Winter 2015 Newsletter

[Mark Miller]

On behalf of the Summer Village council and administration, I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and enjoyable holiday season!

We have had a busy, interesting, and sometimes challenging year in 2015.

Starting with the busy part, this summer we saw some great facelifts around our village. Ted MacDonald park was completely revitalized with being cultivated, leveled, and seeded with grass. No more dips and holes through the park, so get out there and use it! We also have all new fences installed at our greenbelts and around Ted MacDonald park. Thanks to Todd L’Hirondelle (our village manager for the summer) and Roy Greanya for working through this huge project last summer.

Now for the interesting and challenging bits:

• RV park development south of Nakamun Drive. This is by far the most challenging issue that we had in 2015 and I have to say that I am incredibly impressed with how well our community worked together to let LSA County council know our views against this development. We do not have any significant updates from the last message that I posted to our web site, current status is:
  • LSA County has requested that the developer complete an Environmental Study, Biophysical Assessment, and Traffic Impact Assessment before they make their decision on whether or not to approve the redistricting application (i.e. to redistrict the land from agricultural to recreational).
  • As Nakamun Park council we have engaged a law firm which specializes in municipal law to assist us with stopping this development
• We have signed a new agreement for fire services to be provided through North West Fire Rescue based out of Onoway, effective Jan 1, 2016. The summer villages and towns in Lac Ste Anne County have transitioned from having the county provide fire services to this new provider based on changes that the county has planned for how they provide fire protection services (specifically with moving firehalls). North West Fire will be coming out to our village in the spring to meet with residents and introduce themselves; they are very community-oriented and have been supportive in the communities that they provide service to.
• Our Community Peace Officer (CPO) services have also gone through change with us contracting CPO services from a new provider. Thanks to our peace officer, Dwight Dawn, for joining us at our annual summer meeting to meet the village residents.
• We are working with the other towns and summer villages in LSA County to develop a new regional framework for Emergency Services. This will provide a consistent protocol for engaging emergency services (i.e. beyond basic services that are normally handled by the fire department or ambulance). The Alberta government is promoting the development of an emergency services plan for all communities, we are taking our part in it.

Thanks to our 50th Anniversary Planning Committee for organizing activities for our anniversary celebration which will be held on July 23, 2016. The committee started meeting right after our annual village meeting last summer and has been very busy with planning and preparations. For more information on this event click here and be sure to mark this one down on your calendars!

Finally, welcome to all of the newcomers to our village. We have a great community and I encourage you to get out and meet your neighbours.

Happy holidays and best wishes for 2016!

Mark Miller,
Mayor, SV Nakamun Park

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