreage near Elkton, for several years.
Fox said he loves the area and has enjoyed his time at the town so far.
"Didsbury is fantastic," he said. "I grew up in Innisfail. Lived there until I was 18 so I'm very familiar with a town of this size. It's a good fit for me. I'm comfortable here. There's a lot of work to do and tight resources, which make it a challenge. The town seems really engaged in itself, which is great."
Fox said he enjoys interacting with people and hearing what they have to say.
"It makes it fun," he said. "Even when things aren't all rosy and beautiful, hearing people's opinions and frustrations. Everyone has an opinion, and everyone's opinion is worth it. I'm enjoying it so far."
Fox graduated from the University of Calgary in 2009 with a B.Sc. in civil engineering. He then picked up his professional engineering (P.Eng.) designation in 2015.
"I worked for a company called D.A. Watt Consulting out of Calgary for a few years after graduating," he said. "I did municipal engineering for them for the Town of Crossfield. I went from there to the oil and gas industry and worked for a couple of firms there."
Fox then decided he wanted to hone his design skills so he worked for SSI (Stormwater Solutions) where he learned about stormwater management.
When the economic downturn began to hit Calgary hard, Fox started to look elsewhere. He accepted the position in Didsbury and began on May 13.
Fox said his job entails looking after the operations and maintenance of the town.
"Everything that public works does from mowing the grass to fixing asphalt," he said. "The services of the town all fall under that as well: water, sewer, garbage."
Fox said right now they are focusing on the 2019 asphalt rehabilitation project. The town recently awarded the tender and work should be starting very soon.
"We have a number of spots that need attention," he said. "We want to find out where we can prioritize. We're working on building a mechanism we can use to analyze and segregate the roads into primaries. That's a part of the role of public works."
Fox said the town is in good shape as far as taking care of water and effluent.
"We've got a very robust system as far as it all goes," he said. "We have a predominantly gravity-fed water system. We have water pump backups. With the water tower up there (at the golf course), we have a really reasonable pressure all over town anyways. Our pumps are there for backup in case there's a water main break to maintain pressure."
Fox said there is some aging infrastructure that the town is keeping an eye on.
The town recently completed the Rosebud lift station, which Fox said is running well.
"That station does Valarosa and will handle future development to the north, which is under the Copperview area structure plan," he said. "It'll handle the rest of the build-out for Valarosa plus the industrial subdivision on that side including public works right up to the Shantz subdivision."
Fox said they are already working on how to prioritize for next year so they can be "out to market" for the work earlier than this year.
Although Fox's title hasn't officially changed as of yet, he has accepted the added role of manager of planning, a role which was previously done by Matthew Konowalchuk, who left the town recently.
