Mayor's Musings for September/October 2024—By Steve Fairbairn, Mayor for the District of Elkford

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Mayor's Musings for September/October 2024

by Steve Fairbairn, Mayor for the District of Elkford

 

Hello again, Elkford…I’m baaack! We’ve been busy at the District of Elkford, and my monthly musings have been shelved for the last couple of months. No longer! I rise from the unprinted and unwashed purgatory of the mental musings and into the world of electrons once again!

The Tides are Changing: Farewell and Thank You to Former CAO, Tyler Madsen

Our former Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Tyler Madsen, has departed the Good Ship Elkford to embark on a new adventure and endeavour! On behalf of council, our entire staff team and the community, I thank him for successfully steering Elkford’s ship during the near five years he was at the helm. Join me in wishing him and his family all the best as they navigate their exciting new chapter!

Since Tyler’s departure, council has appointed Terry Melcer as Interim CAO to lead the organization. Terry has worked with us once before as Interim CAO, as well as on many special projects. We welcome her back with gratitude and excitement! She knows local government, she knows the region, and she knows Elkford! With a long history in the Elk Valley, she is a respected pillar of the local government community. Council is working very closely with Terry to recruit a new permanent CAO who will continue the lead the organization and community down the very successful path of growth, development and sustainability that we have been on for quite a while now. Although it may take some time, we will happily be sharing the details once the position is filled!

Your Council is Proud to Represent You!

From September 15 to the 20, members of council attended the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) annual convention in Vancouver to advocate for Elkford at the provincial level. Advocacy topics included healthcare, funding for asset management and infrastructure investment, and Highway 3 repairs and upgrades. Council also had the opportunity to learn about community issues in similar municipalities across the province, upcoming government policies and new legislation, climate action, civic resilience and more! Our voice and advocacy have a role in forming change at the provincial level via UBCM. We represented you, Elkford, and we were proud to do it!

In Other News…

Highway 3 Animal Infrastructure

Speaking of Highway 3, have you noticed all the construction east toward the Alberta border? There is a lot more animal fencing and animal crossing infrastructure being installed along that stretch of road. Continue to drive defensively and safely— for everyone’s sake and safety.

Exciting Development News – BC Builds Project!

Big news for Elkford: we are excited to share the successful proponent of Elkford’s BC Builds project: New Commons Development and the Elk Valley Family Society. This project will deliver 66 new housing units in Elkford’s downtown area with commercial spaces on the ground floor. Wondering where exactly? It’s in Elkford’s Downtown Core (across from the Seniors’ housing facility). Exciting for Elkford! Watch for more details as they become available.

Wildlife and Garbage – Do your Part!

With fall underway, we remind you that it is peak season for wildlife encounters in British Columbia.  Commercial and residential garbage and wildlife issues continue to be hot topics with lots of discussion at the council table. We are currently discussing mitigation measures at a strategic and budgetary level, and as we work to review some options, we implore you to act responsibly and do your part to protect our local wildlife and reduce attractants: dispose of trash properly and store it securely (indoors or in a wildlife-resistant enclosure), remove bird feeders while bears are awake (birds can find plenty of food on their own during the warmer months and feeders attract unwanted guests like bears, rats and mice to your yard), always use a wildlife-resistant garbage bin and regularly harvest all fruit and berries from your trees. 

Random Tidbits

As always, there’s lots going on: local road sealcoating is underway, bylaw enforcement is focused on encroachments and unsightly properties and the annual tax sale is forthcoming (and no, my house is not up for sale).

Falling into Autumn – Bylaw Reminders

As summer wanes into autumn, watch for the annual bylaw reminders about winter parking (no on-street parking from November 1 to March 31) and bleeder valves (turn on your bleeder valves from October 31 to May 1).

Help me out—if you know anyone new to town, please educate them about bleeder valving before any of them discovers the joys of frozen waterlines on Christmas Eve (ask me how I know this)!

Until next time – happy fall, everyone!

Mayor Steve.

Mayor's Musings for Summer 2024

by Steve Fairbairn, Mayor for the District of Elkford

 

A surprising number of people have approached me and expressed concern over the loss of the Mayor’s Musings. Rest assured, Elkfordians—I was only taking a one-month break and am back at it again!

