No matter your fitness level, you can join the Flagstaff Fitness Challenge by downloading the Strava app onto your smartphone and searching “Flagstaff Fitness Challenge“.

Here, participants can share their activities, cheer on others and compete on the weekly leaderboards.

All participants who log at least one workout in a week will have their name entered in a draw for that week’s weekly prize package (the challenge runs for six weeks). Please note that participants are only eligible for one weekly prize pack.

If you log at least one activity in all six weeks, your name will be entered into the grand prize draw! It’s that easy!

The six-week Flagstaff Fitness Challenge started July 1, 2024. We urge you to rise to the challenge!

General Guidelines

• Participants do not have to live in Flagstaff County to take part in the Flagstaff Fitness Challenge.
• Winners are responsible for prize pickup at the Flagstaff County Administration Building.
• A photograph of each winner will be taken when picking up a prize.
• All participants are encouraged to cheer on your fellow fitness enthusiasts through Strava, while also sharing photos and feedback from your workouts.
• And most importantly, all participants are encouraged to have fun!  

2024 Weekly Prizes

Each week, any participant who has logged at least one activity in our group on Strava will be entered into our weekly draw! The weekly prize package includes:

💪 Free bicycle tune-up from Grizzly Country Bike Shop
💪 Flagstaff County hoodie
💪 Flagstaff County water bottle
💪 Flagstaff County toiletry bag
💪 Flagstaff Region adult colouring book and crayons
💪 Flagstaff Region journal (featuring Kristen Kueber artwork on the cover)
💪 Flagstaff Region candle (from Creations by Kim)
💪 Flagstaff Region lip balm
💪 Gritin resistance bands or Jessica Janzen’s Bring the Joy book

Note: Participants are only eligible for one weekly prize pack. Flagstaff County Communications Coordinator Cary Castagna will reach out via email (ccastagna@flagstaff.ab.ca) to each week’s winner to confirm pickup details.

• Week 6 Winner

   

   

• Week 5 Winner
• Week 4 Winner
• Week 3 Winner

  Brandon Whidden

• Week 2 Winner

  Julie Pasztor

• Week 1 Winner

  Roxy Korth

2024 Grand Prize Draw

If you log at least one activity in all six weeks, your name will be entered into the grand prize draw

2024 Grand Prize

Shirley Damberger of HOM of Well Being is donating a massage along with a gift basket that includes things to help take care of the body and muscles such as Cryoderm (a topical pain relief product), muscle and joint bath bombs, a cork roller, and a routine natural deodorant sample.

Brittany MacMillan of BAM Fitness is donating Gritin exercise resistance bands, which come with a four-week workout plan!

Flagstaff County will also be giving out Flagstaff Bucks as part of the grand prize!

Grand Prize Winner

The winner of our grand prize draw in 2023 was Nicole Nychyporuk.

Sponsors

The following local businesses are generously sponsoring prizes:

• BAM Fitness
• HOM of Well Being
• Grizzly Country Bike Shop

History of the Flagstaff Fitness Challenge

The Flagstaff Bike Challenge was established in the summer of 2020 as a way to encourage the region’s residents to get outside, get active and feel connected to the area in a safe manner during the pandemic. It was designed for participants of ALL ages and abilities. The Flagstaff Bike Challenge continued in 2021 with a few minor tweaks.

In 2022, the challenge was expanded to include a variety of activities, including walking, running, hiking, swimming, weight training, yoga and much more! It was rebranded the Flagstaff Fitness Challenge. The aim of the Flagstaff Fitness Challenge is to encourage residents to move more, resulting in a healthier region!

About Strava

Nominating a child in Flagstaff for a positive ticket just got easier.

Now you can do it online at: https://lf.flagstaff.ab.ca/Forms/PositiveTicket.

Positive tickets are issued for positive behaviour such as practicing personal safety, being a community hero and making smart choices. Our peace officers want to be notified by teachers, coaches, friends and neighbours throughout the Flagstaff Region who have witnessed a child doing a positive or helpful deed, or performing a safe act that would be worthy of receiving a positive ticket.

You can also contact Officer Skyler Zelinski or Officer Aaron Young if you know of a deserving youth! Officer Skyler and Officer Aaron can be reached by phone at 780-384-4100 or via email at szelinski@flagstaff.ab.ca or ayoung@flagstaff.ab.ca.

