Sturgeon County has rolled out its first new logo in decades as part of its ambitious plans for the future.
About 90 people were at the Synergy Aviation hangar at Villeneuve Airport June 8 for Sturgeon County Mayor Alanna Hnatiw’s State of the County address.
Revealed at the address is the county’s new logo: a five-striped “S” meant to represent the county as a place of opportunity, ambition, community values, wide open spaces, and deep roots.
“For over 100 years, Sturgeon County has grown and evolved, and so has our community,” Hnatiw told the crowd.
Hnatiw and other county officials spoke on how the county is rolling out a $7.5-million pilot project to bring fibre-based broadband Internet access to the Villeneuve, Calahoo, and Rivière Qui Barre regions. The county is positioned to take on opportunities in hydrogen and agriculture, and plans to invest some $90 million in the next few years into parks, roads, and other capital projects.
“Our potential is limited only by our imagination,” Hnatiw said.
Squiggly S?
Sturgeon County’s old logo dates back to at least 1996, said county communications manager Jackie Sargent in an email. It was originally a triangle with “Municipal District Sturgeon” on the bottom, an oil derrick, buildings, and a squiggly river in the middle, and wheat stalks on the sides. The derrick, buildings, and wheat stalks were later dropped, leaving just “Sturgeon County” and the river.
In an interview, Hnatiw said council decided to revamp the logo as it was decades old and given the innovative things happening in the county. The new logo is meant to evoke both furrows in a farm field and the shape of the Sturgeon River.
Guests at the address heard how the county is developing the hydrogen economy through organizations such as the Edmonton Regional Hydrogen Hub.
Hnatiw said the county has a long history of producing and using low-carbon hydrogen, and now hopes to test-drive homes and buses powered by it. Doing so will mean setting out rules for net-zero communities, and could involve upgrading pipe networks to carry hydrogen (as is now happening in Leeds, UK).
Canada is poised to become a major provider of blue hydrogen, or hydrogen produced from fossil fuels paired with carbon capture, Hnatiw said. Sturgeon County has the expertise to produce this energy, but will need to help workers retrain to produce it.
“This is not the winding down of the energy industry. This is the evolution of it,” she said.
Hnatiw said hydrogen could be a focus of development around Villeneuve Airport. Council recently approved an area master plan for the airport which envisions it as a hydrogen, logistics, aviation, and/or agri-innovation hub, and hopes to have a detailed area structure plan before the Edmonton Metropolitan Region Board later this year.
Council is also reviewing new laws to regulate agribusiness.
“The face of agriculture is changing, especially when you’re on the edge of one of the fastest growing cities in Canada,” Hnatiw said, when asked about these new laws.
Hnatiw said Sturgeon has several agri-businesses that simply do not fit anywhere in the county’s land-use bylaws, resulting in clashes with neighbours. Proposed new laws would establish rules for these businesses, and allow the county to enforce noise levels and hours of operations.
Hnatiw said the county’s broadband pilot will bring high-speed Internet to about 950 homes and free up space on wireless towers for other residents, allowing more people to work and learn from home.
“We’d love to be able to put fibre [optics] in every premise in the county, but that’s just not feasible or affordable right now,” Hnatiw said.
Hnatiw said she hopes the federal and provincial government will provide the funds needed to bring broadband to the rest of Sturgeon County.
Questions on the new logo should go to Sargent at 587-983-8257.
