Foothills County’s reeve is looking forward to a second year at the head of the table.
Suzanne Oel was voted in for a second year as reeve of the County during council’s organizational meeting Oct. 21. Coun. Rob Siewert also retained his position as deputy reeve.
“I want to thank council for the opportunity to serve as reeve,” said Oel.
Her first year in the chair position was unprecedented as the County took on additional challenges with the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in changing to an online streaming format for meetings and public hearings, as well as modifying ways of working with residents with the office closed for months and physical distancing guidelines in place.
County council and staff worked together to navigate health, operational, and economical challenges that also extended beyond the pandemic, she said.
Reflecting on the past year, a theme arose for Oel – “new.”
“The team effort required a new level of adapting to circumstances and being resourceful, a new way to manage our organization yet keep work and services flowing, a new level of consideration and being responsive to hardship, and a new chapter in our emergency management plan on responding to a pandemic to add to flood, fire and other events,” said Oel.
Successes and lessons learned from the past 12 months will help guide the County as it moves forward, she said.
There are many opportunities ahead, including partnering with the community and surrounding municipalities to ensure Foothills comes out the other side of COVID strong, she said.
This will include streamlining services and processes to reduce red tape and help attract services and business to the industrial corridor, tackling rural crime, and managing service levels during a time of reduced income and economic uncertainty.
In addition there will be work to solve planning, service, and infrastructure issues with neighbouring municipalities like Okotoks, High River and Calgary, she said.
“That’s hopefully creating that new opportunity as a partner in our community in recovery,” said Oel.
