Edson

to improve that type of lifestyle. I think the general evolution of our boutique-style retail sector lends itself to that kind of vibe. It gives downtown cores a real chance to rebound and generate youth into their communities.One of the things we have proceeded on is a new policy which will allow businesses to more easily create outdoor patios in the downtown area,which will get people out on the street and add a little bit of vibrancy and atmosphere to our downtown area.We’ve already had a few businesses approach us about taking advantage of that.” Edson is also actively pursu- ing several energy-saving, sus- tainable, and “green” practices. Derricott explains: “We are in the process of having all of our street lighting changed from high pressure sodium to LED, which has become the industry standard and obviously is kind of a low-hanging fruit in terms of environmental efficiency, but also it’s just become very economical to do that. Two other things: we operate, in Edson, an airfield that has a 6,000-yard runway, which is unusually long for a town, our size, but it also produces kind of a sterile field around it.We have entered into the early stages of considering what it would look like to have a solar field installed. The value of the land, itself, is pretty much EDSON, ALBERTA nil, but if we can produce something like a solar field in that area, the preliminary design suggests that we can produce enough power from that solar field to pro- vide all the needs for the Town of Edson’s facilities.That’s pretty exciting and we’re looking forward to that. “The last thing I would mention is that we are a very active recycling commu- nity, which has produced a lot of good results in terms of the types of materials that have been diverted from our land- fill. And the next phase that we’re look- ing to go to is curbside, organic pickup. As much as 40 percent of our residential waste is now organics, and if we can divert that wet waste, which is also the heaviest part of the waste, we can really reduce hauling costs for the garbage, as well as keep it out of the landfill and treat it into a reusable material, as well. It’s become quite common and we’re