Jourdan: This is Talk of Town with Brooks Mayor John Petrie. Council heard from Pace Solar
and they addressed some concerns.
John: First of all, to clarify again. This is not a City of Brooks project, nor is it on City owned
land. But the area where it is proposed is on private land that is within the city of Brooks limits, and that
is why we have some say. Now, this has not officially been approved by the Alberta Utilities Commission
or by Brooks City Council. In open houses and discussions with council, there were concerns about a
number of issues. One is the aesthetics. They did say they would plant trees around the solar project,
along with building a trail system between the residential homes and the solar farm. There were also
concerns about reclamation down the road. They said that they would have to put money aside so
when the project becomes obsolete, they would have money to reclaim the area or dispose of it. They
do have another open house in Brooks on October 25 th .
Jourdan: Council is dealing with an issue about converting a temporary business to a full time
business.
John: To give some back ground…a drive through business was started in Brooks and was
given a temporary business licence. They want to turn that into a permanent business, but our by laws
says for that to happen, it has to be connected to water and sewer. They have no plans at this time to
do that. Council will discuss it further. The issue is, we if we allow this, it would be a precedent and
open up the door for many others to come into town to open up, but we still want to protect our brick
and mortar businesses that are paying property tax and connected to our utilities. At the other end, we
also want to encourage business to come to Brooks.
Jourdan: Council recently heard from the Weed Inspector.
John: One thing I got out of it is, there are a a lot of weeds out there, and the public is not
familiar with them. In some cases, the weeds take hold and are hard to get rid of. We suggested that
maybe next year, there be an improved campaign to let residents know about the weeds,…which ones
are really harmful and how to get rid of them.
Jourdan: The City was busy planting trees this year.
John: Everyone once and while we have to cut down some trees for various reasons, but we also plant
trees. This year, we planted 60 new trees in the city, 32 of them at the Regional Ball Diamonds, 11 at
Rose Lea Park and 17 others throughout the town.
Jourdan: Fire Prevention Week is this week.
John: As part of Fire Prevention Week, there will be an open house at the Fire Hall from 9 am
to noon this Saturday with tours and demonstrations. The theme this year is, Serve Up Fire safety in the
Kitchen. A lot of fires start in the kitchen and everyone should know the safety rules.
Jourdan: The fire department has had a busy time so far this year.
John: For the period from January 1 st to August 31 st , calls were up 9 percent from the year
before. That worked out to 291 calls altogether. Grass fires were a big part of that, as they were up 71
percent. The Brooks Fire Department responded to 53 grass fire calls this year. Our volunteer fire
department is a big part of our community and we’re grateful for the volunteers who come forward and
help with the fire department every year. Again, the open house is Saturday from 9 until noon.
Jourdan: Something else big this Saturday is a Time Capsule will be opened at City Hall.
John: This time capsule was put in place after the renovation on City Hall was completed on
October 14 th , 1998. The opening of this time capsule will take place this Saturday at 11 am at City Hall.
Former councillors from that time period have been invited back. Bob Breakell was the mayor of Brooks
at that time. Other dignitaries will also be on hand. The public is welcome and there will be some
refreshments after that. I’m looking forward to seeing what was in the Time Capsule.
Jourdan: And we’re into the yard clean up season. What are the dates for the yard waste pick
up?
John: This is the time of the year to clean up the yards. The final week of Yard Waste
Collection is October 23-27. Once your yard waste bin has been emptied on your regularly scheduled
day during the specified week above, please do not place any more yard waste in your bin.
Have more yard waste than your bin can handle? No worries! Our Fall Yard Waste Clean Up,
happening from November 1st to 3rd is here to solve that problem!
Fall Yard Waste Clean Up is a city-wide program that is designed to assist residents in disposing of excess
yard waste. Residents can dispose of yard waste by bagging it in clear plastic bags or compostable paper
bags and leaving the bags where your normally scheduled pick-up occurs (not in your yard waste bin).
Jourdan: Thank You. This has been Talk of the Town with Brooks Mayor John Petrie.