The Municipal District of Pincher Creek, Alberta, has selected Operations Economics Inc. (OEI) to develop its first 10-year Public Works Strategic Master Plan.

The Strategic Master Plan will focus on the Municipal District’s public works—the people, capital assets, and systems that keep the area’s transportation network and infrastructure systems functioning smoothly through high winds, hot summers, and heavy, drifting snows.

For OEI, the project supplements its core engagements in airports and ports.

The Municipal District of Pincher Creek is a rural area of 3,456 km² in southwestern Alberta adjacent to the Crows Nests Pass, the Rocky Mountains, and the Piikani Reserve. The Town of Pincher Creek (population 3,500) is 100 kilometres west of Lethbridge and 210 kilometres south of Calgary.

The local economy is based largely on agriculture, wind energy, and natural gas production. Pincher Creek lies in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and the strong chinook winds that descend from the eastern slopes make the region the “Wind Capital of Canada.” A growing number of wind energy projects featuring massive turbines cover the Pincher Creek landscape.

OEI staff recently began the project and visited the Municipal District and toured its public works yard.