The past year 2012 was an important one in many respects for the town of Battleford.
The year saw the completion of Highway 4 twinning and the opening of an expanded water treatment plant, as well as a change at Town Hall with Mayor Chris Odishaw leaving office, to be replaced by new Mayor Derek Mahon.
It was also not a year without major disappointment, as the biggest annual event in town - Bridgefest - was washed out and cancelled due to heavy rains in late August.
Battleford was also hit hard by the June 25 windstorm that downed trees and damaged homes throughout the region.
All in all, it was a year full of news in Battleford. Here is a rundown of some highlights:
The completion of the twinning of Highway 4 through Battleford was celebrated with a ribbon cutting Aug. 30.
Local, provincial and other officials stood at the intersection of Highway 4 and 29th Street to cut the ribbon to officially open the twinned road. The project cost $11.6 million and included new traffic lights at the 22nd and 29th Street intersections, as well as improvements to those intersections and the one at 35th Street.
The project was touted as improving safety at those intersections as well as setting the stage for more business development in "Gasoline Alley" to the west. To that end, construction was getting started on a new Kramer Caterpillar location in the area.
"It's a long time coming for the community," Odishaw told reporters at the ribbon-cutting for the road. "The sun's shining brightly today - the future looks bright for the town of Battleford."
Opening up in early October was the expanded water treatment plant.
On hand for the opening were such dignitaries as Mayor Odishaw, MLA Herb Cox and federal MP Gerry Ritz. The expanded plant is designed to service a population of up to 6,000 residents and was funded by all three levels of government.
At Town Hall, budget deliberations in the spring ended with no increase to the mill rate, but the base tax did go up to cover a $208,830 shortfall. The increase amounted to a $50 increase to the base tax rate for residential properties, a $100 increase to base commercial tax and a $150 dollar increase to the minimum tax. Mayor Odishaw told reporters the base tax was justified in order to pay for local road improvements.
The Opera House project efforts continued in 2012 as did plans by the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame to put up a large landmark "bat" in the community.
A major issue in 2012 was the future of the Battleford Curling Club building, following the closure of the club and the move of curling activity to the new Northland Power Curling Centre in North Battleford.
The Town purchased the building in the fall, and discussion about what to do with the facility dominated Town Hall late in the year. Battle River Archers has expressed interest in using it as an archery range for its competitions, and there has been other interest expressed as well.
Dominating the fall was the civic election and the transition of power from the former council to a new one.
Mayor Chris Odishaw and four council members decided not to seek re-election, with Odishaw making known his plans early in the year.
The four councillors not seeking re-election were 21-year veteran Garth Walls, Cameron Duncan, Bill Halewich and Donna Lavin.
The transition to a new mayor proved remarkably smooth, as longtime town councillor Derek Mahon took over by acclamation following the Oct. 24 election.
The composition of the new council was markedly different from the one before, as Garth Walls, Cameron Duncan, Bill Halewich and Donna Lavin.
was the only incumbent to return to office. The new council also included the newly-elected Doug Laing, Ames Leslie, Shelley Boutin-Gervais, David George and Gordon Yarde.
While the composition of council was new, it did not lack experience as both George and Yarde had been on council for several terms in the past.
In November Mayor Mahon and the new council were sworn in. They can expect to be hard at work dealing with the challenges facing the Town of Battleford - not only during 2013 but also during the full four years of their term.
