Fort Macleod’s bid for the new police college, which drew on resources and people from every corner of the community, and which has the support of southwestern Alberta, is in the hands of the provincial government.
The whirlwind process in which Fort Macleod compiled a comprehensive bid in response to the government’s request for land procurement ended Wednesday when the mayor and other local officials delivered the package to the office of Solicitor General Harvey Cenaiko.
Now comes what may be the toughest part of the process Ñ waiting until spring to find out which of more than 20 communities in the running will be selected.
“We do believe we will be successful,” Mayor Shawn Patience said. “That’s our position going in. I think we’ve got an excellent bid put together.”
The provincial government announced earlier this year it will build a new police college at which an estimated 1,500 police and peace officers will be trained each year.
More than 30 Alberta communities responded to the government’s initial call for bids for the college, which is to be built on a site of more than 300 acres and will create an estimated 100 permanent jobs in the community.
Then came the province’s request for land procurement and the requirement for a comprehensive bid package that identifies a potential site, outlines infrastructure such as sewer and water, and discusses how the community intends to engage the police college in everyday life.
“Nothing like this comes easily,” said Patience, who last month struck a task force of Fort Macleod residents to prepare the bid and address the questions to which the provincial government wanted a response.
The key component of the bid was put in place Dec. 12, just two days before the bid package was delivered to Edmonton by Patience, economic development officer Gordon MacIvor, Coun. Christine Trowbridge and Coun. Mike Bourassa.
That key component was a 320-acre site in southeast Fort Macleod that is the proposed location for the police college. At its regular council meeting Dec. 12, council gave second and third readings to a by-law to rezone the land to police college direct control, from agricultural/industrial.
At that Dec. 12 meeting, council had a look at the bid package, which consisted of a huge binder containing information about the site, the community, and how Fort Macleod intends to engage staff and recruits at the police college in everyday life.
“We thought we would go very visual, just so the senior administration can get a picture,” said MacIvor, explaining why the task force created the package in the way it did.
The first part of the binder deals with the request for land procurement the proposed site and the servicing it requires.
The latter part of the binder is dedicated to community engagement, with photos illustrating life in Fort Macleod and essays discussing such parts of community life as health care, recreation, the commercial and retail sectors, education, and hotel and motel accommodation.
“The RFP (request for land procurement) we tried to track it question by question,” MacIvor said.
The binder also contains letters of support from more than 30 communities in southwestern Alberta, including those from leaders of the Blood Tribe and Piikani Nation.
“It’s a tremendous show of strength,” MacIvor said. “I think southern Alberta’s real bid is coming out of Fort Macleod.”
The task force then went a step further in its quest to give the package a visual element that will make Fort Macleod’s bid stand out from the rest.
“The second thing they did was a DVD,” said MacIvor, referring to an electronic information package containing images of the community as well as interviews with community leaders and residents expressing their support for the police college being built in Fort Macleod.
Much of the filming and interviewing was done on Santa Claus Parade weekend, and includes images from the rally on Main Street immediately prior to the parade.
There are interviews with residents, including Alain Dubreuil, Cynthia Temoin, Bob Ripley, Bill Hart and Barb Vallance, as well as community leaders such as Patience and councillors Christine Trowbridge, Brian Reach and Ken Williams.
Concluding the video are interviews with Grade 1 students, who list many of Fort Macleod’s assets, including the Empress Theatre, Fort Museum and arena.
“We’ll be No. 1,” MacIvor boldly predicted of Fort Macleod’s bid.
Patience agreed that is the goal, and reflected on the cover letter he wrote for the bid package.
“I had a hard time writing it,” Patience admitted. “It’s very important.”
Patience praised council, members of the task force and the Town of Fort Macleod staff, as well as the community at large for supporting the bid and pitching in when asked to help with the bid package.
“When we started this we made a concerted effort to make sure that it was the best bid we could put forward, that we left nothing on the table,” Patience said. “It would not have happened without all of them.”
“It’s been a real community effort,” the mayor added. “We have absolutely, without question, put our best foot forward.”