Some very positive residents are encouraging others to have some patience and trust in the Town's overall vision for High River.

Summer is construction season, and this could not be more true in High River, as the Town works to rebuild.

Mayor Craig Snodgrass has been taking a lot of heat on his Facebook page from people who feel angry about all the construction and lack of parking, especially downtown.

But residents, Rod and Robin House, are sticking up for the mayor, saying they're completely onboard with the Town's vision and can't wait for the final product.

"We just feel that it's going to be a good thing to have it all completed. I know it's bad for the folks who've lost their businesses and so on, but I think the future looks great," Rod says. "I think the improvements and the parking and the pedestrian-friendly town are all positives."

He says he has a message for all the complainers:

"I think (they) should just be patient and wait it out," he says. "It will be better and it will be finished and we'll have a very nice town that will be attractive for out-of-towners, which I think is a real plus. People can come in and park and spend some time walking around downtown, and hopefully there will be some more businesses down there."

He says he's had some visitors come to High River, and their reaction has been very positive.

"We drove around town with a couple different parties in the last two or three weeks and the overwhelming feeling was that they just couldn't believe all the work that has been done in the past two years," he says. "And the fact that there is still on-going work, they didn't see that as a detriment. They saw it has a positive because they could tell there's still work to do, but the future looks bright."

Robin adds she's been thoroughly enjoying the new walking and biking paths.

"We really love riding all the trails in town and the great thing about having a downtown is that it's easily accessible by the trails, which means that when you get down there, you can move around easily as well because there won't be so many vehicles in the downtown core."

She says she understands there's an inconvenience with the construction, but thinks the end results will be worth the wait and both Rod and Robin say they're encouraging the Town to "keep the pedal to the floor."