Diva Lady Day Spa

A local spa that offers residents a place to go for some relaxation and pampering has been recognized as the 1,500^th business to be licensed within Spruce Grove.

Monique Collins, owner of Diva Lady Day Spa, was presented with a commemorative plaque on behalf of the City of Spruce Grove on Nov. 30 to recognize this milestone.

“It’s wonderful to see the confidence that so many businesses have shown in choosing Spruce Grove as their community of choice to establish their business” said Mayor Stuart Houston.

“I would like to congratulate Monique, her staff, and the overall business community as our city records its 1,500^th licensed business. I want to wish you and the many businesses that were established before you many years of prosperity and success in our community.”

Located at #5, 20 McLeod Avenue, just east of Westgrove Drive, Diva Lady Day Spa celebrated its official grand opening on Oct. 15, 2011.

The spa offers clients a range of services, including infrared sauna treatments, body wraps, manicures and pedicures.

Spruce Grove City Hall

With a commitment to balancing the needs of a growing community, while also maintaining high service levels, Spruce Grove city council has approved a 2.52 per cent increase in property taxes for 2012.

The tax increase is part of the City’s 2012 – 2014 Corporate Plan, which was adopted by city council on Nov. 28. The plan also allows for an increase in the utility rate from $3.581 to $3.905 per cubic metre and the franchise fee rates will be an additional 4.5 points for electricity and 2.4 points for natural gas.

“City council and administration worked to develop a plan that focuses on sustainable and affordable growth,” said Mayor Stuart Houston. “We believe these increases are reasonable and will allow the City to continue to provide our residents with the quality of life they enjoy in Spruce Grove.”

A property owner with a property assessed at $323,000 will pay an additional $3.28 per month in property taxes. A utility customer who uses 17.5 cubic metres per month will pay an additional $5.67 for water and sewer each month. Franchise fees will increase by approximately $1.30 for electricity and $1.37 for natural gas for a typical consumer each month.

The increase in utility rates is effective Jan. 1, 2012, and the increase in franchise fees is effective March 1, 2012. The actual mill rate for property taxes will be set in April/May 2012. Property tax notices are usually sent out at the end of May.

The corporate plan also outlines the City’s new initiatives for 2012. Some of the new initiatives are:

• The grand opening of Jubilee Park and relocation of Canada Day festivities;
• Replacing the playground on McLeod Avenue and Broxton Park and adding playgrounds in Harvest Ridge and Jesperdale;
• Upgrading all asphalt trails in Westview Park and adding a trail to the Deer Park playground;
• Paving south of Millgrove Drive (over the water main replacement done in 2011) and Grove Drive, from Calahoo Road to Woodside;
• Replacing the water main for Wellington Crescent;
• Adding four new permanent full-time firefighters and one permanent full-time RCMP officer; and
• Implementing recommendations from the Economic Development Strategy.

For more information, visit www.sprucegrove.org/corporateplan.

[Source: City of Spruce Grove]

Proposed Tri Village Commons development

The next step in a proposed “village-style” development located adjacent to the TransAlta Tri Leisure Centre has been approved by City Council.

Both the development agreement and the sale agreement for the proposed development, called Tri Village Commons, were approved at the Nov. 28 council meeting.

Approval of the actual site layout is still subject to a development permit application, which is expected to be submitted in early 2012.

The development agreement sets out the conditions for servicing the lands that will house the development. This includes road improvements, sanitary sewer extension and service, and landscaping requirements.

The sale agreement approves the sale of approximately five acres of City-owned land for the construction of the development. The land is located west of Jennifer Heil Way and south of the TransAlta Tri Leisure Centre.

The $30-million proposed development will create a “village” look and feel by incorporating a variety of building sizes and tenants including a:

• Four-storey Holiday Inn Express and Suites hotel, featuring just over 100 rooms with meeting and banquet facilities for up to 150 guests, a business centre, swimming pool, gym and breakfast area.
• Single-storey family restaurant adjacent to the hotel and connected by a pedway.
• Single-storey building that will house a variety of retail stores and shops.
• Single-storey building for small food and coffee shop-related businesses.
• Sports-themed restaurant and lounge.
• Three-storey professional building for medical and therapeutic services, as well as general office space.

