The Town of Okotoks will soon have a new person at the helm when it comes to planning for its future.

Rick Quail announced last week that he will step down as the Town's CAO at the end of June.

Quail has been with the Town for 27 years and 12 years as CAO and says he's been through a lot in the planning process as he started when Okotoks just a small town instead of now one of the biggest in the province."

"The privilege and honour of working as a public servant for this community has truly been a highlight," he says. "Helping to build and shape the community since 1988 when we were less than 5,000 now approaching 30,000 that's a lot decisions that have been made and a lot of community building that's occurred."

Quail says he been a part of many different projects to help Okotoks to prosper and growth but says there are a few items that stand out to him.

"The layout and the build of the community where the Sheep River remains the heart of the community, the downtown remains the commericial core and the interconnectivity both roadway plus even more so the pathway systems in the community and the green space and the strategic use of green space. That has all been truly a highlight in my career."

He adds being a town planner for 12 years takes a lot of time to not only make sure plans are viable for the future but executed properly for the best results especially building the south end of town.

"We looked at long term growth, we had the whole south side of Okotoks planned out conceptionally and it's almost literally been built in accordance with those plans so the long term planning is done quite a few years in advance and it lays out the land use patterns, the roadway systems, the transportation utility infrastructure, the whole works."

Quail's last day with the Town is June 30.