Okotokians can catch a glimpse behind the scenes at the Town’s operations compound this weekend.
The new Operations Centre opened in November, bringing all of the Town’s operations teams – infrastructure and operations, parks, waste services and transportation – under one roof. The nearby Eco Centre also houses a new recycling facility.
A grand opening event will take place June 10 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., with speeches and lunch starting around 11:30 a.m. and tours of operations facilities throughout the afternoon.
“It’s more of an open house kind of set-up,” said Okotoks transportation manager Jamie Greenshields.
Tours will begin in the Eco Centre, where the public will have the opportunity to see what happens on the other side of the walls, he said. Next, visitors will be taken across the compound to the new fleet storage building where staff will speak about the facility and the equipment it houses.
The tour will then move on to the administration building where a mini trade show will feature information from each of the departments based in the Operations Centre, so residents can get to know their Town services, he said.
It all wraps up with a look at the Epcor Environmental Education Centre, where the public can check out the new interpretive centre and the riparian water treatment area south of the building, on the banks of the river, he said.
Greenshields said the new facilities have made a huge difference already, in their first six months of business.
“All of our operations teams were scattered all over the place and now we’re under one roof and working much better,” he said. “It’s really brought people closer together and we can bounce ideas off each other. It’s certainly helped out.”
The new buildings have also freed up space inside the Town shop, which was once the main operations department building, he said. It had doubled as a fleet storage building, which meant space was at a premium and repairs were more difficult.
With the fleet stored in its own facility, mechanics are able to get equipment repaired and back on the road in a much shorter timeframe, he said.
“It’s much improved, that’s for sure,” said Greenshields. “We’re able to deliver service much quicker.”
In addition to the grand opening celebration, the Town is wrapping up its Environment Week activities with its annual document shredding event in the Operations Centre parking lot from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Environment and sustainability co-ordinator Dawn Smith said it’s a great way to dispose of sensitive documents in an environmentally-friendly way.
She said residents are encouraged to bring down their documents for shredding, but not to bring all their paper products.
“It’s important people bring documents that actually need to be shredded, and to separate out anything that’s just generic paper material that can go into the normal recycling, because it takes up valuable time and space,” said Smith.
She said residents should only bring confidential information, such as bank statements, tax returns and other sensitive materials. There is no need to remove paperclips or staples, because the industrial shredder can handle it all, she said.
There’s no need to worry about privacy, she said.
“It can be done right in front of you, so people who have really confidential information will be able to make sure it’s destroyed right there,” said Smith.
For more information about the grand opening or documents shredding visit www.okotoks.ca.
