Heather Wright/The Independent

Outgoing Lambton Shores Mayor Doug Cook is hopeful the new council will keep moving the community forward.

Cook, who has served Lambton Shores as a councillor, deputy mayor and mayor over 17 years, was defeated at the polls Oct. 26.

Jeff Wilcox and the rest of the new council will be sworn in Nov. 17.

Cook says during his time in office the municipality made a lot of progress including finally securing funding to replace the $7.6 million Ontario Street Bridge and make driving through Grand Bend easier.

“We met with the provincial government several times to try to increase funding on that bridge and we finally get enough money to make it feasible for us to forward,” said Cook in an interview with The Independent after his final meeting as an elected official at Lambton County council Nov. 4.

“The transition for the traffic in Grand Bend has just been amazing – from four to five minute backups down to nothing.”

Cook says the new Forest JK to Grade 12 school will also move the community forward, spurring more business in the town.

“They’ve already had some retail and commercial, and there’s a new McDonald’s and gas bar going right in that corner by the Shores Arena…that’s another big improvement, and there may be more spin off from that.

“There’s going to be more housing because of the new schools. So it’s everything’s on the up and going forward right now.”

Cook is also hopeful the new Grand Bend Community Centre will move forward although he wonders if it will remain in the current location, which has been controversial.

The outgoing mayor says after 17 years inside government, he knows it takes a lot of planning to bring big projects to completion.

Cook hopes the new council will be “keeping things moving forward, not regressing. “

“Don’t go backwards. If they’re working on infrastructure stuff now, keep it going.”