Undeniably, the biggest headline maker of 2012 has been the Westlock Rotary Spirit Centre.
After several years of planning and construction, the facility opened with much fanfare on June 16, 2012, with activities attracting users of all ages from the town and the surrounding area — including a gala dinner
Since then, we have seen first hand what the facility can offer on a day-to-day basis.
Hockey players and families undeniably see this as a big step up over the Jubilee Arena, the walking track is keeping many people active throughout the cold winter months and the fieldhouse has seen its fair share of use with badminton and pickleball.
We have also seen what a draw the Spirit Centre can be for special events. Several volleyball tournaments have been held, and hundreds of people took in the inaugural Festival of Christmas Wonder.
The facility, however, has not come cheaply. With an initial building contract of $13 million, which apparently didn’t include site-servicing costs, the total cost of building the Spirit Centre is now close to $20 million.
Further financial details are expected in the New Year.
After breaking ground on a 68-unit expansion to the Pembina Lodge last, the Westlock Foundation is reporting that Phase 1 of the new expansion is half full, and it is expected to be completely full within a few months.
The completed building, which was built quickly as a modular building — the suites were built off site then stacked into place — has greatly changed the look of the Westlock skyline, being the only four-storey structure aside from the water tower and grain elevators.
More importantly, it has helped to put a dent into what was a three-digit waiting list for seniors’ accommodation in Westlock, which was a cause for concern with the aging population in the area.
Phase 2 and 3 of the project, which include upgrades to the kitchen facility and a second expansion of suites respectively, are currently planned but not timeline has yet been set.
Like other major building projects in the Westlock area, the lodge expansion fell behind schedule and ended up going over budget, although it’s not yet been made public exactly how much the expansion cost.
Foundation chair David Truckey said he the final figures to be approved early in the New Year and presented to the councils of the foundation’s member municipalities.
A two-year fraud investigation into a previously unnamed employee of the Pembina Hills school division has resulted in charges being laid against a former superintendent this year.
Richard Harvey, who left his post without explanation in October 2010, was charged this fall with fraud over $5,000 and breach of trust for allegedly submitting excessive expense claims between Jan. 1, 2006 and Dec. 31, 2010.
The revelation that the 61-year-old Harvey, who now resides in Newfoundland, had been charged came after Barrhead RCMP announced the “K” Division Commercial Crimes Unit has finished their investigation.
Harvey is scheduled to appear in Barrhead Provincial Court on Jan. 8.
Meanwhile, a request for information relating to the reason for Harvey’s departure, filed by the Westlock News in January 2011, continues to work its way through an appeal process. The school division initially provided a fee estimate of several thousand dollars. An adjudicator is expected to rule on a fee-waiver request in January 2013.
The story of the tragic 2010 death of a beloved Dapp School teacher has taken on a bizarre twist.
Peter Beckett was arrested for murder in August 2011 for the August 2010 death of his wife Laura Letts Beckett, who drowned while the couple was vacationing in the B.C. interior.
He has been in prison since his initial arrest and there was little new to report on the story until Dec. 10, when B.C. RCMP announced he had been re-arrested while in custody and charged with counselling to commit murder and obstruction of justice.
The intended victims are said to be people the Crown prosecutors were relying on to provide evidence to prove the murder charge, including an RCMP investigator and a lawyer. Some of the intended victims live in the Westlock area.
The arrest was the culmination of a four-month investigation called Project E-PEDLAR. The allegation is that Beckett counseled “Agent A” to commit the murders, which seems to indicate a police or corrections agent was working undercover in the prison system.
A spokesperson for the B.C. Justice Ministry’s Criminal Justice Branch said as the matter is now before the courts, he could not comment on the exact nature of the investigation.
One way or another, the provincial election held April 23 was bound to change the face of both provincial and municipal politics in the area.
With long-time Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock MLA Ken Kowalski’s announced retirement, the field was wide open for his successor as the Progressive Conservative candidate.
Five people put their names forward, including Westlock Coun. David Truckey and Westlock County councillors Maureen Kubinec and Bert Seatter.
When all was said and done after the nomination vote, Kubinec emerged victorious — but it wasn’t an easy path from there to the Legislature.
Right-wing voters in Alberta showed an apparent discontent with the ruling party, and many jumped ship to the upstart Wildrose candidates.
In Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock, Kubinec came out ahead of Wildrose candidate Link Byfield, but it was nonetheless a close race. Kubinec took 7,447 votes compared to Byfield’s 7,106.
Kubinec’s victory left an empty seat at the Westlock County council table, which was filled by Jim Wiese after a byelection that saw three candidates vying for the seat: Wiese, Cal Busby and Herb Smerychynski.
