Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Rate payers meeting with Council and administration

For anybody that suddenly finds the interest or desire to spend a half a hour reviewing what happened at yesterday's meeting, it's all available at the following address.

Sasha took many hours to put this together so have a read and form your own opinion.

http://www.sasha-yourvoiceoncouncil.com/blog.html

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very good Sasha. I laughed out loud when reading Myron put his hand on Marion's knee. Tooo funny.
On the other hand, I do think Council is doing their very best to keep us informed. More than before.

Anonymous said...

Not this issue, but all issues are becoming intertwined in this drama we call the Crowsnest Pass any way.

Please follow my logic because I am only going on the little bit of information we are being spoon fed.

The municipality orders Fireworks for the Thunder weekend. They come in sometime prior to that weekend.
Question how long does it take for the Blairmore Fire Department to reimburse that cost?
Question does the municipality pay for any of those Fireworks?
Question obviously the Fireworks do not arrive the day of the event, so therefore they are stored somewhere on municipal property be it a day, a week, a month who knows.
Question is the municipality not responsible for what is stored in it's facilities and to ensure that all safe/legal/work practices are followed.
Question Thunder in the Valley happened in 2011 and many years prior why was this not an issue then?
Question until the municipality is reimbursed for the Fireworks are they not the legal owner?
Question If I order a stove from Sears in my name even if I'm doing it for somebody else am I not the legal owner of that stove?
Question if the municipality pays for any of that invoice, is there not a potential that these Fireworks found are their property?
Question how long was the new Fire Chief on the job prior to this termination?
Question is the municipality now using this has a reason to justify what they did a week ago?
Question If the answer above is yes why did they not suspend the Fire Chief pending investigation, tell the other Fire Chiefs that if he was found guilty of any infraction at that point he would be released. If found Innocent he would be reinstated and a letter of apology placed in his file. Would that not have made this whole fracas more acceptable and not led to the horrible media attention that we are receiving?

Andrew

Anonymous said...

I read this blog.My thoughts?
Ratepayers ask for a freeze on incresing ANY tax.
Council says we are Preparing for Success.
I say it sounds like we will be paying through the nose.
Londsbury taxes only rise $14.00 over 10 years.
Mine have risen 50 % over the same time period along with all other municipal bills going way up.
Peace officers are now being promoted as revenue generators.
I am pretty sure we were told there main job would be to clean up the Pass.2 bylaw tickets so far.280 unsightly premises to still get cleaned up.If you were not prepared with your bylaws then why would you hire the peace officers.
The fireman, council says all of this change will lead to better service.
Really, when is the last time we had a total loss due to fire.
For Marion to show up to this meeting with no figures on the costs is a joke.They know the costs, but also know the backlash they would get if they announce it.
Munshaw in not even qualified.All he has to do is write an exam.Then write it and pass it, but maybe if I wrote an exam I may be a Doctor or lawyer or anything..
Then the BS really comes out.We have to do it all this way so that we will get the following.
Light manufacturing- coming soon
Riverun- sell to one new developer
New hotel on CC site - coming soon
2 very big industries one of which will employ 700 people.
Council members beleiving that the silent majority stand with them.
The glass is 3/4 empty in my opinion.

Anonymous said...

Lots of helpful information. I have bookmarked your site.

Anonymous said...

This Mayor of yours is just like the 649 he's selling hope twice a week.
Just a little whisper GM is looking at building a plant in Western Canada 17000 jobs, I understand the Crowsnest Pass is on the short list.

Dick

Anonymous said...

WOW! A whole lot of tongues wagging yet nothing being said. I am a bit confused, or maybe I missed something, has there been any resolution or attempt at resolving the fire fighters concerns. I was under the impression that this meeting was to address this issue.
Is anybody really surprised by the lip service council and “senior” administration has given. From my past experience with dealing with some senior administrators at the town office– the ones that were there for years, everything is fine until you challenge them, then they go out of their way to create hardship for you to the point that you just say the hell with it!...
Very happy to see Bill Kovach at the helm for the rate payers association, he is an honest man and has nothing but the interest of the community at heart.
In reference to – Anonymous Wed Oct 10, 10:00:00 AM 2012 for how many years have promises been made that something big is going to happen and then – nothing or a short term investment which is based on subsidies and grants and when the money runs out the business packs up and leaves, again leaving small business holding the bag, yet we spend, spend, spend.
One last comment, The community where I am spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on consultants per year to study everything from where to plant a tree in our community park, to install sprinkler system to tell us what roads needed paving, we were literally being engineered to death, By canvassing the community we were able to find local expertise that would provide the same services – if not better at a fraction of the cost! Reducing our outside consulting fees by 90% with an overall reduction of consulting fees of 75%.
I know for a fact that the Crowsnest Pass has a large pool of talent to draw from, just dip in they know what works and what doesn’t, and you just have to ask!! My advice from Council, get off your high horses and communicate it is not a sign of weakness to ask for advice, it does work!
A former resident

Anonymous said...

