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Summer update with Mayor Colberg

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The Drumheller Mail sat down with Mayor Heather Colberg this week to discuss ongoing projects, challenges, and her ideas for Drumheller.

DM: Canada Day in Drumheller was great this year. The parade will be in the hands of the new committee next year, how did ‘training’ go this year and are there any concerns or new ideas going forward?

HC: This is why collaboration is so important. With the organization of the new parade committee, the Chamber of Commerce RCMP, and the Town of Drumheller together, it was an incredible and, most importantly, a very safe parade. Thank you to all the parade committee members for stepping forward and to those who volunteered on the day of the event. Without volunteers, this would not have been possible. You just got to love this town.

DM: So it has been decided to replace the fountain. Do you have ideas of what you’d like to see there? What would you say to the people who have criticized the town over its handling of the pool and spray park leaks over the last year?

HC: I personally feel there are so many neat ideas out there, it would be great to see what is best for all. We will be looking for public input this fall for ideas on the future of this space. The fountain has been such an important part of our community and we all love seeing it up and running. Unfortunately, things age and break and council just did not feel throwing good money after bad was the best decision. We were hoping last year’s repair would be the solution, however, it was more complicated than that. Like I explain to people who ask me personally, I tell them that council and administration would love for everything to work so we could get other things done. When you are losing enormous amounts of water, something is seriously wrong. We didn’t want to take the chance of having water destroy electrical controls and lose the spray park as well. Honestly, we as well as the community love the fountain.

DM: There has been some new business development in town recently, do you think development has increased or is this just par for the course here? Are your efforts towards business development in town working?

HC: I just spent two days in Lloydminster and communities across the province are suffering. We have to continue to work to get businesses here because every municipality is vying for the same thing. Council has put together some incentives and between our development officer, economic advisory committy and task force, and economic development manager, they are continually looking for ways to attract more business. We have to do these things to be competitive and that is why we implemented these incentives.

DM: Roger Brooks spoke in Drumheller again recently, delivering a destination assessment on Drumheller. I understand there is a long list of recommendations for energizing Drumheller. What are the priorities and how hard will they be to accomplish?

HC: We were very excited to have Roger Brooks assess our community. I have reviewed his 98 suggestions and I feel we will be able to implement the majority of them in the next 12 months between the town, different groups, businesses, and residents. Many of them are low hanging fruit, so if we all do a little, we all do a lot. All his recommendations are priority.

DM: When talking to people, it seems the common view that one of your strengths is bringing people together to collaborate. Is that true?

HC: I have no agenda other than to see Drumheller prosper and I’m just fortunate people are willing to help. It’s not about what I’m doing, it’s just there are so many people in this town who want to help, so it is important to get them involved. It is so wonderful to see the progress that is being made.

DM: What are some challenges for business here?

HC: We have to figure out a way to be busy 12 months a year. We have to see how we can access complimentary manufacturing, so new businesses are complimenting businesses already here. We are a great conference centre. We have hotels, the Badlands Community Facility -- we have a lot to offer, we just need to keep capitalizing on it. At the end of the day we want to create an environment for both locals and visitors to enjoy. As I said before, business is tough across the province and we will continue to look for ways to help the valley.

Volunteers scour hills to harvest sage for Calgary Zoo grouse breeding program

Calgary Zoo staff and volunteers were at the Hoodoo site on Thursday, July 18 enjoying the scenery and harvesting sage.

Ryan Neilson, habitat supervisor at the Calgary Zoo, explains the sagebrush is used to feed the endangered Sage Grouse at the Calgary Zoo.

“We are harvesting the silver sagebrush to feed to the Greater Sage Grouse. The Calgary Zoo has Canada’s largest breeding and reintroduction program for that animal and we need a huge amount of sage to keep them healthy and happy,” he said.

He says they typically harvest a couple of times a year from the Drumheller area as well as near Kamloops.

“There are slightly different types of sage in each area and the animals could potentially run into either in the wild, so we give them a couple of different varieties,” he said.

This sage is used to feed the animals over winter. He explains that in the warmer season the Sage Grouse feed exclusively on insects and then feeds on the sage in the winter. After harvesting the sage, he says it will be put into a freezer until it is time to use it for feed.

Last Thursday, local volunteers, as well as volunteers from Pembina Pipelines, the Drumheller Institution, and Zoo staff were helping in the effort.

“Usually in Drumheller, it is a smaller production, this is the first time we have scaled it up and brought in volunteer groups,” Neilson said. ”We have been successful with the breeding. When we started off with 40 bird a few years ago I was able to just cut it with my staff, but with 60 more being born year after year, I started needing a lot more bodies to make it happen.”

To secure the volume of sagebrush he needed, he approached the Town of Drumheller which helped them identify the area along Highway 10 to harvest.

Mayor Heather Colberg said they are happy to partner with the Calgary Zoo on this kind of project.

Kneehill marks 75 years

Kneehill County Logo

Kneehill County is marking a milestone this year, celebrating 75 years as a Municipal District.

Kneehill County was formed in 1944 when the district of Stauffer #309, Norquay #279, Ghost Pine #308 and Carbon #279 were dissolved to create the Municipal District of Kneehill #278. The first meeting of the newly formed Municipal District was on March 7, 1944.

The community has a lot to celebrate after 75 years. For Reeve Jerry Wittstock, what makes Kneehill County special is the people.

“It’s the entrepreneurial people that live in the county. Most people don’t rely on the government, they go out and make things happen and that’s what it takes—risk takers and people who look to the future and say this is where I want to be,” he said. “we don’t just sit back and wait for things to happen, we make things happen.”

Communications officer Christine Anderson says they have a number of things planned to make the celebration special. Already there is a historical display at the county office with history books and memorabilia.

One activity which is going on right now is a photo contest which is open to residents of the county and towns and villages therein. It closes at the end of July.

She says the winners of the contest will be announced at the County’s 75th Anniversary celebrations on September 13 at the Three Hills curling rink from 11 a.m. -2 p.m.

“We are going to have beef on a bun, historic displays, present the photo contest winner and more,” said Anderson.

The County is also undertaking an extensive branding project coming up with a new logo for its signage as a lasting legacy.

Anderson explains that council has selected four logos they will be putting out for public consultation. In the next week, there will be an online survey where Kneehill County residents will be able to vote on the logo of their choosing.

“Residents will have until the end of August to vote on that and we hope to unveil the new logo at the anniversary celebrations as well,” said Anderson. “Basically we will be refreshing the whole organization.”

She says Kneehill is a special place.

“There is a lot of community here, which is amazing, and the rural quality of life that we celebrate here, I think that makes Kneehill special, it’s a beautiful place,” she said.

Wittstock praises the County’s resilience.

“Kneehill County has done very well over the years. There are challenges for every municipality in Alberta and we’re experiencing some challenges too and it’s how you address those challenges and how to go forward. We always look to the future and we see the future as being bright.”

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