ELK POINT - At their July 14 meeting, Elk Point Town Council had the opportunity to share a lineup of concerns with MLA Scott Cyr, who is visiting councils across the Bonnyville - Cold Lake - St. Paul constituency to determine their priorities.
“I’ve met most of the priorities you have set in the past and want to know your next priorities,” he told council, after hearing the evening’s first presentation on the Regional Master Trail Plan by Marianne Janke and Linda Sallstrom.
The MLA thanked Mayor Tung for his achievements during the past term, and joked the first delegation had “stolen part of my thunder. Nobody thinks of the northeast in terms of spots and tourism, but Lakeland says a lot about what it offers. I was impressed by the report on the trail, and something else we need is being able to keep fish. I’m working with Minister Loewen on that, he’s got me on an advisory committee. Stocking lakes works, and so would culling some of the cormorants.”
He noted that Kinosoo Ridge and English Bay are big tourist draws in the Cold Lake area, “And I’d like to see a giant statue of an elk down in this area,” he joked.
As priorities for highways and road infrastructure, “Let’s see if we can get it onto the list. I’ve never seen a triangle like (Highway 41 and 29 junction) in my life. When I first heard it would cost $20 million to $30 million, I said we don’t need the Taj Mahal, just a traffic circle.”
Impressed by recent awards for the St. Paul and Elk Point airports, Cyr said, “It sounds like Minister of Transportation is open to revitalizing local airports.” The mayor pointed out that the Elk Point airport is now property of the County, as a way do cut costs for the Town of Elk Point.
Also regarding transportation, Coun. Dwayne Yaremkevich questioned a road worker regarding stakes along Highway 41 north of town and was told it was to be paved. Cyr has not been briefed on that situation, and suggested the town contact his office and they can find out from the Department of Transportation.
“I want to know, too. I’m pushing hard for all the roads in this area.” Frog Lake to 646 “was on my priority list last year. I get to send my priorities to Minister Dreeshen and he has been very responsive.”
Deputy Mayor Jason Boorse thanked Cyr for “The big chunk of change coming our way” for the ice plant at the arena.
“It was nice to bring Minister Fir out to see the arena and meet your board members,” Cyr said. “Our recreation is important to us, I got some money for Glendon Arena too, because of the Winter Games.” He suggested contacting Glendon to offer ice time and accommodation.
Coun. Wanda Cochrane spoke on health care, “We now have a the third doctor but there are still people without a family doctor, I would like to see a Elk Point with a fourth doctor or a nurse practitioner.”
“One of the things I’ve been pursuing is to train the nurse practitioners at Portage College,” Cyr said. “I wonder if we had a nurse practitioner we could share with our First Nations. It would be a great idea.” Cyr said he would like them to be trained in the region, “So maybe, it might be our kids, they would stay in our area.”
The mayor said he would “Put (Cyr) on the hot seat… Three years ago I was in Edmonton with an investor, talking to ATCO. They told us $6 million a year” for the electricity that business would require, due to the lack of high capacity power lines in this area. “In terms of economic development, how are we going to solve this issue?”
ATCO had also hinted about increased power costs for households. Cyr had heard of increases in power costs across the province, and said he felt “something needs to be done in the north and we should be pushing for it.”
The MLA is “very supportive of nuclear, but we are 10 years our of regulating it, it’s still a long way away. We have transmission lines, water and work force… but Canada regulates all that. The best way might be microgeneration, we looked into that a while ago, now they are looking into pairing energy with projects.”
Ways of bringing development and more industry to the area were also discussed. Although the major hemp related project originally aimed for Elk Point was relocated, it will still be located in the Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul constituency.
“We’ve had a lot of successes in the past two years. What is next? I need that list. I want to see Elk Point come back . . . and energy is the barrier. I know it," said Cyr.
