The future of the Wheatland Family and Community Support Services (WFCSS) has been a mystery since the Town of Strathmore announced they were pulling out of the organization earlier this summer.
    At the August 22 board meeting of the WFCSS, the future which had remained enigmatic for nearly a month was settled.
    “It was the first time we had a chance to meet since we got the news the Town of Strathmore wanted to separate and form their own FCSS,” said Darcy Burke, chair of the WFCSS board and Mayor of Rockyford. “We did some strategic planning and made some decisions on how we’ll be moving forward.”
    For residents of Wheatland County, there is good news. The WFCSS will continue to function and perhaps become stronger than ever.
    “The first priority will be the rural people, because we will now be a rural FCSS. It could really augment the rural programs, because there will be a lot more funding available,” said Burke.
    Because of the split, the funding WFCSS receives will essentially be split in half between the new Strathmore FCSS and the remnants of the WFCSS.
    Currently, Strathmore receives roughly 90 percent of the WFCSS funding.
    “We had a discussion as to what would happen to some of our programs that we offer inside Strathmore. There was some discussion and concern about whether these organizations would be able to exist with less funding than what they have received over the past few years,” said Burke.
    “The funds coming to the Town of Strathmore will be significantly less.”
    There is concern among the WFCSS board about how effectively the Town of Strathmore can deliver services with less funding. In particular, Burke highlighted the home support services.
    “We have seniors as clients in Strathmore who are significantly worried about the transition. They like consistency and continuity, which might not be there. We see this is having a negative impact on those people and our board is trying to set up a meeting with the Town of Strathmore, because we would like to contract our home support services to the Town of Strathmore. That way our home support clients would not see a change in their day to day routine,” said Burke.
    “Both parties involved in this transition have to be sympathetic to the needs of our clients.”
    Other business of the meeting was to find a municipality that would act as signing authority for the funding received from the provincial government. The Village of Standard stepped forward in that capacity and will henceforth receive the government funding intended for the WFCSS.
    The previous signing authority had been the Town of Strathmore.
    The WFCSS is also in the process of finding a new building. As of January 1, they will be evicted from their current space in Strathmore. Burke indicated they hope the office will continue to reside in Strathmore.
    For the time being, the WFCSS program co-ordinator will research other rural FCSS programs to learn how programs are delivered elsewhere in the province in an effort to continue and improve programs in Wheatland County.
    “We want to make sure we meet the needs of our people and improve the services we’ve had for the past 35 years,” said Burke.

    Members of the Delia Village Council are cautiously optimistic about a new green energy project proposed for the Hand Hills.
    Suncor is hoping to build a massive wind farm amid the Hand Hills and held an open house on August 15 to educate residents and get feedback.
    “There have been three outfits interested in building a wind farm south of Delia. This is the second outfit we’ve had in town doing open houses saying they are going to build a wind farm,” said Councillor and Deputy Mayor Jeff Collins. “There is a certain amount of cynicism, because this is the third company to take a run at it and we haven’t seen anything.”
    Suncor took over the dream of building a wind farm near Delia after Nexxen stepped down from the project and Joss Wind Energy Ltd. could no longer continue.
    Council is hopeful the project could help breathe new life into Delia.
    “It appears it should be a good project for the Hand Hills. I just hope it will be a good swing for the village,” said Mayor John Rogers.
    “We’re all looking at the same thing, we’re asking what this will do for Delia. We’re going to be the closest concentration of people and we’re a little village. We have no idea if this is going to be a good or bad thing for the future of the village. I was talking to folks at Suncor and I was basically saying we could make this a turning point for Delia,” said Collins.
    The plan at the moment for Suncor is to start construction on 51 turbines in the Hand Hills as early as 2014, with operations commencing in 2015. It is hoped construction and maintenance will result in jobs in Delia.
    “Anything built in this area should help out with employment,” said Mayor Rogers.
    “I would love to see a Suncor office or mustering point downtown in the village. I would love to have the boss for the wind farm living in Delia.  I think it’s a no-brainer. If we have any trouble it would be nice to go to a guy who sends his kids to our school,” said Collins. “Suncor has been fairly straight forward in saying if there are jobs, they’ll be jobs in this area.”
    However, the project is not without criticism. Collins highlighted concerns such as bird depopulation, noise pollution, decreasing property values, and how turbines can affect the health of those living close to them. Some also view the presence of the turbines in the Hand Hills as visual pollution.
    However, the land the turbines are proposed to go on is held privately.
    “It’s a small price to pay for the potential economic development of the village,” said Collins.
    This was the second public meeting held by Suncor. On May 2 of this year, Suncor hosted their first open house so residents could learn about the project.
    Suncor is currently working with stakeholders to finalize the project details. The next step during the fall and winter will be to get municipal zoning and development permits.
    For Collins, the project is a must for Delia.    
    “I’m an unabashed supporter of this. I think we’ve got to do something, otherwise we won’t be around in ten years," said Collins. "We’ve got to take control of our destiny."

Above, a proposed map of the area shows where the Suncor Hand Hills project is planning to be constructed. Suncor held an open house on August 15 in Delia to inform residents what the project entailed. Delia Village Council members, who were in attendance, are hopeful the project will result in jobs in Delia.