By Katie Ryan
“I rode my motorbike to Blackfoot and back the other day. Usually I only make two to three trips a year, to Kitscoty and back, that was all I was able to use it,” said Roger Brekko.
Now that the city manager has bid farewell to his role with the city – which spanned over three decades – Brekko plans on riding more and is looking forward to a new change of pace.
“I very much appreciate all of the people who have helped me over the years. Not everybody has agreed with Roger Brekko and that’s healthy,” he said earnestly with a laugh. “I have always represented the city of Lloydminster and the region, I have tried to be fair to everybody. But sooner or later when you are in the city manager position, whether it’s a developer or some individual who wants something done, if it wasn’t in the public interest I was the guy who usually said it wasn’t permitted.”
When Brekko first drove into Lloydminster 38 years ago the city was smaller and the roads weren’t paved yet. With a population of approximately 9,000 in 1971, Brekko planted his roots in the small community and began working for the city.
“When I arrived in town in September it was on Friday at about 3 p.m. and I was out on the air strip Monday morning moving dirt, surveying and building an airport. We had our first 3,500–foot–by–75–foot asphalt runway in Lloyd,” said Brekko of his work as a development contractor, a few days after resigning from his position as city manager last week. “For people of that era that was a big change – we have a paved asphalt runway.”
Shortly after in January of 1972 Brekko took on the role of city engineer and quickly hit the ground running. According to Brekko the ‘70s were a busy time for the city and one of his first projects with the City of Lloydminster was to pave the streets.
“We had to make sure the mayor’s and the aldermans’ streets were the last ones that were paved,” he laughed.
By 1979 Lloydminster was growing at a rate of 10 per cent a year said Brekko, who had completed extensive engineering studies for the city, laying the foundation for a growing community.
“I had taken a different approach than we were taught in school and I had looked at Mother Nature and with our gravity systems we could handle about 75,000 people. We were growing about 55 per cent in Alberta and about 45 per cent in Saskatchewan,” said Brekko, quickly recalling the numbers and stats.
It was also in 1979 that Brekko accepted the position of city manager – a position he held for the past 31 years.
“When they first offered the job, I said ‘geez I don’t know,’ but the councils have always wanted to make Lloydminster a better place and that always intrigued me because I came from an area of Saskatchewan farming/ranching where they exported three generations,” said Brekko, who with his wife raised three children in Lloydminster.
“When they offered me the city commissioner job – that’s what it was called at the time – it was a challenge because it was dealing with the intangible tangibles. Engineering is more of a science and there is art in it, but in the political arena as a city commissioner you have to interpret plans and it involves culture – everything – so that was a challenge. I guess that was one of the reasons I stayed on so long with the city because it was always challenging. There were always new things and everyone in Lloydminster wanted to do better, so with a community attitude like that, very industrious and a lot of skills, we eventually developed more professional people as well.”
According to Brekko, Lloydminster residents wanted to see improvements. And they have. A long list of projects have been completed in Lloydminster. From constructing sports facilities, facilitating industry growth and even the paving of the streets, Brekko’s involvement was integral in the city’s growth and development from a rural to urban community.
“Through the ‘70s, Lloyd made quite a transformation from an oil town with gravel streets to paved streets,” said Brekko. “There was a lot of work – ditches to gutters, to storm sewers – if people buy into what they are doing as much as we have over the years, certainly there are enough things to keep Lloydminster very successful for the next 38 years.”
Brekko worked alongside 13 different councils during his time with the city, bringing key projects to fruition including the Communiplex, “our pride and joy” said Brekko, the Russ Robertson arena, Mount Joy Ski Hill, which he designed the ski runs and t-bar system for, ball diamond improvements, the Barr Colony Heritage Cultural Centre, Leisure Centre, Vic Juba Community Theatre, Common Wealth Centre and much more.
“Every era there is a project and what I am proud of is the way we have accumulated, starting from more than half gravel town or a small city, to a bustling, viable, sustainable modern city.”
But arguably the most important project Brekko took on and completed with the city was establishing a new water source for the Border City. The city’s original 1958 water system endured until 1982, but in 1979 when Brekko came on board as the city’s manager, he knew it was time to source water from the North Saskatchewan River, rather than Sandy Beach.
“The community had rusty water from Sandy Beach which got us to 15,000 population, but it was time to move on,” he said. “In 1982, we built a $45 million water supply line from the river and a water and sewage plant of course. That was big ticket stuff and that will handle this community.”
Though water rates had to be raised substantially, the $45 million project “secured Lloydminster on the map” said Brekko for being open for business for large water consumers. And the new water supply did open the door to a very large water consumer – the Husky Upgrader. In 1989, construction was in full swing for the new upgrader and in 1991 it was fully operational.
“That was big, it meant 350 employees initially,” Brekko said, adding more importantly it provided more stability to the Lloydminster heavy crude sector. “We had finally gotten out of this proverbial cycle of boom bust, boom bust.”
In 2001, City of Lloydminster employees crossed over the border and kept working hard for the community in the 50 Avenue City Hall. Brekko said he’s proud of his work with the RM s and County of Vermilion River, establishing a intermunicipal development plan which will bring new development and projects to the area, including the bypass for Lloydminster – “Highway 9-16 as it will be called.”
Managing a city, straddling the border of two provinces came with its share of challenges. And those challenges kept work interesting said Brekko.
“Part of my job was to solve problems, not to create problems, and the border causes issues and then it’s a challenge to solve them,” he said, praising the support and cooperation of council and community.
“If you took the best qualities of each mayor you have had, you would be one heck of an individual because we have had some very good mayors over the years and we have had some very good councillors. That’s where the success has been. Our business community have been ‘doers’ and successful because Lloydminster is quite far from Regina and on the perimeter of Edmonton, so everyone has to work hard to make sure they get their fair share. That makes us a stronger community.”
Now that Brekko’s 80 working hours-a-week are behind him, he plans on enjoying his log cabin and what community he worked hard to build has to offer.
“At my age, 61, out of all of my counterparts I was the most senior city manager in either Saskatchewan and Alberta in terms of years of service. I still believe in the place and the area around here,” he said. “In the next 35 years (Lloydminster) will more than double and we have lots of potential for industry locations, doubling of the upgrader – all that stuff.”