Positive tickets come with a $10 coupon that can be redeemed at participating businesses, as well as a bracelet for a free swim at the Killam Regional Aquatic Centre.

Let’s acknowledge the good that our young people are doing right here in Flagstaff!

Congratulations to the Flagstaff County Economic Development Team, winners of a 2023 Minister’s Award for Municipal and Public Library Excellence.

The EcDev Team earned the award for their Flagstaff Crafted program in the Building Economic Strength Category.

The award recognizes their initiative to enhance the exposure of local makers, artisans, and retailers of local products within the Flagstaff Region.

Flagstaff County Reeve Don Kroetch presented the award last week to the EcDev Team (from left): Charlene Sutter, Kerri Lefsrud and Jenalee Waring. Not pictured: Shaina Dunn.

Congratulations to Flagstaff County CAO Shelly Armstrong, recipient of a long service pin from the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators (CAMA).

“It is our privilege to acknowledge the commitment of your Chief Administrative Officer, Shelly Armstrong, for her remarkable thirty years of service in municipal government management roles,” CAMA President Tony Kulbisky wrote in a letter addressed to Flagstaff County Reeve Don Kroetch.

“Shelly’s dedication to her role has undoubtedly contributed to the advancement of your municipality, and we are pleased to recognize her achievements.”

Don presented Shelly with her recognition pin at Wednesday’s Council meeting.

Watch for your Tax & Assessment Notice in the mail. All notices were mailed Thursday, May 30, 2024. If you have not received your notice by Monday, June 17, 2024, please contact our office at 780-384-4100. If you require a receipt to be sent to you, please indicate that on the bottom of the notice when you return your payment.

The tax due date is Tuesday, October 15, 2024.

If you have a concern or believe there is an error regarding your property assessment, please report this immediately to Accurate Assessment, Sean Cosens, Assessor, 780-417-6840.

If your concern is not resolved to your satisfaction, you may submit an Assessment Review Board Complaint along with the appropriate fee within 60 days of mailing (by August 6, 2024), to Flagstaff County, Box 358, Sedgewick, AB T0B 4C0, Attention: Shelly Armstrong, CAO. If you require a receipt to be sent to you, please indicate on the bottom of the notice when you return your payment.

The Assessment Review Board has the authority to review your assessment and direct the assessor to make amendments. Its function is to hear evidence as to whether your property is assessed on an equitable basis with similar properties.

For more on taxation, please click HERE.

Enumerators are now going door-to-door to all rural and hamlet addresses in Flagstaff County as part of our 2024 Municipal Census.

To avoid an in-person visit to your residence, please complete the census at: https://censusalberta.ca/flagstaffcounty, or by calling 780-384-4100. You will need the two-part secure access code that was mailed to you in late April.

The only information we require is the number of residents in your dwelling, and their age and gender.

Please note that we are using the census to complete an Electoral Boundary Review and to help support Municipal Services offered.

As this is our first census in several decades, your participation is crucial in helping us plan for the evolving needs of Flagstaff County.

Years of population change, including the more recent incorporation of the Hamlets of Strome and Galahad, have left an uneven distribution throughout our seven electoral divisions. It’s time to redraw our electoral boundaries to give residents the best possible municipal representation.

Please help us to serve you better.

Kids, break out those pencil crayons and markers! In honour of National Public Works Week from May 19 to 25, the Municipal Services Department is hosting a colouring contest!

One winner for each of the following age groups will be announced during Public Works Week and will receive a prize:

• Up to 4 years old
• 5 – 8 years old
• 9 – 12 years old
• 13 and up

*Prizes can be picked up at the Flagstaff County Administration Office between May 21-31.

Entries for the colouring contest can be emailed to county@flagstaff.ab.ca or delivered in-person to the County Administration Office by the contest deadline on May 15.

Please ensure contestants submit their name, age, and contact information.

Click the image below for a printable PDF.

Online Crime Reporting (OCR) offers an alternative and convenient way for people to report non-emergent crime without having to call the police or visit the detachment.

All reports received through OCR are forwarded to the Call Back Unit for investigation and completion.  Use of online crime reporting by the public provides frontline members the chance to spend more time on the road being proactive. 

