The Oct. 21 municipal elections marked the end of a spate of elections that began in July with Athabasca County’s summer villages. Over the coming weeks, the Advocate will take a look at what the mayors of villages surrounding Baptiste, Island and Skeleton Lakes are planning for the next four years.
Mark Lindskoog has entered his third term as mayor of the Summer Village of Sunset Beach, and he, along with the three other mayors of villages surrounding Baptiste Lake, believes educating residents about how to maintain the lake’s water quality is a top priority — even if that means shattering the notion of “grandfathered” properties.
“My short answer is: you can’t grandfather a trespass. A trespass is a trespass and will always be a trespass,” said Lindskoog of what he tells residents who believe they can flaunt current bylaws because a property has been in the family for years. “I know what your folks or your grandparents did, because it’s the same thing we all did in the ‘50s: you cleared the trees right down to the water, you put in a lawn and fertilized it and took out all the natural growth in the water and outside the water in the riparian area and became, probably, the cause of at least some of the blue-green algae that we see from time to time in Alberta lakes.”
A blue-green algae advisory that was put in place in August for Baptiste Lake was lifted Oct. 3.
Steve Hamilton, acclaimed in July as mayor of the Summer Village of South Baptiste, agrees the health of the lake is foremost amongst all the summer village councils. However, he cautioned, “Some of the algae issues are natural, so we can’t and we probably don’t want to do a lot about them.”
In 2008, Dennis Irving, mayor of the Summer Village of Whispering Hills, spearheaded the installation of a device in his village’s part of the lake that oscillates the water and is meant to prevent algal blooms. Irving, who was acclaimed as mayor again in July, is prioritizing a watershed stewardship group as the next step in ensuring water quality.
The new Baptiste Island Lakes Stewardship Group is also a priority for Keith Wilson, who was elected to a third term as mayor of the Summer Village of West Baptiste in July. Wilson said the goal is to make a watershed management plan for the two lakes and get it implemented by the end of the four-year term, though a firm timeline is difficult to pinpoint this early on.
“That’s the reason why everybody comes here, right?” said Hamilton of the lake and its quality, adding that steps as simple as cutting the grass a little longer and not fertilizing will help “just to keep the filter system that nature provides healthy and in place.”
When asked if villages will crack down on property bylaw infractions in the next four years, Hamilton said better education is the focus, and that enforcement is “not a place that we really want to go yet.”
Consensus amongst the village mayors is no coincidence: all the summer villages meet twice a year, along with representatives from Athabasca County, to discuss issues they have in common.
One of the key challenges, said Wilson, is maintaining that healthy relationship amongst the villages and the county. He said in the past, there have been some negative sentiments about the summer villages pulling their weight in terms of town-based resources.
However, he said, “We are contributing to doctor recruitments, and we’ve always contributed to Family and Community (Support) Services … and we’re contributing to the library and multiplex and stuff like that.”
The county and the villages are collaborating on a new fire hall to be located between Baptiste Lake and Island Lake, north of nine-mile corner.
Hamilton said the new fire hall, though still in its infancy stages, would be within 13 kilometres of many summer village properties and would reduce insurance rates for those homes.
“It would give everybody better protection,” he said.
A volunteer fire department at Baptiste Lake will continue to function.
As for challenges facing the villages individually, Hamilton said South Baptiste has already overcome one divisive issue: the approval of a new, privately owned campground.
Paving the section of road between South Baptiste and West Baptiste is a priority for Wilson.
Lindskoog said while he receives the odd complaint, constituents are happy with his less-is-more approach to bylaws and major new projects. The biggest challenge, he said, is preventing people from interfering with public reserves with their own boathouses or lawns.
Irving said issues with dirt bikes, quads and dogs always arise during the summer, but typically die off by the autumn.
He is also looking forward to a new, 35-lot development in Whispering Hills being completed.
Aside from that, “It’s just sort of business as usual,” said Irving. “And I think that goes for most of the villages.”
Summer Village of Sunset Beach
130 properties
Mayor: Mark Lindskoog
Deputy Mayor: Morris Nesdoled
Councillor: Gordon Shopland
Summer Village of South Baptiste
89 properties
Mayor: Steve Hamilton
Deputy Mayor: Mike Isaac
Councillor: Brad Padlewski
Summer Village of Whispering Hills
214 properties
Mayor: Dennis Irving
Deputy Mayor: Mark Hair
Councillor: Dan Galloway
Summer Village of West Baptiste
110 properties
Mayor: Keith Wilson
Deputy Mayor: Ed Tomaszyk
Councillor: Amelia Hursin
