Town of Innisfail Mayor Jean Barclay at their Power of Place CED Lunch Event this October. (Supplied)

By Alessia Proietti

Jean Barclay

Year in Review: Innisfail Mayor says 2023 reinforced her belief of staying true to priorities

Dec 28, 2023 | 11:17 AM

For Innisfail town mayor Jean Barclay, the past year has simply reinforced her belief that you must stay true to your priorities and goals.

In a year-end interview, the mayor shared her highlights on what she described as a great year, filled with events, festivals, and completed projects.

Some of those projects include two partially accessible playgrounds in Cannon Park and Raspberry Park, infrastructure improvements to surfaces, water, wastewater, and sidewalks as well as upgrades to the local arena.

The mayor shared, however, that a major challenge has always been funding which can make it difficult to keep taxes reasonable for residents.

According to Alberta Municipalities, provincial funding for local infrastructure has dropped from about $420 per Albertan in 2011 to about $150 per capita today.

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Barclay says the town receives around 10 cents on any tax revenue paid in the province, yet they are responsible for 60 per cent of their infrastructure costs.

With inflation increasing costs, she says it has become nearly impossible to do even two blocks worth of infrastructure replacement for under $1 million.

In next year’s capital budget, the replacement of a Sanitary Force Main on 42 Avenue and 51 Street, a pressurized sewer pipe that conveys wastewater, costs $1 million alone.

“How do you raise that kind of money without having other levels of government partner with you on those kinds of projects?” she asked.

Larger projects like their plans for an aquatic centre have also gotten more expensive over time, projected at $20 million before the pandemic and now estimating at around $28 million, she says.

However, even with the hurdles, Barclay says you need to keep your eye on the prize.

“When you’re working on big projects […] it takes time, so it’s important to keep focused. You kind of go through these peaks and valleys where, ‘yes it’s possible, no it’s not, yes it is’ so it’s staying positive and making sure that there’s a strategic direction that is mapped out and staying true to what your priorities are and what you set out. It’s easy to get sidetracked and go off in a different direction but that makes it really difficult for administration and we have such a great administrative team here at the Town of Innisfail, they work so hard, and they are the experts in this field and do a tremendous job so I’m grateful for them,” she said.

Recently passing their budget with a low 2.8 per cent property tax increase, capital projects include a $4 million solar farm development on a piece of undevelopable land in their new industrial park, which she says is projecting a $600,000 annual revenue for the town. She hopes the remaining lots will be sold to businesses.

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Some businesses have already begun making a name for themselves in the town, particularly in the green energy industry. Varme Energy has been proposing a waste-to-energy facility in Innisfail, which has also gained traction in other communities across the region.

“Varme is working very hard on that project and trying to make central Alberta a leader with waste-to-energy technology. That technology has been used in Europe for six decades and we have a mindset here that we just don’t feel it’s acceptable any longer to be taking garbage and putting it into land. There’s a better use for land than to put our garbage into it,” she said.

Innisfail’s Bilton Welding and Manufacturing Limited’s has also begun converting diesel railway engines into hydrogen-electric ones for Canadian Pacific that are carbon-emission free.

“It’s another example of what’s taking place here around innovative technologies in central Alberta. People like this are the true leaders and the visionaries,” she said.

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Finally, having completed a housing assessment this year, she says increasing housing stock is a number one priority as they short of all types including rental properties, townhomes, single family units and options for older adults looking to downsize.

“We’re looking forward to 2024 and [there’s] lots of optimism in the community. [They’re] quite excited about the year ahead and [to] accomplish some of the things that we have as our priorities,” she said.

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