Suffield, Ralston have great potential
Suffield/Ralston
Medicine Hat News
Suffield and Ralston have the unique distinction of being situated near one of the largest live-fire training areas in the western world.
Located amid farms, ranches and oil and gas sites, Canadian Forces Base Suffield has a workforce of more than 100 military personnel and nearly 600 civilian employees.
The town itself is much smaller, with just over 220 residents. Nearby Ralston, a military community based on a British-style wagonwheel design, is slightly larger with just under 350 people.
During the Second World War the base was home to a joint British-Canadian experimental station for biological and
chemical warfare, and currently functions as a site for defence research and military training.
The British Army Training Unit Suffield (BATUS) is also located in the area, and has more than 200 permanent staff.
Though employment at the base has stayed steady, the economic downturn hit the Suffield region hard. Peter Konosky, Cypress County representative for the area, says a slowdown in the oil and gas industry, combined with poor cattle and grain prices and bad weather made 2009 a difficult year for many in the area.
"There wasn't much happening. So it took a lot of money out of the area," he says.
However, drilling is beginning on a few new gas wells, which Konosky hopes will
bring some lost economic activity back to the community. But while the oil and gas industry may pick up again, the town of Suffield faces another long term problem: lack of water.
Konosky says the village, which gets its water from the Canadian Forces base, is already over its water limit and negotiations with the government have failed to gain the community access to a larger supply.
As a result, a water moratorium was imposed on the town and no new construction is allowed in Suffield.
"Without water, you don't have growth," Konosky says. “We’ll keep working on it, because we'd like to have Suffield as a nice little town. It has potential, especially with the base and all the British soldiers coming all the time, but we've got to have water."
Red Deer County anything but sleepy
Medicine Hat News
We are pleased to announce that we have a new Executive Director, Rita Fisher.
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Housing for seniors with low to moderate income.
A great place to live . . . and have fun!
Watch for changes to our website www.cypressview.org in 2010!
10 — REPORT ON SOUTHEAST ALBERTA 2010 ■ Celebrating our Community
It may be a rural area, but Red Deer County is anything but a slow, sleepy community. Located on Highway 2, between Calgary and Edmonton, the municipal district is at the centre of the province’s primary air, rail and trucking routes. As a result, the area of nearly 20,000 residents has experienced strong growth in recent years, consistently expanding by three to four per cent a year.
And though the pace of development has cooled with the recent economic slowdown, county Mayor Earl Kinsella says it certainly hasn’t stopped.
“There's still construction going up, new businesses going up, new residences” he says. “It's not the pace it was for the last few years, but it’s still growth."
Kinsella says much of the attraction of Red Deer county is its location. Many commercial and industrial projects set up shop in the district, on the outskirts of Red Deer city. Easy access to Highway 2 is also a draw.
"People who like a little slower place than Calgary and Edmonton, and who still want to be close to shopping in the city of Red Deer, it makes it a desirable area to live in," he adds.
This year, the county hopes to see construction begin on a new gasification plant, which has been in the works for several years. The $65 million facility will convert household waste to energy, feeding electricity into the power grid. It will also produce useful by-products such as sulfur, salt and potable water.
A $9 million infrastructure project is also set to go ahead, which will see the county construct new walking trails, purchase a fire truck and upgrade its roads.
“We’re moving steady ahead,” Kinsella says, summing up the region’s outlook.
"We had a really good year last year, and this year we're able to continue with our infrastructure improvements - roads, and so on - and we don't have to raise taxes in order to do it."
And as the economy picks up, Kinsella expects development in the Calgary - Edmonton corner will continue much as it has. "The future's pretty bright here, if you're on Highway 2,” he adds.
Red Deer County
52236000•03/30/10
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