Mayor of Cold Lake Craig Copeland hopes to be back in office after the upcoming fall election.
Copeland, who joined the City of Cold Lake in 2004 as a councillor before becoming mayor in 2007, announced he will be running for a fourth term.
One of Copeland's main focuses going into the election is ID 349, a policy that would see all Cold Lake Air Weapons Range taxes transitioned to the City of Cold Lake.
“It's vital to the City of Cold Lake's sustainability and being able to invest in the infrastructure and recreation in the area. It's paramount that the deal that was brokered stays as is and remains with the City of Cold Lake. Recently, there have been comments by others that the deal should be revisited and we've been in talks with the government asking why,” stated Copeland.
Copeland believes his experience on the issue will play a part in keeping ID 349 funding in Cold Lake.
“When the deal was brokered, four municipalities, bureaucrats and high ranking ministers from the province were all there. There are very few of those people left in the room now and I'm one of them,” he explained. “I know the history of why and how we got to this agreement in the first place, so we're willing to put my name forward in making sure the province doesn't do anything with the air weapons range deal.”
Another major issue at the forefront of Copeland's campaign will be expanding medical services in Cold Lake.
“The hospital needs to expand its footprint and therefore have more space for doctors to have their medical clinics right onsite. We're working with the province on trying to enhance the service delivery at the hospital,” said Copeland
Some other issues Copeland plans to tackle if re-elected would include adding airline services to Cold Lake, expanding the footprint of Portage College, and beginning work on a wastewater treatment plant to name a few.
Reiterating the policy's importance, Copeland believes ID 349 funding is vital if Cold Lake is to move forward on those issues.
“The projects like the aquatic centre, expanding the marina, a waste water treatment plant, those are real big ticket items that the next council will have to strategize on how to fund, but again it's all about ID 349. If that funding is changed it will definitely effect future budgets for the City of Cold Lake. There's no doubt about it,” he emphasized.
If elected, Copeland would face the added challenge of negotiating Inter-municipal Collaboration Framework (ICF) with neighbouring municipalities.
Using the close proximity of the Town and MD of Bonnyville as an example, Copeland gave a basic rundown on how the ICFs could work.
“Lets say 30 per cent of MD residents utilize recreation in Cold Lake, if recreation costs a dollar to run then basically the MD of Bonnyville would pay 30 cents towards that dollar of operating,” explained Copeland
Since the province hasn't set out a template for negotiation, the onus will be entirely on municipalities throughout the region to reach an agreement.
“It's never been done before and the province wants to have it all in place by 2019, municipalities have to sit down and hash this out,” noted Copeland.
Given the importance of the two major financial issues on the table, the next couple of years could prove challenging for councils around the region. Copeland's vision for Cold Lake remains undeterred.
“Our council is trying to make Cold Lake the community of choice to live in when you come to the area. We're trying to make Cold Lake a place for a families. We want you to be here and have the foundation to live here for a very long time.”
