Six MD of Foothills councillors intend to run for re-election next month.
Ted Mills, Division 7 councillor, announced his retirement from the council table this summer, but the remaining six councillors are all seeking another term.
Larry Spilak, current mayor and Division 6 representative, is running for his fourth term. He said over the past decade he’s accomplished most of what he set out to do when he first ran for council, but there is still a lot of work ahead.
“The responsibilities increased when I became reeve and mayor, but the challenges are far from done,” said Spilak.
There are a few projects he’s taken pride in over the years, including the construction of the Scott Seaman arena at Heritage Heights, the fire hall at Heritage Pointe and traffic lights at Dunbow Road and Highway 2A. He said he’s also been pleased to see more sports fields throughout Division 6 and dealing with unsightly premises.
He said the biggest challenge for the MD in the near future will be negotiating the policies and direction of the Calgary growth management board planned by Alberta’s NDP government. It stands to affect the municipality for years to come, so it needs to be handled carefully, he said.
“We’re in negotiations at this time with the rest of the partners and the Alberta government to try and set the policies in place, policies that will dictate how our municipality does business for the next longer term,” said Spilak. “I believe this will take an experienced hand to negotiate, and that is my main challenge going forward.”
The MD is facing a lot of growth pressure, and Spilak said he’d like to be part of the decision-making process when it comes to potential large-scale developments on the horizon for the municipality. It’s important future developments are done responsibly and they don’t impede existing residents, he said.
He’d also like to see more done with the industrial corridor along Highway 2A near Aldersyde, he said.
“I don’t believe we’ve accomplished as much as we can with the industrial corridor,” said Spilak. “We still need to get some services out in that area to attract more bigger clientele. Of course that increases your industrial tax base and consequently may lower residential taxes.”
Coun. Suzanne Oel, representative for Division 4, is seeking her third term in October. She said she’s come to love the job over the past seven years, and enjoyed getting to know the people in the MD and working together to find solutions to the challenges the MD faces.
She said she’d like the opportunity to continue to work for the community on the many projects she’s undertaken in her two terms as councillor, and new initiatives that may arise in the coming years.
“I’d like to continue to fight for the rural perspective to be heard in all levels of government,” said Oel. “I find that’s something that’s a real challenge and really missing.”
She said she’s also like to continue helping make wise planning decisions, being mindful of the affects of development on the landscape and residents.
There are regional initiatives she would like to see through, like working with the growth management board and trying to build relationships with surrounding municipalities to find solutions for issues like water and wastewater.
“I would like to keep building regional relationships and solutions and spend those tax dollars efficiently, but also represent the interests of Foothills residents,” said Oel.
She’d also like to continue to fight for better access to Internet for the Foothills through fibre optics and developing more recreation opportunities in the MD’s northwest.
“There’s just so much, so much going on and so much coming up,” said Oel.
