Greetings! In 2021 Starland County has continued to move forward in recovering from some substantial losses the past couple years. Everyone has tried to remain positive and looking for better and more efficient ways of getting the jobs done. Ensuring the sustainability of our core County operations remains the priority of our Council and many of the actions taken this year have been guided by this priority.
As we have now settled into the new building and were finally able to host a Grand Opening in August it was well attended, and residents were very pleased with the new facility.
All County crews have had a busy productive year, as we were able to bring back some staff that had to be cut the previous couple years. This made it possible to get delayed projects moving ahead once again.
This being the second year we have operated the gravel hauling program done with our own forces, it has proven to be more cost-effective, and we should see even more savings in the future as we have prepared our gravel pit to be mined in spring 2022.
Public works completed a road rebuild on two miles at Range Road 20-3 north of Highway 585 in the Rumsey District, as well as working on regular basic road maintenance, culvert replacements, bridge inspections, roadside mowing and sign replacement. County crews completed a bridge file replacement on Township Road 31-0 east of Highway 9, changing out a 1948 wooden structure to a culvert to keep the road from closing.
Staff will continue to maintain our cemeteries, parks, and improve our campgrounds. Our Municipal Services department is always busy, with all the water infrastructure that needs attention from across the County, upgrades and repairs are always underway. Replacement of a section of the CLV distribution line from Drumheller to CLV truck fill was completed and plans are to move pumps above ground for better access.
Emergency Services is always busy as their services to the public always seem to increase, as COVID has been an issue with joint training the past year and a half, we hope more can get underway in this coming year. We value all our Volunteer Firefighters as they provide such a valuable service to our communities.
Ag Crews will continue their efforts with monitoring weed control and assisting our farmers with many Agriculture issues.
It will be another busy year for all our crews with what is planned and of course for those things that come up during the year.
Our Community Peace Officer has been out and about doing patrols at all locations within the County and working on numerous bylaw issues that continue to arise.
Administration is also always busy with keeping all the paperwork and documents moving ahead, Council with Administration have done lots of revising old policy and bylaws that have not been looked at in years, these are all important to the operations of the County. With completing the new Strategic Plan and Vision Action Plan, this has been a big undertaking for all and should help guide the County into the future.
It was great to see some new development within the County this year, we saw Barney’s Adventure Park open along the river, as well, the County with its Community Futures Partner, moved in and outfitted a concession stand located at the very busy Horse Thief Canyon with the plan to have an entrepreneur operate their own business. The County also undertook an opportunity provided by the province to operate the Tolman East and West campgrounds which proved to be very successful.
It will be another busy year for all our crews with what is planned and of course for those things that come up during the year.
Thank you for your support and patience this past year and we look forward to a greater 2022 in Starland County.
We wish everyone a Healthy and Happy Prosperous New Year.
To conclude I want to thank my fellow Councillors, all the staff, and all the people and businesses of Starland County.