ROCANVILLE - The town of Rocanville had a busy year for projects in 2021. Rocanville Mayor Ron Reed says he is proud of the town’s recreational accomplishments and looks at its challenges and what is planned a head for Rocanville’s future.
Looking back throughout 2021 what were the highlights for Rocanville?
“I would say recreation has had a fairly good year in Rocanville. The highlight would probably be the recreation department overall.”
“We’ve had a lot of big changes. The golf course isn’t officially a part of the rec department, but a new building rolled into town for the golf course club house, and the outdoor skating rink is in action,” says Reed.
“We got approved for a large refurbishment grant for the swimming pool which sounds like it’s probably not going to happen for a while yet, just because of supply chain issues and that sort of thing. We do have plans finalized there and we should have a contractor lined up early in the new year I believe.”
“The outdoor rink is built as well, courtesy of Borderland Co-op. There is still some outdoor lighting to be set up there for it to be enjoyed in the evening. We took advantage of the Department of Highways doing the paving in town, to finish off a water loop going through under the highway. We were able to get that done in conjunction with them, which saved us some money since we didn’t have to repave the highway. In our public works department, we had a change in foreman, we had an interim foreman for a good chunk of the year and she did very well looking after the town and making things an easy transition for our new foreman who’s relatively new to town, new to the position so he’s a little bit green but he’s willing to help out and do anything.”
What were some of the challenges during the year?
“Well still Covid is hanging over the town and the country, there are a lot of plans that may have started but had to get altered. Even just going to courses and what not, having to have vaccination status or testing results, that kind of thing for everybody. Making sure all of our facilities are following all public health protocols. Covid has been a struggle for everyone now, it’s been getting a little easier because we’re all used to it by now, but it’s still been a struggle obviously.”
How does 2021 compare to 2020?
“I will have to give credit to all the councillors. They’ve really stepped up this year and took part in a lot of these big decisions. It’s a fairly new council this year and we’ve had some hard decisions too. We’re dealing with a fair amount of money for some of these projects and especially something like the pool, is probably going to be a one time only grant offer for something this size but it’s something we want to get right the first time.
“We’re looking to have to subsidize a fair amount of money there, through fundraising and town funds as well, whether that means getting a loan to make up the difference and then paying that off over the next three years, or how we do it. It’s better to get it done right rather than wish we would’ve had it two or three years down the road.”
What do you see in store for next year in 2022?
“The pool is doing to be getting done, we still have to make a decision if we’re going to opening in the spring or not. That’s going to depend on who our final contractor is and what our final delivery timelines are going to be for the new building. That’s probably going to be a hard decision come spring time or early in the year, when we finally get some of that information about when things are going to need to start happening with the swimming pool,” he says.
“Totally demolishing the old building, putting up a new shell on top of it, redoing the liner for the pool itself, all the mechanical workings. It’s basically going to be a new pool with the same hole in the ground, that’s kind of how we are describing it.”
Down the road, where do you see the town going 5 to 10 years from now?
“I’d like to hope that we are on a little bit of a boom here again. We are seeing a little action as far as houses moving into town or being built in town again, so that’s nice as well. Maybe a little bit of a reduced cost, in some of the lot sales that we originally offered them for. More people in the town is better in the long run, we figured we would lower the prices on out lots and see the town grow and become bigger that way.”
“Again, I just want to give thanks to administration, councillors, staff and people from the town of Rocanville for what I think has been a successful year.”
