A local businessman has thrown his hat into the ring for the vacant seat on High River town council.

Michael Nychyk is the General Manager of Highwood Distillers and says he decided to run to continue his service to the community.

"I ran in 2013, narrowly missed getting a council seat, since then I've been actively involved in a couple of council committees and have committed myself to service for the community and the by-election came up so it was a natural to run," Nychyk says.

Since the last election he's been on the Business and Tourism Advisory Committee which moved into a position as Chair of the Mayor's Task Force on Economic Development and he's also sat on the Planning and Renewal Advisory Committee.

Nychyk says he wants to see a continuation of what council and administration's been doing.

"I"d like to see the completion of the downtown, I'd like to see the last berm in place , I'd like to see some clean-up on 12th, I'd like to see our roadways open, all those things that are frustrating points to the community," he says. "They take time but they're the right things for us, the right thing going forward."

He also looks toward the future for families with children. Nychyk says the town is missing the mark to a degree in keeping young people here saying he has a nine year-old and a twelve year-old and he wants them to have a future in High River and not have to move somewhere else.

An all candidates forum will be held Tuesday October 11 at the Highwood Memorial Centre.