Top Barrhead news stories of 2024

BARRHEAD - Crosswalks topped the list of Barrhead's most newsworthy stories in 2024, whether it be the town council drafting its Decorative Crosswalk Policy to approving two Pride crosswalks on Main Street, one recognizing the Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning (2SLGBTQ+) community, the other in recognition of Disability Awareness month, to the eventual petition and plebiscite which saw the eventual passing of the Neutral Space Bylaw.

The issue first made headlines in late March when Town of Barrhead councillors approved a request from the Barrhead United Church's OutProud for a 2SLGBTQ+ crosswalk. It was the third straight year that the council approved such a request. Over 100 gathered to paint the crosswalk on June 2 to commemorate Pride month.

As part of the discussion, councillors instructed administration to draft a decorative crosswalk policy, which was brought to and approved by council on May 14.

The policy allowed administration to approve any decorative crosswalk application as long as it met the eligibility requirements.

A few weeks later, administration deemed an application from the Barrhead Accessibility Coalition eligible, and a group of 30 to 40 volunteers gathered on July 7 to paint the Pride crosswalk in the colours of the Disability Pride Flag: green, blue, white, gold, and red. Green represents sensory disabilities, blue represents emotional and psychiatric disabilities, white stands for non-visible and undiagnosed disabilities, gold stands for neurodiversity, and red represents physical disabilities. The crosswalk was the first of its kind in Canada,

At roughly the same time as the coalition's application, a group of residents who opposed decorative sidewalks formed Barrhead Neutrality, saying municipal government and its property should remain neutral. They petitioned the town to enact a bylaw limiting crosswalks to the traditional white stripped ladder pattern and limiting flags flown on municipal property to the Town of Barrhead and the provincial and national flags.

To be a valid petition under the Municipal Government Act (MGA), 10 per cent of the town's population needed to sign it. Alberta Municipal Affairs listed the town's 2023 population at 4,320, meaning the petition needed 432 signatures. The petition had 851 signatures, 712 of which were considered valid, triggering a December plebiscite in which 57 per cent voted in favour of the bylaw.

Housing woes

For the second straight year, the lack of affordable housing makes the list of top issues facing residents.

Barrhead and District Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) executive director Karen Pronishen first sounded the alarm about the community's lack of housing while addressing both Barrhead municipal councils in 2023.

In late November, Pronishen told the Barrhead Leader, partly due to the lack of housing, FCSS was seeing more of an influx of housing-insecure and homeless individuals.

She said FCSS spearheaded an effort to create a committee to identify ways the community could help combat the rising issue of home insecurity.

A needs assessment conducted by the Barrhead and District Social Housing Association (BDSHA) also identified the lack of housing.

"There are a lot of new people that have come to town, and you see people all the time on social media looking for places to rent," chief administrative officer Tyler Batdorf said in a late October interview.

To help address the issue, Town of Barrhead councillors started attempting to rezone six residential lots on its municipally owned property on 61st Street in Beaver Brook Estates from R1 to R3 in July.

R1-residential allows for low-density housing, such as single-detached dwellings, while R3 provides various housing options, such as duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, and rowhouses. 

However, in October council put the breaks on the process following public pressure.

Return of the Wild Rose Rodeo Association Finals

After a year absence, September marked the return of the Wild Rose Rodeo (WRA) Challenge event.

In late February, the WRA announced that the association's premiere championship event would return to Barrhead, winning the bid to host the event until 2028.

The Barrhead and District Ag Society lost the bid for the 2023 finals to Rimbey because Barrhead's bid included four performances rather than the traditional five.

Before losing the bid to Rimbey, Barrhead had hosted the event for an unprecedented string from 1989 to 2022, except for 2020 and 2021, due to the pandemic.

Following the 2023 finals, the WRA approached several ag societies and organizing committees that host WRA events and asked them to submit a bid. 

Ultimately, WRA president David Schmidt said it again came down to Barrhead and Rimbey.

"[Barrhead] was the unanimous choice," he said. "We are glad to be coming back. I think a lot of it was due to our history in Barrhead and our great working relationship with the ag society."

Multi-million wastewater system upgrades

In November, corporate services director Jennifer Mantay told councillors that the municipality is facing upwards of $22 million in upgrades to its wastewater system, most notably to the lagoons. 

The upgrades are needed due to changes in provincial environmental standards. 

Mantay noted they hope that the bulk of the funding for the upgrades will come from an Alberta Municipal Water/Wastewater Partnership (AMWWP) grant. 

She said the town's engineering firm planned to initially apply for $7 million, hoping to secure the bulk of the remaining funding through other government grants.

"Now, they may apply for the entire $22 million, but they told us the grant was 'very' over-applied for," Mantay said. "So, I don't know if we will get any money. At that point, it will be up to the council to decide how to proceed, as [Alberta Environment and Protected Areas] are telling us that we need to do this. But if we don't have the money, we are stuck."

New bylaw enforcement officer

After several years of outsourcing its bylaw enforcement services, the County of Barrhead opted to create its own bylaw enforcement in 2021 after a fee increase by Lac Ste. Anne County made the continuation of contracting out the service no longer viable.

Since the hiring of community peace officer, Shae Guy has stayed busy. In his September report to council, Guy noted that in the second quarter alone, he opened 668 files, saying the majority were self-generated, where he observed drivers breaking the Alberta Traffic Safety Act (TSA) for offences.

"Speeding continues to be the most prevalent [TSA] issue," he said, adding the most flagrant offence was a driver clocked 82 km/h over the speed limit. "They were going 182 km/h on Highway 33 [near Camp Creek]."

But the most visible accomplishment of the bylaw enforcement department took place in late November with the help of the Barrhead Regional Fire Services, the Fort Assiniboine Fire Department and public works, executed a cleanup order of the old derelict Camp Creek general store site through a controlled fire.

County of Barrhead Land-use Bylaw

In September, councillors gave the land-use bylaw (LUB) its final reading, officially concluding a multi-year process which started in 2021. Prior to its passing, the last time the county updated the bylaw was in 2010.

But, its adoption did not come without its share of controversy or detractors.

In late February, while the LUB was still in its initial draft stage, as council did not give first reading of the document until May, upwards of 300 people, many from outside the community, packed the Barrhead Royal Canadian Legion in what was touted as an "emergency meeting" to discuss potential changes to the County of Barrhead land-use (LUB) bylaws.

However, the meeting, whose organizers never identified themselves, turned out to be more of a forum where speakers discussed everything from the World Economic Forum and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to how was trying to depopulate the world and how the COVID pandemic was a hoax and how Bluetooth can be used to identify those who have been COVID vaccinated.

Eventually, the discussion moved on to the county's LUB, thanks to speaker Careyleigh Thiessen from the Voice of Thorhild County. Thiessen was a last-minute addition to the meeting, asking organizers if she could attend after she learned about the gathering via social media.

In June, upwards of 50 people attended a municipally-hosted public hearing voicing opinions for and against the bylaw.

Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com