Construction is anticipated to start in the spring of 2012 after a Development Permit has been approved by Council.

[Source: City of Spruce Grove]

Other resources

• Description of project
• Colliers
• Tri-Village Common Marketing Brochure
• Spruce Grove Examiner

Thompson Bros Construction

Local business Thompson Brothers Construction is this year’s recipient of the City of Spruce Grove’s Community Spirit Award.

Thompson Brothers Construction was chosen for the award for their outstanding support of youth sports in the community. The award was accepted by John Thompson during the Spruce Grove & District and the Stony Plan & District Chambers of Commerce Awards Gala 2011, held Oct. 22.

“This is an excellent example of how corporate support can make a difference in the community and touch so many people in the process,” said Spruce Grove Mayor Stuart Houston. “We are proud to have Thompson Brothers in our city and pleased to recognize them for their contributions.”

In business since 1964, Thompson Brothers Construction has been the primary corporate sponsor of the Spruce Grove Saints for the past four years.

As part of this sponsorship, they contribute $20 for each goal scored by the Saints to KidSport Parkland to help families that may otherwise not be able to afford to participate in community sports programs. The company also supports a mentorship program where Saints players visit selected local schools for a visit and a story during National Reading Week.

Thompson Brothers commitment to youth sports is also evident in their support of the Junior B Regals hockey team, the Spruce Grove Ringette Association, Spruce Grove Minor Football, the Spruce Grove Soccer Association and Spruce Grove Minor Ball.

John Thompson was presented with an original watercolour painting by local artist Cindy Barratt, winner of the 2008 Awards of Excellence in the category of arts.

This is the third year City Council has had the privilege to recognize a business for its outstanding community spirit in supporting events, programs and services, or initiatives that benefit the community with the Community Spirit Award.

Past recipients are Helene and Eric Thys of McDonald’s Restaurants and Mina Poonja from Subway Spruce Grove.

The other nominees for this year’s award were Brian Loewen from Dairy Queen Spruce Grove, Dave and Sharon Hendrickson from Tim Horton’s Spruce Grove and Gina Luck from Servus Credit Union.

[Source: City of Spruce Grove]

The reality is that Blockbuster and Movie Gallery in Canada were healthy and viable businesses brought down by the debts of their U.S. parents. The U.S. brick and mortar video stores are under siege primarily by Redbox kiosks and Netflix’s DVD by mail delivery, neither of which exist in Canada. Yes Netflix streaming and other alternative sources provide movies in Canada, but they simply don’t have the market share they enjoy in the U.S.

The typical Canadian seeks out intelligent entertainment that their local independent video store is happy to provide and we are still here because we’re fiercely independent owners that cater to the individualized needs of our customers and contribute to the fabric of our communities.

Not only do I run a local video store, I enjoy the privilege of working with hundreds of indie video stores on the Movie Experts TEAM that are located in towns and cities from coast to coast.  We are still here to serve the entertainment needs of the millions of consumers in our markets.  I encourage you to balance what you read, concerning the demise of Blockbuster, with the story of the perseverance of the independent business owner.

Yours truly,

Shawn Davis
MovieWorld
Stony Plain

The open houses will be in Jesperdale and Stoneshire in Spruce Grove. The first 100 guests visiting all 6 showhomes will receive a deciduous shrub complements of Cannor Nurseries.

View the PDF poster here.

Fortis power line maintenance

FortisAlberta recognizes that their customers depend on them for safe and reliable electricity at the flip of a switch.  To deliver this level of service, they do regular maintenance on our 112,000 kilometres of power lines across Alberta.

Some inspections and replacement cycles are every seven years and some are done yearly. What that typically means, is that if there are any devices, poles or wires that need changing, they are done throughout the year which could involve more than one power outage in order to do maintenance.

