Lacombe County Deputy Reeve Dwayne West reflects on productive 2025

In 2025, one of the year’s biggest highlights, he said, was the completion of the Dairy Innovation West milk concentration facility in South Aspelund Industrial Park.

He said it took approximately two years to build the $75 million milk concentration facility. It utilizes ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis to reduce transportation costs and emissions for milk products. They currently can process up to 300 million litres of milk annually.

“It’s a big part of the way I think Lacombe County leads by putting our region on the map for agro-processing and for our continuing commitment to attracting agribusiness to the region,” West said.

This past year, the county also created a citizen chronolog time-lapse photography project, which allows participants to take photos using their phones and upload them to create evolving time-lapse videos that illustrate how our natural world shifts throughout the seasons and years.

The initiative invites residents to help monitor environmental changes on Lacombe County’s three major lakes, including Sylvan Lake, Gull Lake, and Lacombe Lake.

They hope to install additional photo stations this year at Buffalo Lake, Gull Lake, Blindman River, Medicine River, and Crooker Wetland.

“This helps the county monitor water levels, erosion around our lakes, and potential invasive species,” West added.

Early in 2025, Lacombe County introduced a golf cart permitting program that allows residents in set areas around the county to drive their golf carts as part of the provincial government’s pilot program.

The carts are only allowed to be used during daylight hours and in specific areas.

And in June, approximately 320 Grade 5 students learned about the importance of safety at the annual Lacombe County Farm Safety Day.

That day, students from 11 different schools within the county rotated through seven different safety presentations about being safe on the farm.

West called it a cornerstone event, which is held every year in the county.

“The goal every year is to educate students on the everyday potential hazards that they could encounter on their farms or when visiting farms,” he said.

West highlighted some of the work done in collaboration with their rural and urban neighbours. This includes working with Ponoka County on Gull Lake stabilization efforts, and more.

He indicated that, given how dry it’s been in the province over the last few years, local lakes are seeing the effects.

One of the largest collaborative efforts underway is working on regional trail systems within the county. They’re currently in land discussions to potentially form a Gull Lake regional trail system, which would be 12 kilometres long.

“It’ll be a game-changer for connectivity and tourism around central Alberta,” he said.

Looking ahead to 2026, he said they’ll continue to listen closely to their rate payers and the residents of Lacombe County.

“We’ll always have an open ear to what they’re saying to do our best to maintain continuity with our policies, which we will always try to work on,” he said, adding they want to focus on growth and transparency with their neighbours.

In addition, they are always interested in hearing what the population has to say, and they’re always around to listen to concerns.

“To either help with an issue or at least try to help the population understand why policies are the way they are and what needs to be done for implementation. We are always open to that,” he said. “The other thing would be to continue the efforts our administration and council from the last year have put forward to make sure we put it all together. When we meet new challenges, we’ll be ready to tackle them.”

Reeve John Ireland was unavailable at the time of the interview.

by Ian Gustafson

Lacombe County Deputy Reeve Dwayne West reflects on productive 2025

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