Local mayor intends to seek re-election this October

For the past five years, Meadow Lake’s had Gary Vidal sit in the mayor’s chair and he could potentially serve another four years after announcing his intentions to seek re-election.

First elected in the 2011 by-election and acclaimed in 2012, Vidal said he decided to seek re-election because of all the positive feedback received from the community.

Since taking office, Vidal said the city has operated with a roughly $4.5 million surplus, and spent $15 million on capital projects.

“By the end of 2016, we will have one outstanding loan for the City of Meadow Lake. We’ve paid off all our debt other than the one loan for the Ninth Ave. lift station which is a long-term asset. It doesn’t bother me to have some longer term debt and we’ve got a plan to pay for that,” Vidal said.

Over the past five years, the city’s reserves have grown roughly $1 million, with most of it earmarked for the new Northland Pioneers Lodge.

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Vidal said since 2011, council has built relationships and changed its internal thought and decision process, making things more effective and efficient.

“I think we have a more positive relationship with the union than we did five years ago,” Vidal said.

Under Vidal’s leadership, curbside recycling was instituted with waste management projects on the go.

“There’s a number of things done in the last five years we’re happy with and with a look forward I’d like to suggest we start to look at some longer term planning now that we’ve got a bunch of things in order,” he said.

‘Things,’ include pipe and valve repair, road paving and land purchases for future development.

When thinking about long-term planning, Vidal said he wants to do some things for both future residential and commercial development. He added he’d like to see some infrastructure in place ready for that.

According to the 2011 census, Meadow Lake has a population of just over 5,000. While still waiting for the results of the latest census, health region numbers has the city with a population over 7,000. However, that number also includes Flying Dust First Nation and rural residents.

One of the ways to keep the tax base reasonable and provide more services is to continue to grow in population. Vidal said the more people contributing to the pot, the more it leads to extra projects to make Meadow Lake a better place to live, work and play.

Another reason Vidal plans to seek re-election is the group of people he works with. He said he’d be pleased to have most of the current councillors return because of the diversity in the group.

“They think very independently and strongly on different things but they do it in a very professional manner and there’s never any personal issues which come about when we differ on a decision,” he said. “We can still discuss things cordially and professionally and we can still have a friendship at the end of the night.”

He added it’s never been about personal agendas or issues with people in the community which have helped make it a personal experience.

“That’s something which is a value and is important to me. I hope that will continue but I also recognize the fact that there’s lots of really good people who could be added to our mix and add value so I look forward to whatever that might look like after,” Vidal said.

At the end of the day, elected or not, Vidal said he hopes the people are there for the right reasons.

Since talks of the upcoming election started, Vidal said he’s heard rumours of people who are considering running and has had a couple talk to him about what it’s like to be on council.

“It’s a great opportunity to contribute to the community in a positive way,” he said. “Specific to the mayor’s chair, I would encourage anyone who is potentially seeking that chair to do it. I would rather there be an election than be acclaimed because I think that gives that people some say in the process, it’s not just a matter of you’ve got, the person you’ve got, because there was no one else willing to put their ideas out there.”

The municipal election is scheduled for Oct. 26. Nominations opened on Sept. 1.

As of publishing, councillor’s Conrad Read, Curtis Paylor, and Kim Chiverton have said they plan to seek re-election. Councillor Layne Shkopich said he will not be while Annette Klassen is undecided.

Councillor Merlin Seymour said he will announce his decision on Sept. 6.

Colton Swiderski is meadowlakeNOW’s municipal affairs, crime and court, health and education reporter. He can be reached at cswiderski@jpbg.ca or tweet him @coltonswiderski.