Lacombe Mayor Steve Christie delivered his 2017 State of the City Address this morning. In front of a packed room at the Lacombe Memorial Centre the mayor spoke about the highlights of 2016 and what the current year will have in store.

Looking back Christie says building permit values increased, BOLT transit has been a success with just under 2000 riders per month, the Red Deer Regional Wastewater Pipeline was approved and the city conducted its first naming rights sponsorship campaign to help reduce borrowing costs.  

Although those are just a few in a long list, Christie said the city took advantage of the downturn in the economy and is hopeful the community will come out even stronger.

“I think that what we’ve done in the past in planning ahead and moving forward, we’ve taken advantage of some cost savings of doing some work in a downturn economy,” Christie said.

“I see things turning around slowly but surely and I think when we come out of this downturn we’re going to be ahead.”

Some emergency services highlights from last year include the Lacombe Fire Department who responded to 273 requests for service, which put the department on pace for a slightly higher than average year.

The Lacombe Police Service also experienced a year of change including the move to the new police station and the implementation of the local dispatch centre and upgraded radio communications using the Alberta First Responders Radio Network.

Looking forward Christie added the 2017 budget was approved last month, with 34 projects on the books including the downtown main street infrastructure replacement project, the addition of downtown parking and the west area servicing project which includes the extension of water and sewage mains to the west area.

The City of Lacombe's 2016 Year in Review was also released today which not only highlights the work that was done by Council but it also summarizes the value ratepayers received for their tax dollars.

The document can be found on the City of Lacombe's website at: http://publications.lacombe.ca/2016YIR/index.html.