Deneron acclaimed as mayor

Housing needs a challenge

Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Liard (Nov 17/00) - Joanne Deneron will remain mayor of Fort Liard.

The race for the municipality's highest office was not a difficult one as Deneron was the only nominee for the position.

Joanne Deneron

There were no nominees for the five hamlet council seats as of press time Tuesday, and councillors will have to be appointed as they were for the last hamlet council.

"There is no interest in hamlet (council). That's the trend that it's been for a number of years now," Deneron said, adding the appointments will result in one-year terms as opposed to two years via election.

She said there should be a greater degree of interest because the municipality offers programs and services to all residents.

Deneron, who has been mayor for the past two years, said she hopes to help Fort Liard meet the growing needs of the community as oil and gas development continues.

"There has been some hairy moments with the extension of our dump and the possibility of extending our airport to service the planes that are coming in," she said. "I think it's just staying on top of the changing dynamics of our community as a whole."

Another challenge is to keep up with housing needs in Fort Liard.

"We're continuing work on opening up new subdivisions," she said, adding the hamlet has been working with the Acho Dene Koe First Nation. "It's just making sure that we're always ahead of the game ... we don't want to be left with nothing to develop and there's people in a big line up. We don't want that to happen."

The hamlet is also in the process of creating a broad job description for a protective services officer. The previous bylaw service, which was discontinued two months ago, was too focused on dog control and speeding.

"As a hamlet we couldn't afford to keep a person just to do a couple of things on that job description," Deneron explained. "It needs to be more focused on preventative (measures) -- going into the school and talking to the kids, more public awareness in the community, to work with the local fire department -- and also to do some of those other things on the side too."

In the meantime, the local RCMP have been expected to pick up the slack on hamlet bylaws, she added.

The hamlet is also interested in assuming control of the economic development position in the community, which was formerly administered by the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, said Deneron.

A new hamlet office was recently opened in the community as well, she added.