After 16 years as reeve in the RM of Ste. Anne, Art Bergmann says this term will be his last.

Bergmann notes the election day happens to fall on the day of his 67th birthday which he says will be a very appropriate day to pass on the gavel. Bergmann notes there was a lot of thought put into this decision.

"It was not one that I made flippantly but then I didn’t make it flippantly going into it. As the son of an immigrant, I found great joy and honour in being able to serve Ste. Anne. Ste. Anne was where my family got their roots in this country when we moved here in 1933 after having gone broke in a neighbouring community. The Francophones and the Mennonites have worked together extremely well and have worked together on my council extremely well."

In terms of highlights in his time as reeve, Bergmann notes council chambers was not a happy place 16 years ago as there was discord amongst council but says he’s been blessed with great staff and councillors who worked together to move forward and put the past behind them.

"It just seemed like the right time for this to happen. Our municipality is in great shape. Our reserves are high, we’ve got reserves approaching three million dollars. We’ve got a great component of young staff, young but experienced, so I leave the position in a situation where if it’s business as usual for a chunk of time, we don’t have to worry that the usual is going to be a sad story."

He notes it's simply time for someone else to take the lead but as for the future, Bergmann says he's not concerned one bit.

"We’re not going to run out of energy much sooner than we’re going to run out of ideas."