by Lucie Roy
Morinville News Correspondent
Sturgeon County Division 4 Councillor Jerry Kaup said, “The Big Yes” that he is running again.
His love for the County and its future and all of the people asking him to run again are some of the reasons he is throwing his hat back in for re-election as Division 4 Councillor.
“It is in his blood,” Kaup said, adding people have been asking him to run. “I have always said likely and now made my mind up.”
The long-time councillor said there are a lot of concerns and interests that have stirred up the people and he hates to drop the ball. He is pretty proud of Sturgeon County and feels they have come a long way in the last many years.
Kaup himself has been on Council for 22 of the last 25 years; he took a three-year hiatus.
Kaup said he is proud of the County’s many accomplishments and their precautionary steps in moving forward with residents in mind.
“There is so much powerful stuff in the economy right now; the County is probably the envy of Canada let alone Alberta,” Kaup said relating to what is happening in industry. “The refinery coming along, the Pembina Polypropylene upgrading facility around the corner, all these things are on our doorstep. We worked hard for many years to get here, and he would like to see it and enjoy some of the benefits from it.”
Kaup said he is very passionate about helping ratepayers.
“I know a lot of the ratepayers personally,” he said. “I help them with planning issues and whatever. I always like to help. It feels good to be able to carry that on, and they know where I am for coffee and they come and find me and discuss any issues or help them about questions pertaining to the purchase of a quarter of land or whatever.”
Kaup says he is looking forward to meeting with all of the ratepayers and will try to get to every house when he campaigns and he looks forward to that.
Past & Future
Kaup spoke of the history and background of the County and the time spent mending lots of fences in the last few years with municipalities and the collaborations with Morinville. He spoke of strengthening relationships with towns within Sturgeon County and maintaining industry’s confidence in the County.
Kaup said one of the the past challenges was when they reclassified all of the land in Redwater and the land use bylaw and now they are reaping the rewards of having the land available for industry. “It is coming back now,” he said, and with Pembina, they have space now, and they were able to buy land. It is there and classified and ready to go.”
One of the projects he would like to see is the township roads paved, the busiest ones first. Kaup said it had been a long time coming to have the money to do that.
Great news all the best?