The year ahead is poised to herald good tidings for the Town of Sundre and its residents.
Among them is a relatively low projected tax increase of 1.9 per cent, said Mayor Terry Leslie.
"That's because for the first time, we did a two-year budget. The intent is to kind of think through a longer term process rather than year to year,î said Leslie.
That makes council and the town's staff look further down the road, "because that's how business does things, and we need to be a business."
The biggest project for the coming year is the highly anticipated completion of the Mountain View Seniors' Housing (MVSH) $26-million supportive living facility, the progression of which has remained on budget and ahead of schedule, he said, adding the seniors' housing complex will open in June, a month sooner than the originally planned date in July.
"This is a project that's on time, on budget and it is a lighthouse in the province,î he said.
The project was the culmination of a grass roots group of seniors who advocated keeping people in the community so they would not have to be moved as far away as Ponoka, Three Hills or wherever else senior accommodations might be available. Mountain View County became part of the initiative, and through MVSH the project was made possible, the mayor said.
"It's huge. Government folks from across the province come to see the campus of care as a model for the future,î he said.
Once the facility is operational and residents moved in, the community will have to consider future plans for the Foothills Lodge, which is owned by the province. Throughout the coming year, provincial officials will be consulting with the community to determine what people would most like to see happen with the lodge, he said.
"There are discussions and opportunities coming as a community to see what we would like to see that building repurposed as,î he said.
Although those discussions have yet to take place, some preliminary ideas that have been raised so far include refitting the facility as an education campus, a low cost housing facility, a residence for medical students who are coming to do their placements in the community, or perhaps even a commercial centre, he said.
"There are ideas out there and we're going to be asked to get together and narrow down the ideas so that we can get to a final decision. It's a great opportunity for a building in the middle of the downtown core to be used for something very purposeful in the future,î he said.
That process will give the community a chance to get together to consider potential options for the lodge, he said.
On another front, the relocation of the recycling depot has gone over well with residents, and council has plans to further help make it easier for people to recycle.
"Since we opened the new recycling centre, there's been incredible support from town and county residents ó they want to recycle," he said.
"There's been a lot of talk about recycling being a very important program. We're going to roll out a recycling program with blue bins at no cost to residents."
There are also plans for an education program on recycling to try to reduce the amount of waste going to the landfill, he said.
Work will also be ongoing to come up with plans for the site of the county's former shop, which was recently demolished. Through a partnership with the county, town officials will be collaborating to put together a project such as a central park to revitalize the area, he said.
One of the main hurdles for council to overcome will be coming up with a plan to address the capacity and quality of the town's wastewater treatment facility.
"We got to deal with our wastewater treatment and capacity issues," he said.
"Further to that, we have to do better at water conservation throughout the community to reduce the strain on that wastewater system."
Depending on the scope of the final project, the cost is estimated to run up anywhere from $7 to $15 million.
Flood mitigation projects to protect Sundre from the next inundation is also an ongoing effort.
"It's still an issue needing to be addressed and resolved,î he said.
Bringing broadband high-speed Internet to Sundre is another priority for council. In this day and age, people and business owners need the ability to be digitally connected in a lightning fast way. While residents would stream videos faster, the most important aspect of broadband is the capacity it brings to local markets to access world markets in the digital economy, he said.
"If we have a strong business sector, we're going to have a stronger economy. Council has to do what it can to ensure it supports business, and the digital economy is a growing sector. We have to diversify our ability as a community to compete on the world stage,î he said.
The mayor said residents could also expect council and town staff to continue improving service the public.
"We want to make sure our reputation is that we serve the public, and we know that we have to continuously improve that service to the public,î he said.
While council strives to serve the community to the best of its abilities, there's always room for improvement. Communication with residents, more public open houses and getting out information about things that are taking place need to be worked on, he said.
"There's no strategy yet as to how to do that, but we need to fix it,î he said.
Council also wants to make the most efficient use of the town's resources. With a finite amount of funding, new facilities cannot simply be built on a whim. The community has to work together to provide as much as possible while keeping minimal the cost to taxpayers, he said.
The mayor said he sees optimism for the future. With the new NDP government in Alberta and the new federal Liberal government, there will be an increased focus on making improvements in environmental issues.
"It's welcome,î he said.
Efforts will have to be concentrated on sustainable sources of energy such as solar power, as well as a transition towards technologies like LED lighting to reduce reliance on coal fired energy, he said.
"Energy from coal fired plants is going to disappear, and we have to move seriously and deliberately toward a sustainability of power that is renewable,î he said.
Sundre recently became a member of the Southern Alberta Energy From Waste Association (SAEWA), and council plans to be part of their initiatives, he said.
"We want to turn waste into energy, that's a huge goal,î he said.
Continuing the same old practices will not be sustainable for future generations, so steps need to be taken now, he said.
"SAEWA has the opportunity and ability to put together a plan that will work for all of us,î he said.
That means being willing to consider new ideas while scrutinizing them with an open mind, he said.
"We need to get the attitude of possibility rather than the fear of change to be front and centre in our mind,î he said.
