Jourdan… This is Talk of the Town with Brooks Mayor John Petrie. The weekend was busy with the
open house at the Fire Hall and the Time Capsule being opened. Let’s start with the time capsule.
What interesting items came out of that?
John: First of all, it was nice to have former Mayor Bob Breakell and former Councilors Glen Lyster and
Diane Murray on hand, as they were part of the council which put it together. There were some papers
from 25 years ago, and it was interesting to see the articles. I found out, that they were having the same
issues back then, as we are having now, and that is housing, staffing, recreational facilities and
community safety.
It was fun to look at the old papers and compare prices. There was a Chamber Directory of all
the businesses…some good pictures from the past, some Philpot honey,
Jourdan: What happens now with the items?
John: We’ll put them back in the time capsule and tighten it up again, and the consensus from
council is, to do one again to be opened up in 25 years. So we’ll work on getting some items together
over the next few months, and we’ll get the public’s input.
Jourdan: A good turn out for the Fire Department Open House.
John: And some nice awards handed out to staff and Volunteer fire fighters for length of
service. I said this on Saturday and we’ll reiterate it again. Our volunteer fire fighters are truly unsung
heros. Most of us don’t think of them, but we certainly do when it comes to an emergency or fire. We
our fortunate we good equipment, excellent staff and the volunteers who come forward to make the
community and region safe.
Jourdan: Council had their organizational meeting this week.
John: We have to do this annually. This gives councilors a chance to change committees to
learn about different portfolios. We there were some changes. Councilor Goodnough will remain as
deputy mayor and Councilor Idriss will stay as Acting Mayor.
Jourdan: Joint Services met last week and one initiative was to get the camping back in
operating at the Boy Scout campsite at Lake Newell, and you have some good news.
John: The County of Newell, City of Brooks and Joint Services, all work to the Minister of Parks
and Forestry, Todd Lowen. He says his department is working with the EID to get the group campsite
operational again.
Jourdan: Joint Services also heard from the EID.
John: We had a chance to get an update on the reservoirs, which ended up pretty low at the
end of the season. They said the monitor the snow pack to get an idea on river flows, but the snowpack
disappeared early and the spring rains didn’t come. They shut off the water early and are filling them up
again, and need some rain, and a nice warm fall before the rivers freeze up.
Jourdan: Economic development is always a big part of Joint Services.
John: The Apex Regional Innovation Network met in Brooks at the end of September. This is
made up by members of APEX, Medicine Hat College, Community Futures, Alberta Innovates, DRD
Canada, and the Brooks Newell Region. They toured the Crop Diversifcation Centre and the goal was to
bring awareness to the facility.
Jourdan: And an exciting opportunity from Galaxy Ag Ventures
John: They have been doing test trails growing various crops at the CDC Centre for the last
three years. The plan would be to meet with farmers in the region to develop contracts up to 1,000
acres of specialty crops in the up coming year, with future plans for 3,000 acres. This would lead to
more ag value and to possibly develop ag manufacturing and processing facilities in the area.
Jourdan: You wanted to remind residents of yard waste collection dates.
John: Next week is the final week for yard waste collection, but if you have e more yard waste
than your bin can handle. No problem, the Fall Yard Waste Clean Up, will be from November 1st to 3 rd .
You can put your leaves and yard waste in a bag in the front of your place and the city will pick it up.
Jourdan: And a reminder too, the new JBS Park officially opens next Monday.
John: If you haven’t had a chance to take a look at it, it’s McKay Park and its officially opened
on Monday, October 23 rd . We’ll have more on that next week.
Jourdan: Thank you, this has been Talk of the Town with Brooks Mayor John Petrie.