In the aftermath of any provincial budget, you'll find town officials attempting to figure out its exact impact.

While that will take some time, what didn't was a phone call to Mayor Jeff Genung from Ric McIver, who currently wears the dual hats of minister of Municipal Affairs and Transportation.

Before Mayor Genung could ask, McIver answered the question on the minds of most Cochranites.

"He said to me, 'Your Worship, I know how important the 1A and 22 is to your community, and I assure you it's in the budget'."

He said the final details are hammered out, then it goes to tender. 

Genung says the call was completely unexpected, and he was honoured to have received it.

"I'm positive he did not call every single mayor across the province yesterday after the budget came out," says Genung. "But the fact that he had singled out Cochrane felt good that they are taking heed of the noise, I guess you could say, that we're making as a community to be heard. I really appreciated him taking the time to call me."

McIver also called to discuss budget highlights, including the formula being used to reduce Municipal Sustainability Initiative funding over the next three years.