Looking back at 2021

BARRHEAD-The future looks bright for the Town of Barrhead, mayor Dave McKenzie told the Barrhead Leader shortly before the Christmas holidays.

And one of the reasons why he is so optimistic is because of the hard work council, town staff and residents have done over the past year.

One of the highlights for McKenzie was the town's Main Street revitalization project which saw the repaving of the street along with the replacement of much of the street's sidewalks and shrubbery.

"Our Main Street was overdue for sprucing up and the project will pay dividends for the businesses and residents in our community for years to come," he said.

He added that Barrhead's Main Street is one of the features that attract people to the community, and the physical condition of the street and sidewalk was becoming an issue.

McKenzie noted that the council did debate whether or not they should put the resources into refurbishing Main Street or another street project.

"The funding came from a (provincial government COVID grant), and we thought Main Street was a better fit," he said. 

The grant McKenzie is referring to is from the Municipal Stimulus Program (MSP). 

In the summer of 2020, Premier Jason Kenney announced a total of $1.1 billion in funding would be going to municipalities and Métis settlements to help them with infrastructure projects that were delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, as well as help these governments with their operating costs in the midst of the crisis.

The municipality's allotment is $544,302, the majority going towards the Main Street revitalization project.

"The project also gave us a chance to investigate and decide on what type of trees would be the best fit," he said.

McKenzie added one of the reasons why many areas of the street's sidewalks were in such a bad state of repair is that the last time it was refurbished, they chose the tree species poorly.

"A lot of the problems we had with the sidewalks was because of growth of tree roots pushing up the pavement on the sidewalks," he said.

McKenzie said the revitalization of the street also allowed council to discuss allowing outdoor patios downtown as part of a way to help businesses deal with the impact of COVID public health restrictions.

In June, council passed a policy that would allow restaurants, pubs and other eateries to install temporary outdoor patios.

"We (town staff) were planning how we would incorporate walkarounds (the patios)," he said. 

However, the eateries who were considering an outdoor patio opted to put out small tables and chairs outside their businesses.

"A lot of people, especially during lunchtime opted to use the benches or the picnic tables at the gazebo, Memorial Park and to a lesser extent Yuil Park," he said. "But I am hopeful that restaurants in the future will consider taking advantage of the policy because it would enhance our downtown and be another attraction to bring people into the community."

Another highlight for McKenzie was the creation of the Local Economic Recovery Grant Program.

The program, which is in partnership with Community Futures Yellowhead East (CYFE), allows local businesses and not-for-profit organizations and societies to apply for a one time grant of up to $3,000 to support the "current needs and recovery efforts" that have been adversely impacted by COVID-19. Applicants must match the amount they receive dollar-for-dollar. 

McKenzie also talked about work the municipality has done as part of its rebranding project. He noted that officially the project started in 2019, they are finally seeing it come to fruition through the creation of the Better In Barrhead website.

He added that through the website and the use of social media sites as well as Google, the town is targeting people who are from the greater Edmonton area that are looking for activities and new experiences.

"For the longest time, a lot of our residents have believed our proximity to the city is a detriment when really it is an advantage," McKenzie said. "We are close enough that people from the city can come to our community for a day, weekend, or if they are looking to relocate."

He explained that the Better In Barrhead website is specifically designed to make use of social media sites, Google and Facebook to target people from the greater Edmonton area through analytics, targeted and timed electronic ads that bring up the new website in their searches.

McKenzie added that they used the tactic specifically during the Blue Heron Fair Days and Alberta Farm Days weekend with great success.

He also noted that the parks and recreation department have also added or improved many of the town's parks pointing to the bat and bee houses at Charles Yuill Park, the newly repaired boardwalk, which replaces the raised bridge platform with a paved path that brings people closer to nature and a "Zen garden" at Reflection Park. 

Opting out of the Restriction Exemption Program (REP)

For the most part, except for Blue Heron Bowl and the Barrhead Curling Club, the majority of the town's recreation facilities including the aquatics centre and the Agrena (minus the Barrhead Bombers) has elected not to opt into the REP program.

The result is that they must conform to the one-third capacity limitation and patrons are prohibited from consuming drinks or food on site.

"Council had a long discussion and we felt this is the best way to serve our residents," McKenzie said, adding for the most part residents have been very understanding. "We have been working with the health inspector to make sure we are interpreting the public health restrictions correctly. I haven't heard of any issues with our staff having to deal with belligerent or abusive people, if they have they have been minor."

Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com