After a productive 2011, MD of Bonnyville Reeve Ed Rondeau said he and his council are looking forward to the new year and continuing to fulfil their mandate from the MD.
Looking back on 2011, Rondeau said some of the MD's biggest accomplishments were getting road construction in the area underway or completed.
“2011 was a good year. We got lots done, as far as road construction. Weather-wise, it could have been better, but we don't control the weather,” he said.
The Reeve specifically mentioned oiling or re-oiling nearly 22 kilometres of roads in the MD as a big accomplishment, as well as the widening of Highway 55, which is nearing completion.
“We accomplished many of the things we set out to do last year,” said Rondeau. “Another big one for us was getting the province to widen Highway 55. We were very happy about that.”
Rondeau said there were not any outstanding missteps this past year, which he credits to his council's hard work.
He said, looking forward to 2012, that roads and road construction will again be a big portion of the MD's workload.
“I keep repeating the same thing over and over again. It's always roads here. But you've got to remember, we have 2,600 km of roads to take care of in the MD. We finish one year and start the next, the only thing that really changes is where the road work is getting done,” he explained.
Rondeau is also looking forward to continuing to foster a good relationship with the oil and gas companies in the area over the next year.
“We've really began to develop a good relationship with many of these companies,” he said. “We want to keep that going and build on it. If you look at last spring, for instance, the oil companies gravelled 58 miles of road for us, which was a huge service on their part.”
With regards to the roundabout at the intersection of Highway 55 and 892, Rondeau said the province has awarded the contract to E-Construction and work should commence in the spring.