In this month’s Musings, we’ll cover topics such as public art, purpose-built rentals, sewer lagoons and updates about some exciting things you may have heard rumours about.

As you know, Teck Resources Ltd. received regulatory approval for the sale of its steelmaking coal business to Glencore. The transaction closed in early July. New swag is coming, and the old swag is now a collector’s item. I’m keeping a positive mind about this big change, including how it relates to employment stability and new economic development opportunities. Think big—perhaps more hotel builders and home builders in our future?

 

Reflecting on June

What a great month June was, with another amazing Wildcat Days and Canada Day community celebration. Remember the perfect weather on Saturday? Was it our largest parade yet? Lots of ideas “floating” (pun intended) around that will help us continue to make our biggest event of the year even better!

This year, we were very excited that Nasukin Heidi Gravelle and members of Yaq̓it ʔa·knuqⱡi ‘it (YQT) council joined us to open the Wildcat Days Parade with opening remarks, a prayer and the creation story. We enjoyed walking with Nasukin Heidi Gravelle and members of YQT’s council along the parade route and look forward to welcoming them back to future community events.

Sadly, the Chevelles announced their retirement for the end of 2024; and I can’t help but wonder who will perform for us next year? Maybe The Hard Truth will rise again? Lots of events for the young’uns too: bike park pump track competitions, foamy wet water slides, a petting zoo and how many bouncy thingys?! So many!

 

Addressing Rumours

Yes, it’s true: as reflected in the June 27 edition of the Fernie Free Press, the District of Elkford is ‘disposing of’ property.

The property referenced here comprises two lots, one of which is for a three-year lease to Ka∙kin to build a temporary workers’ camp. This is on the lot behind (and a bit south) of the Hi Rock Inn. To be clear, it is a lease. The District is maintaining ownership of the land and the temporary camp will not be a long-term fixture.

Why is this happening? Local businesses need places for their employees to live while working in town, so it’s needed. Ka∙kin needs a place to house the construction workers who will be building purpose-built rental accommodations on the lot that was purchased by Ka∙kin along Highway 43. Maybe this development will lead to the closure of one or more legal (and illegal) hot-bed houses in town? Maybe it will also free up a few existing single-family homes in Elkford for young families coming to town?

In other land development news, the lots at the bottom of Balmer Drive (a.k.a. Cop Hill)—on the south side—are being marketed by the District for light industrial/commercial development.

Wondering about the status of the Teck work camp? Zoning-wise, the property is now zoned light industrial/commercial and has received a site-specific variance allowing the camp to operate on it. During the process, Teck stated that the company has no plans to operate the camp past 2029; and as a result, the District signed an agreement with Teck which will give the District the opportunity to purchase the camp property in 2029.

 

Updates on Other Odds and Ends

I spent some time in Calgary on District business recently, and one of the things I picked up on was the idea of public art being functional. Functional like, say, a clock tower where on the hour a figure comes out of the clock face and then gets chased by a mob that comes out after it. Mimicking the people of Elkford chasing the mayor around the clock. Maybe a flowing, no-right angles gathering place, picnic area…perhaps in the Riverview Park (Green Bucket) Park?

BTW, that was humour… not to be taken seriously. A tall clock tower—à la Eiffel Tower—has a nice ring to it, though, doesn’t it? 😊

On a different note, the sewage lagoon repairs and upgrades have been in place and bubbling since late spring. So far, the improvements seem to be accomplishing the desired task. More work is needed towards the maintenance in the lagoons, and those tasks are already scheduled and engineered—or underway, you might say.

In closing, I attended the grand opening and inaugural ride of the new Shredder Trail (blue flow mountain bike trail) across the Elk River from town. Shredder has 1.8 kilometres of jumps, berms and surprises that should put a smile on the faces of all the intermediate and advanced shredders in the Elk Valley!

It was a lot of fun, and I’ll be riding it again! I think that I have some skill development to work on before I can really “ride it” (little air verses big air) properly. In the meantime, what a great reunion with the laws of gravity and trust in the laws of physics that ride was. A shoutout to the Elkford Trails Alliance for another project in the hat!

 

Yours sincerely,
Mayor Steve

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