His fingerprints are all over the village. From the upgraded sewer plant to the upcoming water treatment plant, and what he is most proud of, the Visitor Information Centre. But while those will remain in Valemount for years to come, Chief Administrative Officer Doug Fleming will not.

Fleming recently announced he will be leaving the Village of Valemount to go northbound to the District of Chetwynd, where he will take on a similar job.

“It’s a sad thing in my office, that’s for sure. Doug’s been here for six years, and I’ve worked very closely with Doug the past year. With his knowledge, it’s sad, but he’s doing a career move, he’s moving on. We are certainly sorry to see him leave,” said Valemount Mayor Bob Smith.

Fleming has been working for the village for six years, and in that time he has helped build important foundations for the future of the community, which Fleming says he thinks is what administrators are supposed to do.

“The one that’s closest to my heart is the new Visitor Information Centre, the Village Office Complex. We’ve been in it almost three years now. It’s been a huge benefit I think to the municipality, really breaking in our foundations as a tourist centre. And as a result of us moving into this building we were able to find accommodation for a whole bunch of community groups and services in our old building, and we filled up the old building,” Fleming said. “That building is actually probably about 110% occupied because we’ve got shared space in there from different groups.”

Mayor Smith explained that Fleming was much more than a village administrator. He was also on many, many committees, he said, including the senior housing committee, the Valemount Community Forest Agreement, and others.

Back in the 1980’s Fleming and his wife lived in Chetwynd where they started their family, and Fleming started his municipal career. Now, he said an opportunity came up to move back there, so it is a bit like returning to a second home.

While his family has moved to other areas of the province, he said he still has friends and ties there, but he and his wife will miss Valemount, but are looking forward to the new challenges ahead.

The village has not announced who will be replacing Fleming, but they are in the process of finding the right person. Mayor Smith said they are looking at hiring someone by contract for the interim until Fleming is replaced.

“Since we do have some big shoes to fill, we’re not in an absolute big rush, but we are on the other hand, and we might try and get an interim CO in here,” mayor Smith said. 

He also said that the village would be looking at candidates outside the village, although there could be someone hiding in the shadows that they don’t know about, so they will certainly advertise in town as well.

During his time in Valemount, Fleming had a hand in airport improvements such as GPS approach airport lighting, upgraded water mains on Cedar St. and Fifth Ave. on which the new revitalized downtown sits, the sewer treatment plant upgrade which should ensure service for another two or three decades, and the current building of the water treatment plant.

Fleming will finish working for Valemount in mid-November.