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April 9, 2008 Vol. 33 No. 36		$1.00 INCL GST

Town staff set to cross the street

By Don Patterson
Staff Reporter

Okotoks Mayor Bill McAlpine packs items in his office in preparation for when the Town staff moves into the new Municipal Centre this weekend. photo by Don Patterson

Mayor Bill McAlpine has spent much of the past two weeks packing up the files, family pictures and various items filling his office in preparation for the Town’s big move.
McAlpine and other Town staff have a busy weekend ahead of them as they move into the new Municipal Centre this weekend.
The move will begin Friday at noon and will affect a number of Town services, particularly phone service, until Monday afternoon.
McAlpine said the Town will turn a new page with the opening of the building.
“It looks really good. I think it’s going to be a lot more effective and efficient for everybody and the working environment,” he said. “I know we’re sure looking forward to getting over there and getting on with life.”
The move will affect staff currently located in the existing Town office, the development services building and the information technology group located in the Heritage House.
Nancy Weigel, Town of Okotoks communications manager, said the Town office and development services buildings will be closed for the move and the Town’s phone and computer systems will be down for the weekend.
“There will be a service disruption for our telephone systems and anything that requires computer access for Town services,” she said.
The Town’s public works emergency number will be operational during the weekend. Anyone with a public works related concern can call 938-2985.
Weigel stressed the 911 phone system will not be affected by the move.
“If there is an emergency, people should be calling 911 of course,” she said. “If it’s a Town emergency they should call the Town emergency number.”
She said phone systems will come back on-line in a prioritized order and admitted there could be a few minor hiccups as the Town’s staff settles into its new home.
Town council will not meet in the new building until May. According to Weigel, there have been delays with installation of audio-visual equipment in the new council chamber and all council, board and committee meetings will be held in the existing council chamber throughout April.
While the Town website will be running, it will not be updated during the move. Weigel said this isn’t expected to have much of an impact over the weekend, however, e-mails sent to the Town will not be received until Monday.
The Town has hired a local moving company, but because of the new Municipal Centre’s proximity to the old Town Hall, some of the work will be done the old-fashioned way.
“Some of it will be a la cart,” said Weigel. “There definitely will be some done by hand. There’ll be some carts for the computers and printers and we’ll be rolling them down the street.”
Weigel said the move plan takes potential delays, such as bad weather, into consideration.
A grand opening for the Municipal Centre is tentatively scheduled for June 21 to be held in conjunction with the annual town parade downtown.

Pizzaberg Café employee Kelsey Epp looks to see if a pizza is finished baking. The café will be getting extra competition in the coming months as 10 new restaurants are expected to open their doors in town. photo by Don Patterson

Okotoks’ restaurant scene heating up

By Don Patterson
Staff Reporter

There’s going to be a lot more on the menu in Okotoks’ culinary scene in the coming months.
Okotoks residents are going to have more dining options as 10 new restaurants are expected to open in town in the next year, however, there are some concerns about whether or not the Town can handle the additional business in this area.
Okotoks economic development team leader Shane Olson said the new restaurants will add more choice in town for dining out and increase the Town’s tax assessment base.
“It’s a sign of our growth. We are going to start seeing more diversification in all sectors. This is certainly evident in the food sector,” he said. “This adds more selection for our citizens and the broader Foothills region.”
The new restaurants will be located throughout town, with the majority in the Westmount area.
Those slated for the Westmount area include a Good Earth Café, Edo Japan, Pizza Hut, a joint KFC and Taco Bell location and Mr. Mike’s Steakhouse.
“(Mr. Mikes) is a very large one. They have their own building up there, whereas the Good Earth Café, Pizza Hut and Edo Japan are part of five or six units that will be connected together,” said Olson.
He said there will also be second locations of Tim Hortons and Subway in the Westmount area.
Tom’s House of Pizza will open in the Drake Landing area, while Cora’s Breakfast and Lunch and an Original Joe’s, a Calgary-based chain of bars, will open in a new development on Southridge Drive across from Shoppers Drug Mart.
While many restaurants could open in the next few months, Olson said the Tim Hortons, Subway and KFC/Taco Bell location will likely open later in the year.
“A lot of them are (looking at) May, June openings in time for the summer season,” he said.
Paul Monger, Original Joes vice-president of development, said the company looked at the existing pubs in the community and felt there was a void in the local market.
“It’s definitely a vibrant economy that we felt was being currently underserved by the casual dining sector,” he said.
He said the company has opened a number of locations in communities across Alberta that have become successful.
“We just went into Stony Plain, which is a smaller market than Okotoks, and had fantastic success. And they have a wide range of restaurants and services too, and (there was) not an issue,” he said.
With a number of new restaurants opening in town at once, Monger said he believes the Original Joe’s location has enough to offer that it won’t be significantly impacted.
Cathy Huth, president of the Okotoks Chamber of Commerce, said the restaurants will mean more options for Okotoks residents and visitors to the community from out of town.
She said the new businesses will likely do well during peak hours of the day, such as dinner time. However, she said it will be a much different story during the slower periods.
Huth added the increase in the number of restaurants will create a more competitive market in town.
“I’d be a little concerned. It’s a competitive business and this means everyone’s going to have to step up to the plate and offer the best product and best customer service they possibly can,” she said.
Ron Radant, co-owner of Pizzaberg Café, said some sections of the local restaurant market are currently underserved, while others are over served. However, he said the Town could be a little underserved with higher-end dining establishments.
He said his restaurant doesn’t advertise and is currently at capacity, so he doesn’t expect it to impact him. However, he questions whether there’s room in town for two extra pizza restaurants.
“We have more pizza joints in this town than we could possibly use. They haven’t affected this place, but some of them are suffering. Those ones will be in trouble,” he said.
Ultimately, he said some the new restaurants could hurt some existing businesses and not others. He questions whether or not a few restaurants could end up closing their doors when the dust settles.

In this issue...
Editorial Paul's Place News Sports Entertainment Classified Ads Business & Professional Directories Foothills Visitor Guide Directory Best of the Foothills Survey	Stroke of luck Okotoks swimmer reaches National finals See Sports Music to my ears Mainstage musical starts on the right note See Entertainment

Business & Prof Directories

Table of Contents

Town staff set to cross the street

Okotoks’ restaurant scene heating up

Stroke of luck Okotoks swimmer reaches National finals See Sports

Music to my ears Mainstage musical starts on the right note See Entertainment

Stroke of luck

Okotoks swimmer reaches National finals
See Sports

Music to my ears

Mainstage musical starts
on the right note
See Entertainment