Olds News

Olds town council has given the green light to a FortisAlberta proposal to replace the town's current high-pressure sodium street lights with LED lights, which it says are more efficient, environmentally friendly, and will save the town money.

The provincial government is giving the Town of Olds a $3,500 grant to help cover training costs for its 2016-17 Emergency Management Preparedness Program.

Town of Olds administrative staff are applying for a provincial Minister's Award for Municipal Excellence. Interim chief administrative officer Pat Vincent made that proposal - which council approved -- on behalf of town staff during the Feb.

RCMP and Olds firefighters are continuing to investigate an incident in which the body of a woman was found in the aftermath of a garage fire north of town.

A member of the Olds Nordic Skiers cross-country ski group in the community is frustrated that some trucks were driven across ski trails in the O.R. Hedges area, effectively destroying portions of them.

Olds town council gave first reading last week to a new Highlands Area Structure Plan amendment bylaw. Before second reading can take place, a public hearing on the bylaw must be held. That hearing is set for March 27 at 7 p.m. at council chambers.

A decision on whether fire Chief Lorne Thompson will come back from his current leave or whether town of Olds chief operating officer Scott Chant will continue as acting fire chief is expected to be made in the coming days.

Wildrose leader Brian Jean says while he supports the idea of solar and wind power, he thinks the NDP government's newly-announced solar power rebate program is the wrong way to go.

With the help of "a third party," town administrative staff are analyzing a proposal by Olds Institute (OI) to stretch out the repayment period for two loans totalling $14 million it received from the province via the Town of Olds.

The debate over merging the Progressive Conservative and Wildrose parties into one entity dominated Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills MLA Nathan Cooper's Town Hall Community Consultation Feb. 21.