The Town of Okotoks released its Annual Report in late September, in which, they talked about the growth plan for the town and surrounding area.

The Town focused on what has already happened over the last year with the main star of the report being the new Okotoks Transit project however Cheif Administrative Officer with the town Elaine Vincent says they are now focusing on what will allow Okotoks to grow.

"Managing community growth within Okotoks is making sure that we have in place what's needed for Okotoks to grow, so from an infrastructure perspective, it's working with our partners to understand what their needs are and making sure we have the land to meet those needs. A great example of this is the partnerships that we have with our school divisions."

Vincent says they have a close relationship with all three of the divisions within the town and are doing their best to allow them to grow effectively to meet the needs of Okotokians now and into the future.

"So with Christ the Redeemer, Francophone and Foothills School Divison, we meet with them to understand how they are growing, where their growth pressures are and to make sure we have school sites available and we have the service available to those sites so we can go to the province and say we're here, we're growing and we are ready."

The town also put lots of focus on future planning for residential development in which they focused lots on water, an ongoing project in Okotoks.

"The other big piece we focus on is, of course, water but also ensuring that we have stormwater and wastewater connections to all of our new neighbourhoods."

Vincent says the Town uses the information they have to create a long term capital plan to help the Town grow smoothly.

"With our capital planning process, we forecast where our new growth is going to be over a period of ten years then we develop what is referred to as an 'offsite levy bylaw', why do Okotokians care about that? they care because it says that developers pay for growth and that is all of the projects we think will link to growth, that's done on a 35-year horizon."

Vincent says this simply means Okotokians can see what the town is expecting to happen over the next 35 years and how developers are contributing to the growth projects.

"All of that is about partnership, working together, developing a long term financial plan and making sure we have the resources today and in the future to meet those needs."

The Annual Report can be found on the Town of Okotoks' website.

 

Questions, comments, or story ideas? Email news@okotoksonline.com