Mayor Megan Hanson. (rdnewsNOW file photo)

By Ashley Lavallee-Koenig

MAYOR MEGAN HANSON

Growth, goldfish, and water conservation: 2024 in Sylvan Lake

Dec 31, 2024 | 12:00 PM

Doubled development permits, Housing Accelerator Funding, and community engagement are just some of the highlights of what Mayor Megan Hanson calls “a year of growth” in Sylvan Lake.

“We’ve seen new residents join our community; new programs and services either come into existence or expand. Housing developments have risen to meet the demand and businesses have really thrived this last year, so it’s been pretty neat to watch our town flourish while still being our charming, welcoming little Sylvan Lake,” she said.

She added that development permits doubled in 2024 compared to 2023, and a successful application to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) provided just shy of $5.5 million for addressing housing affordability in the town.

Hanson said initiatives born of the HAF funding have already started producing results, with more apartments and mixed-use housing units beginning operations, or set to begin soon.

Notably, the Town also managed to eradicate an invasive goldfish population from its Lakeway Landing storm pond, which had been causing problems throughout the year. In November, the Town was successful in a Rotenone application it had needed special approval for due to its alternative form.

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Goldfish produce more rapidly and have longer lifespans than the species in Sylvan Lake, which could cause ecosystem issues if they were to reach the lake from the storm pond. They are also very difficult to eradicate, so it is critical for residents to avoid abandoning these fish in the ponds moving forward.

Read more: Sylvan Lake council fishes for long-term solution to invasive aquatic species

The Town also launched Engage Sylvan Lake in an effort to improve communication with residents.

Hanson was also excited to share about the success she saw in this year’s Ment-to-Matter high school mentoring program.

“It’s a great program that helps match our high school students with other students that just need a mentor and a big kid, someone to look up to,” she explained.

This year they had 68 students participate, double what they saw in 2023 and a 170 per cent increase from pre-COVID participation levels, she said.

One challenge 2024 posed to the town, however, was drought and subsequent water shortages.

“This year, we had to go into a further stage of water restrictions than what we’ve had to do at least in the years that I’ve lived in town, asking residents to really go above and beyond in conserving water; our spray park and some of our other facilities had to change their usage because of water shortages. We hope to alleviate that problem in the future,” Hanson said.

The town will be working on improving its water infrastructure in an effort to address these issues in 2025 and the coming years, including upgrading aging equipment and working to connect its reservoirs.

“We saw it in Calgary and in other notable communities that infrastructure that was put in at the same time in Sylvan Lake is failing in other communities,” she said. “We know if we don’t put some work into that pretty shortly here, we’ll be adding our name to that list and that’s something we hope not to do.”

Before the fall election in 2025, aside from seeing improvements to the water infrastructure, Hanson hopes to see the 50 Street and 50 Avenue intersection construction that started this year completed, as it will add traffic lights and, she said, increase safety and navigation of the area.

Hanson expects to announce in the spring whether or not she will be running as a mayoral candidate for 2025 municipal election Oct. 25.