The OCR tool can be accessed by using the link https://ocre-sielc.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/alberta. The OCR tool is also available on the RCMP app.

By Nick Dunn

Wild boar in Alberta have been gaining ground and starting to invade the province quite rapidly in some regions. Their invasion can result in some of the most damaging from a species in North America. Wild boars are not native to the province and were introduced as livestock in the 1980s as a diversification method and due to their intelligence and our lack of containment, some escaped. In 2008, under the Alberta Agricultural Pest Act, wild boar was designated as a pest where it is ‘at large’ (meaning wild or feral) in Alberta. Under this act, landowners are required to control and destroy pests and prevent them from establishing on their land. In 2013, the province released minimum containment standards to help mitigate risks associated with livestock operations.

Just recently, it was reported that a wild boar was seen southeast of Lougheed roaming throughout a field. Wild boar have been seen in the County in previous years including an incidence in 2021 near Killam, which brought into Council Bylaw 06/21 A BYLAW OF FLAGSTAFF COUNTY, IN THE PROVINCE OF ALBERTA, FOR THE PURPOSE OF REGULATING PROHIBITED ANIMALS WITHIN THE MUNICIPAL BOUNDARIES OF FLAGSTAFF COUNTY. This bylaw was brought into place to address the issues of raising wild boar as livestock and to list them as a prohibited animal. Also noted is no person shall keep, either on a temporary or permanent basis, any prohibited animals on any properties or premises within Flagstaff County. Any prohibited animals located within the County must be euthanized or removed from the County within seven days of receiving an order from a bylaw enforcement officer or designated officer.

Wild boars are unique in adapting to their environment for survivability. There are two types of boars we could potentially see in Alberta including the Eurasian and hybrids crossed with domestic. As the name suggests, they originate from Europe and Asia. Identifying them can be hard as they can be mistaken for domestic species, but they will have long black and brown stringy hair with hairs on their undercoat to protect them in the winters and sharp tusks. They will eat anything as they are omnivores and have adapted to be a nocturnal species. Hunting them hasn’t been successful due to their ability to adapt and educate their offspring. In the summer, they will nest near water and in the winter, they will nest within deep snow near food sources. Sows mature after 6-8 months, and have a gestation period of 114 days, averaging 4-6 piglets per litter, leaving the species highly reproductive over their 5-to-8-year lifespan.

The province has provided funding in efforts to help eradicate wild boar, but legislation needs to be changed to make that possible. As mentioned, there are minimum containment standards for livestock producers and other hobbyists. These standards are more used as guidelines as there is no enforcement or penalization. Resolution 5-24 WILD BOAR AND THE ALBERTA AGRICULTURAL PESTS ACT addresses the legislation, asking Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation to invoke a moratorium on expansion of wild boar farming until the province decides on the future of wild boar in Alberta. This has resulted in pushing municipalities to prohibit the species through a bylaw like Flagstaff County passed in June of 2021.

Although it ended in March 2024, the province did have a bounty program that paid landowners and hunters $50 for a pair of ears. The province also has traps set out to try to catch larger groupings known as sounders, in the denser areas. Catching wild boar at large is only effective when the entire sounder is captured simultaneously. Currently, the province hasn’t released any information regarding the future of wild boar eradication. Alberta Invasive Species Council has the Squeal on Pigs Campaign that helps promote the eradication of wild boar in Alberta, in addition to mapping through their EDDMapS application.

If you see wild boar within Alberta, it is asked that you safely take pictures, note the location, and fill out the online reporting form. You can also call 310-FARM (3276) or email af.wildboar@gov.ab.ca.

Just a friendly reminder that a penalty of 6% will be levied on all outstanding taxes on May 1, 2024.

To avoid penalties, payments made by mail must be postmarked no later than April 30, 2024, and payments made by Internet banking or TelPay must be received no later than April 30, 2024.

Payment options available:

• County Office: 12435 Twp Rd 442, Sedgewick, AB
• Mail: Flagstaff County, P.O. Box 358, Sedgewick, AB T0B 4C0
• Internet banking: Through the Credit Union, ATB Financial, BMO Bank of Montreal, e-Transfer, or TelPay (TelPay payments can be made at www.telpay.ca).

Click HERE for more information on taxation.