ATHABASCA — Every new job comes with its own challenges and learning curves, but then throw in being chosen to lead, and there can be some major league curve balls coming your way.
Brian Hall and Ashtin Anderson are two of the nine new councillors who swept the municipal elections last year to represent each division within Athabasca County and days later were chosen to be reeve and deputy reeve respectively. Now, a full year later their leadership in these roles was reaffirmed at the organizational meeting Oct. 18.
“Last year there was a tremendous amount of learning,” Hall said in an Oct. 21 interview alongside Anderson, including the Municipal Government Act, the municipal system, the other new councillors around the table, how a board operates, and much more, he said.
“My first goal was to get onto council, being reeve was unexpected,” he said. “It’s a privilege to do this, to represent the county.”
Being chosen by his peers as reeve last year was based on faith as no one really knew each other but he feels getting the nod once again shows trust from his fellow councillors.
“I hope it reflects how the council feels about me,” he said.
Anderson agreed, “It was a very steep learning curve, but a fantastic experience so far. What a privilege to be sitting in the seats we sit in (and) even on the harder days I’m thankful I did it. I was very lucky to have been elected deputy reeve the first time as we were all newcomers and I'm deeply honoured to have been re-elected this year.”
Anderson was acclaimed for her division, running unopposed after longtime councillor and former reeve Doris Splane, retired from the council.
“Community matters,” Anderson said. “I’m doing this so my daughter can grow up and enjoy her life here, we have a great community.”
But Hall and Anderson, as well as the rest of the council, know they have some challenging decisions to make, and many of them won’t be popular. They’ve inherited 203 bridges across the county with the majority needing minor repairs to complete replacement to the tune of $140 million.
“I think the challenges coming forward, are going to be addressing the budget,” said Hall. “It's been a year of extraordinary inflation. There will be some difficult decisions to make ... as we figure out the community's priorities and how do we how do we address those inflationary pressures as well as the other decisions we have.”
He notes even though every councillor was brand new, they all slid into their new challenges and took on committees which played to their strengths.
“Everybody seems to be on a committee that suits them,” said Hall.
They’re careful not to lay the blame on previous councils either.
“This is where we are,” said Anderson. “Let’s move forward from here.”
“It would be unfair to judge past councils,” Hall said. “I hope when people judge us, they take into consideration we did our best with what we had.”
The goals going forward though are to make Athabasca County stronger, to stop subsidizing things which should pay their own way, and do some long-range planning, for example equipment for the various fire departments.
“As it relates to emergency services program, I think it will help us identify what they need so we have the right equipment in the right place,” he said. "And we provide guidance so that we can support them in the best way possible.”
Almost $450,000 has been set aside for emergency services and council is waiting for a report from TSI (Transitional Services Inc.) who specialize in strategic planning and organizational effectiveness.
Hall also has a goal of reducing the county's carbon footprint.
“I think we do need to think about it, and I'll bring that back to the council at the right time but we're getting the same amount of rainfall on an annual basis, but rainfall events occur less frequently so, we get more rain each time. So, does that impact the size of our drainage projects?"
Looking at infrastructure, Hall hopes to access STIP (Strategic Transportation Infrastructure Program) funding which is a two-for-one grant from the Alberta government so, for example, to get the entire amount needed to fix and replace the bridges, the county would have to put in $47 million with $93.3 million coming from the province.
“I think we are definitely looking forward to RMA (Rural Municipalities of Alberta),” said Anderson. "The opportunity to meet with a variety of different government officials to advocate for our community and for our county council's priorities.”
