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Council will decide town's fate

Well, it seems the community has been waiting forever for a decision by council on the future growth of our community.

Well, it seems the community has been waiting forever for a decision by council on the future growth of our community.

Almost a year ago council voted to have a sequence of water and growth meetings and an opportunity for residents and businesses to have their say.

Tens of thousands has been spent and now all the consultations are over and Monday, Sept. 24 will be a big day for the future of Okotoks.

I would expect a capacity crowd will be in the council chambers to see this milestone decision go down.

Once a decision is made regarding growth or no growth the next step will be a plan to come up with a more stable water supply.

Even if we decide to raise the drawbridge and stop growth at our present borders more water is required. I am told we are close to our allotted draw on the Sheep River so anymore growth puts us in the position of requiring additional water.

Regional solution? Reservoir? Dam? Pipeline to the Highwood? Pipeline to Calgary? That will be the next decision after we put the growth situation to bed.

I imagine we are all looking forward to moving on.

Economics will play a big role in the water decision but we must be sure the right decision is made on that front because having to do twice will cost the taxpayers of Alberta and Okotoks way too much.

Seems we are living in a different economy than we had a few years ago and neither residents or businesses have extra dollars to throw around.

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Okotoks will host a special international conference on Multiple Sclerosis and Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency Sept. 28-30 at the Foothills Centennial Centre.

The conference, hosted by the National CCVIS Society and titled “Exploring Frontiers in Neurovascular Health”, will feature medical experts and scientists from all over the world discussing these painful diseases.

They will be giving presentations and holding discussions on research, treatment and new breakthroughs.

Locally, dentist Dr. David Williams, who published a paper last summer discussing the connection between the jaw and Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency, is helping to organize the event.

This is the second National CCVIS conference and it is a substantial event for our community.

The conference is open to anyone to attend and for more information see www.nationalccsvisociety.org

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Great to see the Salvage Centre is getting a larger home out at the landfill. What a great spot it is. I love that you can drop items that still have some use there and another person can take advantage of it. Way better than dropping unwanted items into the landfill. The new centre will be amazing.

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This year’s Terry Fox Run will once again be held at the Crystal Shores Beach House on Sept. 16.

There will be a 4km or 8km run or walk and registration starts at 9:30 a.m. with the run at 11 a.m. There will be coffee, hot chocolate, hot dogs and water provided for all runners.

This is a great cause so get out and show your support for the Terry Fox Foundation and cancer research.

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I made five bucks over the back to back wins by the Calgary Stampeders over the Edmonton Eskimos.

Talk about two exciting games right down to the wire.

This year’s CFL has had a lot of good games so far. I think I better start taping them so I can watch them during the NHL season which is looking doubtful.

Initially I thought it was the players who were being selfish, but after listening more I’m afraid it is the owners side that is being unreasonable. The owners hide behind their $8 million man Gary Bettman and he seems to have that small man syndrome. It is his way or nothing.

The players want to play with or without an agreement but Bettman says agree with me or you will be locked out this weekend. There seems to be no room for negotiations with the owners. Too bad. Now we see how the World Hockey Association got started many years ago.

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Reduce stress, laugh. Stress related disorders cost companies millions each year. Laughter not only has short term benefits of soothing tension it can even help relieve pain through the release of certain hormones that fight stress and prevent illness. Not sure I believe all that but I do know a good laugh once in a while does feel good and relaxes your face muscles.

If you have an old cell phone please drop it off at the Wheel this week and Rotary will turn it into cash for the betterment of our community. You can take out the chip if you wish as it is not required.




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