WESTLOCK – In a year that included more than $10 million spent on the 108th Street rehabilitation and west industrial storm water infrastructure projects, plus a municipal election that saw three new councillors voted in, the highlight of 2021 for mayor Ralph Leriger was the formation of the Westlock Community Foundation.
And while COVID-19 continues to dominate national headlines for at least the foreseeable future, Leriger, who’s now in his third, four-year term as mayor, didn’t mince words saying the foundation will remain a story for the Town of Westlock in not only 2022, but the decades to follow.
Unveiled at the end of September, the foundation is possible due to the proceeds of the estate of Albert and Florence Miller — their land went to auction in early December and fetched just over $8 million. Ultimately, the contribution from Albert and Florence, who passed away in 2020 and 2019 respectively, will be the foundation’s nest egg and the return on the investment from it is what will be used to fund community initiatives.
“To me that’s the news of the year. To have this gift from Albert and Florence … I know the taskforce is working really, really hard and it’s coming together really well. It will be 2023 before the foundation is up and running as there’s a lot of work that still needs to be done. The money still has to be received, invested and some interest (on it) needs to be earned before we can start talking about providing grants to qualified groups,” said Leriger during a year-end interview.
“But for a region our size to have a foundation starting from where we are is really unprecedented. It’s a huge deal for a community like ours … sometimes great things happen to great communities.”
The municipal election held in October was also another highlight for Leriger. Although he was unopposed for a second-straight election, three first-time councillors, Laura Morie, Jon Kramer and Abby Keyes, were voted in and joined incumbents Curtis Snell, Murtaza Jamaly and Randy Wold who finished No. 1, 2 and 3 at the polls. Retiring from council were Clem Fagnan, David Truckey and John Shoemaker — combined the trio had more than 45 years of municipal political experience.
“It was a sad farewell to our retirees, but a big welcome to our new council members. I think we have a good council and I honestly believe that it has the potential to be a great council,” he said.
Of course, COVID-19 continues to dominate the lives of everyone and Leriger knows it’s been challenging for not only residents, but businesses and town-run facilities with the ever-changing restrictions.
“That’s been a big challenge for everyone in the community. And because of the nature of communication today it can be easy to fall into the trap of allowing a handful of loud citizens to control the narrative, but you can’t, you just can’t,” he said.
“And with COVID that’s led to the Alberta Supports office being closed and that’s had a negative impact on this community’s most vulnerable and I remain quite frustrated on the government’s position on it. But we will continue our advocacy effort and see what can be done.
“Everyone else has found a way to safely open and operate — banks, businesses, the town, the police, the court. Everyone has found a way, so it’s beyond frustrating.”
The past year was massive for infrastructure and included the $6.3 million 108th Street rehabilitation project, which will carry over into 2022 as work came to a close at the end of November. Meanwhile the west industrial storm water project, tabbed with a $3.56 million price tag, is roughly 95 per cent complete with some minor utility conflicts to be straightened out.
“It was a huge infrastructure year for us. Beyond those two there were improvements to the Heritage Building and the accessibility work for the east business park which was done later in the year and will need some work next year as well,” said Leriger.
“We have to focus on those priorities — it’s infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure.”
This coming year will also be big with $8,111,961 ($1.65M carried forward) of budgeted work that includes a new $4.4M public works shop, $1M towards the demolition of Jubilee Arena and an $80,000 leak detection system project.
“Jubilee has great history and as a kid I had great times in that facility. But when it comes down it’s going to change the look and feel of that whole area,” he said.
Operations-wise, Leriger said their senior admin team is filled with “strong, dedicated people” which has led to successes like the regional notification system, as well as the town’s new communications department. Even something as simple as the large-item pickup event, held in September, can be attributed to the staff to execute it.
“That was the first time we’ve done that in years and years and that went very well,” said Leriger of the large-item pickup event.
“For our operations, trusting in our strategic plan is a big thing and I talk about it every time. One of our goals is to be medical hub for the region, so in appreciation and support for all our medical professionals we delivered some baskets and notes as they are under a great of stress and working really hard.
“Trusting in our plans and thinking out into the future serves us well. We’ve been building this for quite a while and it’s satisfying to see things working well.”