Wiese won the byelection with 134 votes, followed by Smerychynski with 40 votes and Busby with 23.
The Village of Clyde was in the headlines this year for several reasons, beginning with a petition to Alberta Municipal Affairs to conduct a dissolution study for the village.
Village resident Ann Wegernoski started the petition, which was ultimately verified as being valid and complete. As such, municipal affairs was obliged to conduct a study into the feasibility of having the village dissolve and become a hamlet within Westlock County.
Mayor Wayne Wilcox cautioned that if dissolution was to take place, the village could lose part of its sense of identity — more would be lost than gained, he said.
Then the council itself got a shakeup with two councillors resigning — Diana Vosseler and Bob Gault. Vosseler said she was moving out of the village, and Gault said that was his plan for the future as well; he resigned so the village would only have to run a single byelection for the two seats.
Only two residents put their names forward. Nat Dvernichuk and Neil Olson won by acclamation.
More recently, the village has reversed a prior decision and has now begun contributing money to the regional library system. The new council passed a motion to join the Yellowhead Regional Library, once again giving village residents full access to the provincial library system.
The local public school division began the year with a tragedy after the sudden death of board chair Doug Fleming on Jan. 16.
Fleming had spent decades with the division, and was remembered fondly by other board members, division staff and teachers in the community.
He had held many education-related positions throughout his 40-year career, including teacher, principal, associate superintendent, trustee and board chair.
Terry Anderson, who was then principal at Westlock Elementary School, described Fleming as irreplaceable.
“He totally dedicated his life to helping others and being of service to his community,” he said.
Nonetheless, the seat had to be filled, with town residents David Truckey and Doug Pearson vying for the role.
After a heated campaign, Truckey emerged victorious in a March 26 byelection by a slim margin of 118-102.
Meanwhile, trustee Sharon Volorney was elected as the new board chair, a position she still holds.
Peat has been a hot topic in Westlock County this year for two reasons.
The first is that a Danish-Canadian company, Steeper Energy, is considering building a demonstration facility near the Dapp Power Plant that would convert biomass — such as peat and wood chips — into a form of synthetic crude using a process similar to what the Germans used during the Second World War.
While the company is still working out the economics of that proposal, however, Westlock County council has proposed a ban on burning peat in the county at the behest of Regional Fire Chief John Biro. That proposal has met with strong opposition from farmers in the county. A July 18 meeting at Linaria Hall saw the formation of the Westlock Right to Farm and Improve Land Association, a group dedicated to preventing such a ban from being implemented.
It is a debate that has pitted a landowner’s right to improve his or her own land by plowing and burning peat against the public safety concerns caused by thick peat smoke on county roadways.
Council passed a bylaw change at the June 26 council meeting following an in-camera discussion about the proposed ban — a discussion reeve Charles Navratil later conceded should have taken place in public.
Although council has discussed possible changes to the ban, it remains in effect.
Progress continues with getting county residents hooked up to the regional water system.
The Westlock Regional Water Services Commission has struggled with delays and cost overruns on the three-phase project, which had an initial estimated cost of about $45 million.
The commission’s member municipalities — Westlock, Westlock County and Clyde — approved a new business plan and rate schedule at council meetings in the latter part of April.
Councils heard that Phase 1 of the project, which includes a new raw water storage reservoir, upgrades to the water treatment plant and a line to Clyde, went $2.6 million over budget and continues to face delays.
Meanwhile Phase 2, the line through Pickardville to Busby, is also nearing completion. Board chair Clem Fagnan said he expects both phases 1 and 2 to be complete by early spring.
Phase 3, a line north to Fawcett, is still in the planning stages with the commission applying for funding. There is no timeline as yet on when that project will be complete.
The four municipalities of Westlock, Westlock County, Barrhead and the County of Barrhead got some big news in 2011 when the province announced our four communities would jointly host the 2013 Alberta 55 Plus Summer Games.
Dozens of volunteers have been working to make all the necessary preparations with hundreds of athletes set to descend on our communities from July 25-28 this year.
And although it has been a bit of a bumpy process — some director positions have been difficult to fill and one even remains vacant — organizers are confident the two communities will step up to the plate to host a first-class event.
The whole organization has achieved many notable milestones this year — specifically, a games office has been opened in downtown Westlock and two paid staff members have been hired to oversee operations.
While many of the heavy-lifting volunteer positions have already been filled, hundreds of volunteers will be needed to oversee the different events during the Games.
Volunteers can register online at www.bw55plussummergames.com.
