Eckville, Alberta 2018 1

Community

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Eckville, Alberta 2018 2

Introduction to Eckville

Eckville was originally established north of the present town site in 1908. The town was moved in

1914 to the present site when the railroad was built. There are still some foundations left at the

original site. The land now belongs to a county resident.

The town was incorporated in 1921. Our 100th anniversary as being a recognized municipality will

be in 2 short years. We have always been an industrious people, probably because of necessity in

the beginning. Times were hard at the time our Town was being established and people had to

work together if they wanted the community to thrive. From building the first school, fire hall, and

the first hospital in our community, to the arena, curling rink, baseball diamonds, and community

halls, to present day with the addition of the spray park and dog park. All of this has been done

with volunteer time spent and countless man hours of community help. Collaboration is not a new

word for us.

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2018 PARTICIPANT INFORMATION

Population: 1163

Website: www.eckville.com

CIB Instagram: Eckville_inbloom

CIB Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/loveourlittletown/

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Tidiness Community Standards Bylaw

This bylaw was created to address the safety, health and welfare and to generally increase the

happiness quotient of the community. It addresses issues such as:

• Snow removal • Noise Control • Unsightly Yards • Bullying

Municipal Participation in Tidiness

• Curbside Garbage and Recycling Pick-Up • Litter, Recycling, and Dog Poop Receptacles (doggie bags on the walking trail). • E-Waste and Hazardous Waste Disposal • Snow Removal, Street Cleaning, Parks Upkeep, Walking Trail Snow Removal and Sweeping • Tree Removal when it hampers residents from using sidewalks

Community Involvement in Tidiness

• Highway cleanup in April or May of each year (dependent on weather) which involves the

schools’ students, as well as volunteers. Businesses or groups can also hire the students

to help them do a highway cleanup. The money goes into the school for various events or

fundraising opportunities.

• Members of the community get together to do a Dog Poop Clean Up when the snow melts

each year. They also get together to pick up litter in town. This is most often just posted on

a Facebook page and whoever is able comes to join in the cleanup.

CIB BUCKET LIST

• Doing more preplanned clean ups. We would like to create events on Facebook, invite

members of the town and businesses, and plan something like a hot dog roast afterwards.

We hope this will get more people involved.

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Environmental Action

Wastewater Lagoon System and Water Meters

• Last year the Town of Eckville entered into a contract with a company that has a use for

our wastewater. This will not only save the Town money, but it will provide funds to

further enhance our infrastructure. • About ten years ago the Town of Eckville installed water meters to make people aware of

their water usage. Being good stewards of the water was a responsibility they didn't take lightly

Container Garbage and Curbside Recycling

• Seven years ago, the Town of Eckville went to container garbage pick-up. They found it

helped with the tidiness of the neighborhoods. • Recycling has been available to residents of Eckville and the surrounding areas (County of

Lacombe and County of Red Deer) for at least 20 years. We were recycling before it was

cool. Originally a place for recycling was in a parking lot at the end of Main Street. When

that was decided to be too untidy, we went to a curbside system so that residents were

provided with containers that are picked up on Trash day. • If anyone has large appliances to dispose of, they pay a fee to the Town Office and drop

them off at the Town Shop. From there they are taken to a transfer site. • We have depots in Eckville that recycle used oil, e-waste, and large quantities of cardboard.

We have a person that goes to some businesses that use large amounts of cardboard and

he bales it and takes it away for them.

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Rent-a-Plot Garden

• In 2015 some likeminded citizens got together and built a garden. Residents can rent a plot

for themselves. This allows people who might not otherwise have the space or ability to set

up a garden to have a place to plant. It has grown and thrived on donated land from the

Town, donated fences from businesses, and a lot of sweat equity from the community. It is

currently $20 per year for a plot and that covers environmentally safe weed killers.

Communities in Bloom Participation

• We have had quite a few successful KICK IT TO THE CURB events on the since beginning

the group last April. There is always participation from the community, and we have many

members upcycling things like furniture. • We give tips on our FB page such as how to save energy, help the bees, and building bat

boxes.

CIB Bucket List

• We would like to plant grasses in some of our ditches and water flow areas to reduce

mowing and maintenance costs for the Town • We are looking into learning more about having an option of paper bags in our grocery

store even if we must pay for them. These days our paper bags are made using recycled

paper. • We have a person working at the waste transfer site that keeps an eye out for people

throwing away perfectly good items that could be used and upcycled.

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Heritage Conservation

History Books

• We have had 2 books published so far and they have been huge undertakings. The first one, HOMESTEADS TO HAPPINESS, was published in 1979. The second, MEMORIES TO THE MILLENIUM, was published in 2005. I have included a picture of the first book which is now

close to 40 years old. It is so worn out from looking up how old someone is or just random

facts, that it is now covered in clear tape, so the next generations will have access to our

history.

Canada Day Celebrations

• Eckville has always had a Canada Day Celebration in our Recreation Area. The celebration

has changed somewhat over the years with sometimes a dance, a DJ playing music, a

bouncy castle for the young kids, and face painting. Some things have remained

throughout all the years though, such as Town Council providing and serving hot dogs,

watermelon, drinks, and a huge Canada Day Cake. Public works dumps a huge pile of sand

for the kids to dig in to find coins (it even has loonies and toonies). There is a firework show

once it gets dark. Mayor Posti also does a reaffirmation of citizenship. Our Local MP and

MLA usually try to make it to the celebration.

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Town Siren

• A long time ago most small towns had a siren to warn people of impending doom and to get

firefighters to the station when needed. The Town of Eckville is no different, except that we

have decided to keep ours. It rings at 12:00 noon so everyone knows to eat lunch and again

at 9:00 P.M. because there used to be a curfew for small children many years ago. In 2006

there was some debate as to keep the siren or dismantle it. Residents emailed and even

wrote letters to the town asking them to keep it. Our residents were very against us getting

rid of it. It was moved to the roof of the Town office where it rings twice a day. Having sat

on Council for eight years it is quite a shock at Council meetings when it shakes the

building.

CIB Bucket List

• Try to blend our present and our past in harmonious ways. Perhaps by using our FB page

to share more information and fun facts about the town as it was a long time ago.

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Urban Forestry

Environmental Lots

• There are two country residential lots in Eckville which are owned by the town. They are

environmental reserves.

Trees & Monument

• The town will be removing trees by our monument to be replaced with new ones. Also, more

evergreens will be planted to reduce noise by the railway. Our monument will be redone to

commemorate our 100th anniversary. The original monument was built in 1996 to celebrate

our 75th anniversary. The town will save all the plaques and they will be placed by the new

monument.

• The town completed a tree inventory in June 2017. There are 388+ trees & bushes on town

property.

• We brought in saskatoon bushes this year and planted them in a local area for residents to

pick from.

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Landscape

Flowers

• We are using perennial shrubs in our Town signs and at the Town office to make better use

of our resources.

Playgrounds

• Eckville has many playgrounds and parks. We have a spray park which is highly enjoyed by

families during the warm months. There is also a new playground being built at the

elementary school.

Walkways

• There is a 1.3 KM of walking trail in the town now. There is a plan is to start expanding on it

next month. It will be an additional 0.6 KM. This will be going north and around our dog park.

The walking trail is very popular, and everyone is excited to have more added to it.

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Floral Displays

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Map