It's been a busy year for Lacombe County and will continue into 2017 said Lacombe County Reeve Paula Law.  

2016 saw the completion of the County's Agriculture Guide and its intermunicipal plan.

They've also opened up two remote shops which help to decrease the amount of driving for County staff and also opened the beach at Sandy Point.

Another highlight for the County is the Red Deer Regional Wastewater which will see the project move forward to the construction phase in 2017.  

With the down turn of the economy, Law says it's allowed Council to take advantage of some of the low costs of construction.

“We took on some projects that we got very good prices on. We’ve added a couple of roads to our schedule and we did a little extra stock piling of gravel.”

Law adds rural crime was among the top concerns from ratepayers this year and to help curb the problem council approved a new policy to provide more financial support to rural crime watch organizations.

Law also added that they've also trained one of their peace officers as their new Crime Watch Liaison.

“He can go out and do an environmental assessment on your property. He will come in and take a look at it and give you tips on how you can make (your property) a little less desirable.”

Looking forward to 2017, the Reeve says they will continue to work on its municipal development plan and land use bylaw, hoping to adopt it this summer.

Residents can also look forward to the new Lacombe County App that is set to launch in January, which will give ratepayers one more form of communication with the County.