Mayor Emile Blokland explains changes at Rotary Club meeting. Photo: Don Mccracken

You won't know the players without a program.

There's been a shake-up in administration with the Town of High River in an effort to find efficiencies and savings.

Mayor Emile Blokland says "We've looked internally and we looked at a lot of our departments and we've decided how we can manage moving forward and we've reorganized a lot of our staff departments and I think we have a leaner machine that's more efficient and will be very productive."

The main reception area will be moved back to the lobby area and the Business and Tourism Development staff will be relocating to the lower level of the main town office.  It's expected the moves will be completed by the end of May.

“Administration undertook an in-depth review of our facilities and office spaces to identify areas where we could improve efficiencies while maintaining a high level of service,” CAO, James Thackray explained. “Moving business and tourism staff into the main office was a logical choice that will actually improve access for the public. All inquiries will now be handled from a central location,” said Thackray. “This is a much more efficient and functional arrangement for residents.”

And the Visitor Information Centre will remain at Sheppard Family Park this year but that will be reevaluated for 2014.  “There had been some discussion about other potential locations but it was decided to maintain the current location for this year and re-evaluate it for 2014,” said Mayor Emile Blokland. “Council applauds our administration’s efforts to find financial savings while not impacting the level of service we offer.”