Municipal District of Pincher Creek councillor Dave Cox is the new reeve.

Cox was elected to the position in a secret ballot amongst the councillors during the annual organizational meeting, Oct. 24. 

“I know it’s going to be a steep learning curve,” admits the first-term councillor. “But, I never like to shy away from someone asking me to do stuff.”

He replaces incumbent Rick Lemire, following a run-off between the two.

Elected as the MD’s Division 3 representative in 2021’s municipal election, Cox says he’s looking forward to the new role and ready to roll up his sleeves. 

“We have a lot of things going on, some pretty big challenges, especially with our water system … trying to get a reliable source of water to our treatment plant, probably one of our highest priorities right now,” says the new reeve about some of the MD’s priorities in the coming year.

“Road maintenance is probably next as our highest-call item and I believe our administration understands that.”

A former fire chief for the area, Cox is also passionate about seeing a complete twinning of Highway 3 to the Alberta-British Columbia border.

“It’s an important trade corridor. It’s a national corridor and it’s an international corridor with lots and lots of traffic coming from the States,” he says.

“We’re always seeing an increase at our intersections coming on [to Highway 3] so it’s something we’ll need to address.”

Besides the election of Cox as reeve, the MD also has a new deputy reeve. District 5 councillor John MacGarva was chosen over Tony Bruder in a secret-ballot vote.