All current members of council will let their names stand for re-election in October, with the final announcement last Tuesday that long-standing councillor Harvey Walsh will seek a seventh term.
"It becomes, you've watched and seen the community grow, and you still see some potential," said Walsh. "Just to be part of that."
Walsh says he thinks the town is on the verge of some big developments, especially with its population pushing 10,000.
"We're almost city status, and that's an exciting stage to be involved in," he said. "Being a city could be a positive or a negative. It's just fun to see the community grow in a way like that."
Walsh says that while council members have their opinions, they are always able to sit down and talk about issues. It's not about right or wrong, he said, but about discussing the information in front of you, and he credits the town's administration for their role.
"Administration is very good at bringing the facts to us," said Walsh. "At the end of the day, if we have the right information, we make the right decision and we move forward."
Having served six terms, Walsh says that there's one driving factor in the success of a particular council.
"Every time you change just one person on council, you change the whole dynamic," he said. "The reason all of them have worked is because -- I am going to say -- respect for each other.
"Anybody that comes on council needs to be able to show respect for each other and for administration, and work in a respectful way," he said. "That's always happened. And I think that's probably our true strength."
A further strength is their ability to stay focused on the future.
"The status quo in Olds IS change," said Walsh. "As a council you have to start thinking out five years or more, because change is always happening and you don't want to be caught by surprise."
For Walsh, that includes having a growth management strategy in conjunction with Mountain View County, where both would share revenue and cost for development around the fringes of Olds. And he says these cooperative ventures are fast becoming the norm.
"Things just get more and more expensive as you expand, and working regionally is the way to go," he said.
In the short term, Walsh said he would like to see the Olds fibre network ñ a project he has been involved in from its inception ñ really come into its own.
"They are reaching that point of stability and I'd like to see them operate and provide a great future for Olds," said Walsh.
One area where Walsh hopes to see improvement is working with the provincial government ñ which provides the bulk of infrastructure funding.
In addition, one of the challenges facing councillors, Walsh said, is balancing different roles. In addition to their town responsibilities, council members also sit on a variety of committees, commissions and boards.
"You wear that hat as a commission member, you have to function as that commission member, (and) if you need to raise the rates of water to cover your costs or cover your expansion, you need to do that," he said.
"Now you come back to council and now you are wearing a council hat and you're going, ëoh I don't like that, my citizens don't like that.' How do you work that through?"
He said that while the municipality does well governing its own affairs, councillors need to get better at focusing on how the decisions of other bodies affect their own citizens.
At the end of the day, Walsh said it's the people who drive the town of Olds.
"People comment that Olds kind of punches above its weight. When you look at fibre to the premise, it's world class; you look at the Community Learning centre, that's world class," he said. "It's the citizens of this community that create that."
"I'm not taking credit because council thought of it," said Walsh. "Olds is an awesome community and it's awesome people that make it work."
It's the role of council, he said, to facilitate, giving volunteers and organizations the needed support.
"You're investing in your communities and you're trusting your citizens to do what they need to do to make this community great," said Walsh. "I think the future is bright for Olds. That's the exciting part of being a councillor."
"We're almost city status, and that's an exciting stage to be involved in." HARVEY WALSH
