The Representative, Leduc, Alberta, May 31, 1978*<\/strong> Page 18<\/strong><\/p>\n Beaumont, by the end of the 1960\u2019s, was a small, close-knit community of some 250 residents. The hamlet had co-operated on several occasions to construct facilities such as the community Conflicts with the county government in the early 1970\u2019s had roots far back in to the \u201960\u2019s. A The Leduc county council was approached by developers with proposals for a trailer court of A local meeting was held in the home of Mr. Henri Gobeil in early 1972, to organize a protest to Briefs presented by this local group at a public meeting called by county council in Beaumont, In about May 1972, county council gave second and third reading to a bylaw allowing the Beaumont then had 30 days to challenge the legality of the county\u2019s decision in court. In July, In August, the judge handed down his decision in favor of Beaumont. In the meantime, a petition The Honorable Dave Russell, then Municipal Affairs minister, was approached by several At a meeting in December, 1972 with Mr. Russell, a contingent from Beaumont \u2013 Dennis Hinse, With the assistance of municipal inspector Lionel Roy, a municipal administration was set up. The village\u2019s first operating capital came from a share in county surplus funds amounting to The new council set about to stop the trailer court proposal, which they did, and to re-negotiate Under the terms of that agreement with Craig Properties, 179 lots were built in northeast The 1973 census in Beaumont indicated a population of 349. The number of residents and new Pg. 23<\/strong><\/p>\n shortly after the first council was elected. Mr. Gerry Magnan was elected to fill that vacancy. In Physically, Beaumont has grown and expanded in the 1970\u2019s. To date*, a fourfold population Socially and recreationally, the village will be able to offer residents the use of a $1.5 million Business in Beaumont has realized a resurgence in the 70\u2019s. The old egg co-op on Rue Lavigne The Magnan Red and White store west of the church was reopened as a caf\u00e9 in 1974. Since In 1976, Mr. Fred Haidner purchased the property previously occupied by Fraser\u2019s grocery store Today, the Beaumont Caisse Populaire, Beaumont Mini-Mart and Beaumont Pharmacy operate A second commercial complex was built on 50 Avenue on property previously owned by Mrs. Recently, Gobeil\u2019s Garage, a family-owned business since 1933 has been renovated into a selfserve In 1976, the Beaumont village office was opened for use as an administrative center for And so we come to May 31, 1978. The transition from a small settlement of pioneering farmers Many of the early, original families such as the B\u00e9rub\u00e9s, Goudreaus, Lavignes, Magnans, Beaumont\u2019s people have always been fighters. If they wanted something, be it a church or It is essential that this independence and vital participation continue if the village is to remain a It is up to the village as a whole to communicate this essence of \u201cesprit de corps\u201d to those new ***<\/strong><\/p>\n The past four articles on the History of Beaumont have barely scratched the surface of our Barbara Willis<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" PART 4 The Representative, Leduc, Alberta, May 31, 1978* Village Close-Knit in \u201860\u2019 By Barbara Willis Page 18 Beaumont, by the end of the 1960\u2019s, was a small, close-knit community… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-153","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.beaumontheritage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.beaumontheritage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.beaumontheritage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.beaumontheritage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.beaumontheritage.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=153"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.beaumontheritage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2930,"href":"http:\/\/www.beaumontheritage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/153\/revisions\/2930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.beaumontheritage.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nVillage Close-Knit in \u201860\u2019<\/strong>
\nBy Barbara Willis<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nMost families were inter-related, with the exception of a few newcomers seeking refuge from
\nbustling city life.<\/p>\n
\nhall north of Bellevue School built in 1954 and the [original] curling rink, built in 1960.<\/p>\n
\ngeneral community inability to influence or persuade county council in regard to Beaumont
\naffairs came to a head in late 1971.<\/p>\n
\nsome 1,000 units for northwest Beaumont, and a major 500 home subdivision for the northeast
\nsector of the hamlet.<\/p>\n
\nthe development proposals. Mr. Ken Nichol was asked by the group to act as their spokesman
\nand accepted. The group opposed the trailer court entirely and wanted a more thorough
\ninvestigation of the effects of a large subdivision on such a small community.<\/p>\n
\ndrew out shortcomings in the planning of such a large scale development within the hamlet.
\nOver 100 people turned out for that hearing to oppose the developer\u2019s requests.<\/p>\n
\nproposed housing and trailer court development in Beaumont, totally ignoring the requests and
\nconcerns of the local residents. The one dissenting vote was cast by the local Beaumont
\ncouncilor, Mr. Andy Magnan.<\/p>\n
\nlocal representatives attended a hearing with a provincial court judge in Edmonton to present
\ntheir challenge to the bylaw. The group\u2019s lawyer, Mr. Pierre Mousseau proved of invaluable
\nassistance in appealing the county bylaw on a technicality in wording. Several other routes of
\nattack were held in reserve in the event this first challenge failed.<\/p>\n
\nwith the signatures of 80 to 90 per cent of the adult population of Beaumont was prepared. It
\nwas handed to the Minister of Municipal affairs on the day the judge\u2019s decision was announced,
\nrequesting Beaumont be allowed to incorporate as a village with its own municipal government.