With advice from customers and municipal officials, FortisAlberta has decided to do one comprehensive maintenance project throughout Parkland County, Spruce Grove and Stony Plain this spring so that power interruptions can be kept to a minimum. Where possible, FortisAlberta employees will also be doing the maintenance on live, energized power lines so as not to interrupt service at all. If a power outage is necessary, customers will be called in advance.

Joe Dwyer, Area Manager, explains, “We will be doing about 3,000 repairs pro-actively that we feel will improve our reliability in the County on our equipment and poles.”

FortisAlberta will have several crews working throughout the County simultaneously so customers are advised to use caution while passing our workers.

For more information contact: 310-WIRE (9473)

Centrally located, the library provides an immense array of services that transcends the concept of the typical library. In addition to the “traditional” library service of lending books, the library also provides programming for all ages from babies to seniors, new release and classic CDs & DVDs, audio-books, computer & Internet access, inter-library loan service and a friendly, welcoming space for anyone who just wants to come in and sit down.

They strive to keep costs to a minimum and most programs are free or less than $10.00. Programs are not restricted to card holders and neither is the library. The library also offers free one-on-one computer training for anyone in the community. People can book a one hour session at a time that is convenient for them on any topic of their choice. Stony Plain Public Library is also part of the Alberta SuperNet high speed Internet access network. If you do have a library card you can be part of the emerging e-book scene. Instead of having to wait for the most popular novels, you can download the e-book (or audio-book) to your Sony Reader or Kobo.

Library cards are an incredible value since $13.00 will provide every member of one household a card for a year. Seniors get a preferential rate of $6.00 for the year. For more information you can call and chat with one of the friendly staff at 780-963-5440 or you can go online at www.stonyplainlibrary.org to get ALL the details!

Local free WiFi

Who needs an office when you can pull up to your local Starbucks, order a coffee,  and get free internet access?

Here is a list places that offer wireless internet in Stony Plain and Spruce Grove:

Stony Plain Library

You can access wireless internet (at a quiet desk) at the Stony Plain Library. You don’t even need a library card!  Click here for map.

City of Spruce Grove

Free Wi-Fi on the SG_Free_Internet network is now offered at the Agrena, Central Park, Rotary Playscape and Fuhr Sports Park from 6 a.m. to midnight. You do not need a username or password to connect.

Green Tea Frog

The Green Tea frog Is devoted to providing the most flavorful and enjoyable tea experience possible. Grab a tea, and surf the web for free! Click here for map.

Cafe Simone

Located in the Queen Street Medical Center in Spruce Grove, Cafe Simone is a hidden gem: a beautiful (and quiet) seating area, and good coffee, soup and sandwiches.  They are open until 5pm.  Click here for map.

Starbucks in Safeway

Both Safeway locations (Stony Plain and Spruce Grove) feature a Starbucks with a seating area, and free WiFi.  The greatest advantage to these hotspots is the hours: Safeway is open until 11pm most evenings.

Second Cup (Spruce Grove)

Thanks to Jeff Cubos for letting us know about the free WiFi at Second Cup.  He says that there aren’t a lot of plug-ins, but that there is a “secret” plug-in location under the fireplace.

Spruce Grove Library

Located in the newly renovated King Street Center, the Spruce Grove Library offers wireless access as well.  According to their website: “Wireless tickets can be picked up at the circulation desk. Each ticket lasts for one hour and there is no limit to the number of tickets you can use.“  Click here for map.

Have DML build your garage

DML Enterprises is a general contracting company serving the entire Edmonton region: Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County, Devon, Beaumont, Nisku, and Leduc.

They do renovations, additions, and construction. This includes repairs, plumbing, electrical, and all interior and exterior alterations. You can view their gallery of project types on their website.

If you are looking for a new garage, a shop, a bathroom, a kitchen or a basement renovation, you can give them a call at: 780-893-1288

When you call, tell them you saw them on Tri Area News.