The sole incumbent up for re-election in Okotoks says experience counts when it comes to the council table.
Ken Heemeryck has served on Okotoks council for the past eight years.
“I want to use my experience to continue to build Okotoks into an even better community,” said Heemeryck.
Over the last two terms, he said council has achieved some big goals like building the extension to Pason Centennial Arenas with a second full-sized sheet of ice, establishing the on-demand Okotoks Transit service, implementing the Active Transportation Plan, installing a disc golf course in the river valley and constructing the first phase of the Arts and Learning Campus.
But it’s the forward momentum on affordable housing that has satisfied him most. It was one of the top issues he campaigned on in 2017, aside from water.
“One of the larger accomplishments of council is the agreement between the Town, Westwinds Communities and Brenda Stafford Foundation to provide more affordable housing,” said Heemeryck.
He said it was important to address the need for affordable homes in Okotoks, where many people were travelling from other communities to work in town. The Affordable Housing Task Force helped identify and address those issues.
Making pointed changes to the land-use bylaw in 2021 will also help the Town diversify its housing supply, he said.
One was to allow for secondary suites in all houses, as long as they meet building codes. The other was changing how future neighbourhoods will be built out.
“Changing the land-use bylaw to allow for a much different mix of housing, so 50 per cent is non-traditional – row housing or semi-detached – to make it affordable to get into Okotoks,” said Heemeryck. “That wasn’t there before.”
Looking to the future, he said there are a few items he would like to accomplish with a new council if he is re-elected.
Completing the work on the supplemental water pipeline from the Bow River remains top priority, he said.
“We’re on the path of doing that, but it’s not achieved by any means,” said Heemeryck.
He would also like to work on finding more efficiencies and growing the commercial base to keep taxes as low. That includes getting more businesses into Okotoks’ core to draw visitors and residents.
“I would like to work on decreasing red tape for businesses in order for more people to be able to live and work in Okotoks,” said Heemeryck. “And vitalizing downtown – programming more downtown, bringing in more businesses like Hub Town that become destinations.”
He is also keen to investigate possibilities for a new pool because the current one is at full capacity, and working on plans for a performing arts centre.
With those initiatives in mind, he said his experience can come into play at a council table that will have at least five new faces.
Heemeryck said he’d like to collaborate with new members and hear fresh ideas as they work to accomplish common goals like finalizing the water solution.
It will help to have someone at the table who understands how things work from a fundamental level, as far as developing a five-year strategic plan and both the five-year operating and 10-year capital budgets.
“That’s just fundamental work that needs to be done,” said Heemeryck. “You can’t replace experience when it comes to that.
“As far as the experience of working with a new council, it’s trying to help them see the vision that’s been built but at the same time listening to the new voices that are there, that are coming in and with fresh ideas.”
