by Lucie Roy
When the Communities in Bloom (CiB) Evaluation took place in Morinville on Aug. 7, Town of Morinville Operations Manager Donald Fairweather provided a tour of the town.
He also mentioned many new projects that were due to take place.
He showed the judges, Sherry Cote and Emily Neis, the many changes since the 2017 evaluation when Morinville received the highest rating with 5 blooms and more than 82 points in the non-competitive category.
This year Morinville entered in the CiB Competitive Category and was placed in the 6,000-15,000 population size.
This was the first time in this category and they competed against Coaldale, Taber, and Strathmore.
Speaking with Fairweather on Friday, he said this year Morinville received 5 Blooms.
He heard the news when he attended the CiB Awards Ceremony that took place Sept. 29 in Sherwood Park.
Fairweather said Morinville has been busy since the August evaluation. When the judges toured the Fish & Game pond more than 750 trees and shrubs had just been planted.
The work did not end there.
Fairweather has kept us in touch with the many projects in town. Some of them are mentioned here.
Since August of this year, the town planted another 350 trees and shrubs at Fish & Game and these include edibles such as raspberries, Saskatoon, Gooseberries and more.
Two new floating docks were installed and two decks leading up to the docks are being completed.
More than 30 trees and shrubs, which include fruit trees, were planted at the Champlain Heights Park Community Garden by volunteers and family members of the Morinville Centennial Community Garden (MCCGS).
Improvements were made to the playground at the Skyline Ball Diamonds and at the Off-Leash Dog Park.
The Chief, a 10-foot-high climbing boulder was open for use in August in the South Glens in the Tellier District at 84A and 97 Street.
In a prepared statement to media Fairweather said, “Through this process, we have gained useful pointers that can be implemented to continue to grow beautiful places for residents to reside in or to help attract visitors.”
Evaluation criteria include tidiness, environmental action, heritage conservation, urban forestry, landscape, and floral displays.