Decoux mentions the River Run lots will go back to the municipality. How will he get that one past the pissed off investors?

Anonymous said...

Same way as the other properties that are up for tax sale on Oct 24.
Nobody bids then the municipality takes ownership.

Chloe said...

I don't believe that the CNP has the right to even list the RR lots. I doubt very much that the civil lawsuits are finished. Secondly, there few worthy developers that would take on the cost of environmental cleanup plus the servicing necessary to develop a livable neighbourhood. The BBoys failed to do due diligence on the property and along with close lipped CNP council members proceeded on their merry way to defrauding investors. Your Mayor already living in a delusional state, has a big disappointment coming with the upcoming properties sale. Take care.

Anonymous said...

From Facebook:
Blogs are getting left behind, lol.

The Municipality of Crowsnest Pass has never purchased high explosive fireworks nor has it sold high explosive fireworks to Thunder in the Valley (TIV) or the Blairmore Smoke Eaters (BSE) or the Blairmore Fire Department (BFD). Thunder in the Valley-TIV (Blairmore Smoke Eaters-BSE) members have always ordered and purchased high explosive fireworks for their annual event since TIV was first started.

In 2007, TIV (BSE) approached the Mayor and CAO to have the Municipality PAY for their fireworks and REINVOICE the TIV (BSE) sighting the Municipality receives 100% of GST back on invoices and this saving would be passed onto TIV (BSE).

On November 6, 2008 the Municipality issued a letter to TIV (BSE) advising that this arrangement was not in compliance with GST legislation and the GST on the 2007 invoices to TIV (BSE) for fireworks was to be paid immediately to the Municipality for submission to Revenue Canada as the fireworks were NOT a Municipal supply or product.

Up until 2011, TIV (BSE) members have continued to purchase all fireworks for TIV and the Municipality has paid for these TIV (BSE) invoices. The Municipality has in turn invoiced TIV (BSE) back - inclusive of GST as the fireworks are NOT a Municipal supply or product. This arrangement allowed the TIV (BSE) to pay the Municipality for their fireworks after their annual (TIV) event as opposed having to pay a Supplier before their annual (TIV) event.

TIV (BSE) members declared that their members are certified Pyrotechnicians who are educated and responsible for the safe storage, handling and functioning of fireworks and firework devices. TIV (BSE) members chose to store these high explosive fireworks without proper containment in the Blairmore Fire Hall without advising the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass.

Anonymous said...

So, the municipality thinks that there is no shared responsibility here?

Anonymous said...

Boy this is really clearing things up now.

"The Municipality of Crowsnest Pass has never purchased high explosive fireworks"

"and the Municipality has paid for these TIV (BSE) invoices"

I am really confused did they buy them or not. Purchase versus paid.

Anonymous said...

I don't think it matters who paid for them. It is up to the fire department to store them properly. It said they are supposed to be trained in that sort of thing. And it did not happen, which is very scary. If there ever had of been a fire we would have had fireworks alright.

Anonymous said...

Ownership is nine tenths of the law.
I would expect that the municipality will be pressing charges if laws have truly been broken.
Would that not be the right thing to do?


Anonymous said...

So, does the Municipality think there is no shared responsibility in the above? Do we really need another expensive legal fight? We have a very litigious bunch at the top. Too bad the taxpayers are always responsible for the legal tab - mo matter which way it goes. It appears, ( on another matter), we even have a councillor offering a legal opinion based on his experience – is this where they are getting this?

Anonymous said...

Ok, but what is the point of all of this about the storing of the fireworks.The only thing I can think of is to try and make the fireman look bad.Maybe they made a mistake.Do you really think that other than this the municapality follows every law and bylaw on the books.We all know that it is not possible.Its a pissing contest that council will lose because the community will back the fireman.
Is that councils idea of working with any group?
Is it any wonder that soon there will be a petition out asking for the removal of council!!
I am ashamed of council, you are acting like children who did not get there way.And I can not beleive that not 1 member of council has the balls to stand up to the Mayor.

Anonymous said...

Anon 3:58 PM said:
"I would expect that the municipality will be pressing charges if laws have truly been broken.
Would that not be the right thing to do?"
.

Yeah, "the Municipality" is "investigating" what "Municipal employees" did on Municipal property. Aren't they "investigating" themselves?

I have no idea where they could go to "press charges".

Anonymous said...

Municipalities have the power to expropriate land (RiverRun) for development. The Expropriation Act gives property owners a right to appeal for fair compensation.

Instead they are rather openly trying to grab it via the tax recovery process. The courts might take a dim view of this.

Anonymous said...

The next subject that Bill brought up was the Chinook Pipeline's Lawsuit. He asked if the Municipality loses the lawsuit, where will the money come from to pay for it?

Bruce addressed that topic. He stated that "We will NOT lose it!!"

He went on to say "However, if we do, the Municipality's insurance will cover it".


This lawsuit seems to be claiming breach of contract in business dealings. I doubt insurance will cover that. Hope we don't find out.