\nThe timing of these transactions was critical, for, if the county reworded its bylaw and passed it,
\nthat law to allow development would be binding on Beaumont even if the village incorporated
\nlater. The only chance the hamlet had was to be granted village status before the county had
\ntime to amend its bylaw.<\/p>\n
\ninfluential people both in and out of the Beaumont area, urging that the hamlet be allowed to
\nincorporate.<\/p>\n
\nDennis B\u00e9rub\u00e9 and Ken Nichol \u2013 were verbally told that village status would be granted. The
\nofficial order-in-council came in early March 1973, dates effective January, 1973.<\/p>\n
\nMrs. I. Royer was approached to take the secretary-treasurer position and accepted. The first
\nelection in April 1973 saw all three councillors \u2013 Dennis B\u00e9rub\u00e9, Ken Nichol and Cyril Lavigne \u2013
\nwin by acclamation.<\/p>\n
\nabout $18,000. Mr. Adrian B\u00e9rub\u00e9 was hired as village foreman. The boundaries of the newly
\nincorporated village encompassed one square mile. The first assessment of property for
\ntaxation came to about $371,000. Today\u2019s* village assessment on property is about $4 million.<\/p>\n
\nwith Craig Properties re: a housing development agreement.<\/p>\n
\nBeaumont. The developers also assumed the cost of constructing a sewage lagoon and water
\nreservoir for the village. This first experience negotiating development agreements set the stage
\nin Beaumont for some unique financial arrangements with developers, to the benefit of the
\nvillage as a whole.<\/p>\n
\nhomes rose steadily throughout the \u201870\u2019s, in line with a development plan which will see some
\n4,000 residents in the village by 1981.
\nVillage council changed membership somewhat in the next few years between elections. Cyril
\nLavigne resigned<\/p>\n
\n1974, Dennis B\u00e9rub\u00e9 resigned and Cyril Lavigne once more came on council by acclamation.
\nThe 1977 municipal election saw ten candidates run for the newly-expanded five member
\ncouncil. Elected were Jean Charrois, Allan Elander, Colin Farr, George and Ken Nichol.<\/p>\n
\nincrease has taken place since the 1960\u2019s. New developments on all sides of the original core
\nneighbourhoods are projected and some well underway.<\/p>\n
\ncenter by the fall of 1978. Ecole J.E. Lapointe, Beaumont\u2019s newest school completed in the
\nspring of 1978, adjoins the new village complex. This unique physical structure exists today due
\nto the efforts of Beaumont\u2019s council and recreation board and successful negotiations with the
\ncounty school board. A proposed village-county agreement will allow the community to benefit
\nfrom the use of the school library (Beaumont provided $50,000 to expand the original size of the
\nlibrary for public use in off-school hours) and the school to benefit from use of the center\u2019s
\nfacilities.<\/p>\n
\nwas renovated for use as a popcorn factory in the early 1970\u2019s. Today* the building is used for
\nthe manufacture of J-Stone, a synthetic decorative fieldstone.<\/p>\n
\nthen it has had several owners. Renovated and renamed Chateau on the Hill in 1977, it
\npresently* serves as Beaumont\u2019s only restaurant.<\/p>\n
\non the corner of 50 Street and 50 Avenue. He subsequently built a commercial and residential
\ncomplex on the site.<\/p>\n
\nin the complex.<\/p>\n
\nEugenie Goudreau. The Beaumont Marshall Wells, Guy\u2019s Recreation Center and Brinkman\u2019s
\nHair Boutique are located in this commercial and residential complex.<\/p>\n
\nstation.<\/p>\n
\nmunicipal government. Village staff presently includes secretary-treasurer Isabelle Royer,
\nsecretary Connie McKinney, village foreman Henri Magnan and recreation complex manager
\nTerry Vaughan.<\/p>\n
\ngrouping themselves around the church\u2019s spiritual and social leadership, to a growing
\ncosmopolitan village, offering residents a unique opportunity for community involvement and
\nparticipation \u2013 all in 80 short years.<\/p>\n
\nLeBlancs, Royers, Maltais and Gobeils to name but a few have members represented in the
\nvillage population today.<\/p>\n
\ncontrol of their own political destiny, they went out to get it. They never waited for others to
\nmake the first move \u2013 Beaumont took care of its own.<\/p>\n
\nseparate, unique entity. The founding French families provide the village with a link to the past,
\nas sense of history and a dedication to the community spirit.<\/p>\n
\nresidents expected to arrive in such large numbers soon.<\/p>\n
\nvillage\u2019s past. There are innumerable stories to be told, facts to be compiled and people to be
\ninterviewed. This experience has provided me personally with the opportunity to meet and talk
\nwith some marvellous people both in and out of Beaumont. Many assisted me by providing
\ntranslations, photographs and stories of Beaumont life. The task of compiling information would
\nhave been almost impossible, and not nearly as enjoyable, without them.<\/p>\n