Volunteer effort carried Macleod bid

FRANK MCTIGHE MACLEOD GAZETTE EDITOR

The work of a volunteer task force that created a comprehensive bid has Fort Macleod among the finalists to host the $100-million Alberta police college.    Fort Macleod Mayor Shawn Patience is optimistic the task force's work will pay off next month when Solicitor General Harvey Cenaiko announces where the college will be built. "We've put our absolute best effort forward," Patience said Monday. "We knew it was a good bid, and that has played out."    Fort Macleod's charge kicked in last fall when Patience picked up a fax at the town office. The solicitor general asked 300 Alberta communities to consider making a bid.    "I remember that day very vividly," Patience said Monday during a telephone interview.    Patience quickly dialed the number of Gordon MacIvor, economic development co-ordinator for the Town of Fort Macleod.    "I said, 'I've got something here that looks like an absolute perfect fit for Fort Macleod'," Patience recalled. "We had no trouble convincing anyone else."    Patience liked the project for the economic boost it would give Fort Macleod, with its rich history of policing that began in 1874 with the arrival of the North West Mounted Police.    "It was really a no-brainer," Patience said of the decision, adding the community was well aware the competition would be intense.    "We gave little consideration to who we would be up against," the mayor added. "We looked at it and said if we're going to get into this, we're getting in to win it."    Council struck a police college task force that set about developing the bid.    "We knew we couldn't compete with the bigger centres on a financial level. We never considered hiring a consultant," Patience said of the decision to let a local task force drive the bid. "We knew if we could get the community buy-in, that would go a long way."    After responding to the initial request for interest, the task force committee then responded to the call for proposals for a site.    Council voted to offer 320 acres in the southeast corner of Fort Macleod for $1.    "We offered the best piece of property we had available," Patience said.    The property was rezoned to allow construction of a college, and council also got options on adjacent land to allow for expansion of the college.    An archeological study was completed on the land, as well as Phase 1 and 2 environmental tests.    The task force then developed a comprehensive bid that addressed such criteria as community engagement, and facilities and amenities in town.    One of the highlights of the bid package was a DVD that included interviews with community residents expressing their support for the bid.    The task force also received letters of support from countless other communities, including the neighbouring Blood and Piikani First Nations.    That Fort Macleod's bid made it to the final four is a testament to the community's support, Patience said.    "I knew we had a lot of good people we could draw off to put this thing together," Patience said. "Just right across the board, everyone has carried their weight."