Governance and Priorities Meeting Feb 21/2012

Two very interesting delegations at this meeting

First, was a Crowsnest Pass School Presentation led by Wes Wescott Principal of the High School, mostly focused around what is happening in the school? How they are approaching various groups to get the public more involved in where the school system is going. Some disturbing news they discussed the topic of school enrolment even though the mines have been hiring new employees by the hundreds, School enrolment is still dropping, in fact he stated that they anticipate enrolment to continue to drop 3% a year on average between now and 2020.

Second delegation was the Pass Powderkeg, truly one of the unique things about our municipality where else do you have a very affordable, family orientated facility like this in the middle of your community. The group gave a review of their master plan, which has some very ambitious plans for the future of the ski hill; they talked about a chairlift, Tube Park etc. Big dollars involved with this facility the question is always going to be how many taxpayer dollars you put in.

Then came the issue of the Standard Operating Procedures Manual for the Crowsnest Pass Municipal Enforcement Services.

Last item on the agenda sounded about has exciting as watching paint dry. However, I thought what the hell lets hear what they have to say. Especially thinking back to the fall when the Community Peace Officer issue was raised at the Chamber of Commerce Luncheon and how it was not going to cost the taxpayers a penny.

Interim Manager Enforcement Services, Transitional Solutions Inc. Donna Tona started the presentation regarding the manual, I got the feeling very quickly that this is quiet an in depth manual by the time she was finished I recognized it is going to take some highly qualified people to fill these positions.

Councilor Saindon asked when these positions will be filled (June 1) he wanted to know if that was realistic, she said yes lots of young guys coming out of school would love to come here (Strange nowhere in the discussion was there a mention of our present bylaw officer taking one of these positions, maybe we are going to have two peace officers and a bylaw officer, further stream lining of the municipality)

Then the question of cost was asked (did not think there would be any but maybe there’s a plan) council was told that it would be in the range of $35-40,000 per peace officer just to set them up with a truck and equipment, then the question was asked how long would it take for these officers to recoup their start up cost? By February 2013.

So then the discussion began around getting authority from the Solicitor General office to patrol Highway 3 through the municipality, Ms Tona explained that you could not do that until you have the peace officers in place. (Mayor Decoux remarked that is a bit of a catch 22) which she agreed too but stated do not fear if we do not get Highway 3, there are ample opportunities to generate revenue in the rest of the municipality.

This in turn brought up the issue of the unsightly premises bylaw, to which Ms Tona responded that there are 270-280 location in the Pass that are currently in violation of that bylaw. (Wow, I knew we had some horrible looking places in the Pass but 10% of what is here!).

Followed by the issue of OHV’s and how will the officers cash in on that revenue opportunity, Ms Tona advised it would not be difficult to place a peace officer at the various staging areas.

Councilor Gail asked the question wouldn’t all this enforcement push people away from the Pass to which Ms Tona stated there could be a strong reaction for 6-8 months, but people will adjust.

Several things that were not addressed during this meeting:

·   I have never heard of one community where Community Peace Officers recover 100% of there costs. (I could be wrong but if I am why don’t the RCMP follow the same model and make the burden of policing on the taxpayers zero)

·      Are these community Peace Officers going to be CUPE members, if there not I suspect that will be an issue in the bargaining process that just began two weeks ago.

·      If they are going to be CUPE members then there is no classification for Community Peace Officers in the collective agreement that will have to be negotiated.

·        Negotiations I expect could take a while yet. (unless Council’s has given up the drive to find efficiencies, or CUPE in an highly unlikely scenario just decides to roll over)  

·       June 1 is only 14 weeks away.

This machine we call the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass is just getting larger and larger, how long will it be sustainable

Crowsnest Pass Forum Questions and Answers!

Question. Security Deposits on Developments?

The lack of security on the River Run project was a huge mistake on the part of council. This can never be allowed to happen again, we put in place a policy now that development can not start without having sufficient security in place (All of council was in favour of this except the Mayor). Hopefully in the future when a real developer comes in to develop this particular site the council at the time will make sure there is an adequate development agreement in place to clean it up.

Question. How do we attract people to the community?

We continue to build on the initiatives we have put in place, ie walking trails, mountain bike trails, cleaning up the community to make it more appealing. This is one of the most beautiful places in the world there is no logical reason that with some hard work and creative solutions we can't bring more people here.

Question. Marketing of the Community?

Similar question to above, this must become a priority and an area where council must work together with Community Futures, Chamber of Commerce and spend some money. Our marketing budget since I have been on council is $20,000 per year that's a joke. To spend that amount of money is a waste, if we provide a decent budget, and work with those other groups to attain grants we can do a far better job.
The mountain bike project is a good example of that in partnership with the Community Futures the municipality put in $10,000 that eventually gained us in excess of $200,000 to develop Mountain Bike Trails.

Question. Unsightly Premises Bylaw?

This is an effort by the present council to clean up the municipality, (supported by all of council except Councillor Taje). The only goal is to make the community look better more attractive for both the people living here and coming into our area. Nobody as the expectation that every lawn is going to be manicured, that every yard will be a pristine piece of the rocky mountains.
Can we do better than we are? of course.
The bylaw is not perfect and should be reviewed by the next council with the benefit of some experience. For information so far our Bylaw Officer as written two (2) tickets related to this bylaw, he as done a very good job of working with people to give them the opportunity to work within the bylaw.

Question. Highway 3?

Everybody that runs for council says they are going to lobby the province on this issue, going back to the early seventies. We have done that for the last three years, like it or not it will not happen for some time. Over the next few years you will see some minor widening of roads in Frank, and west Coleman, and traffic lights at the Kananaskis and the West end of Blairmore.
If anybody from the Crowsnest Pass tells you that they are going to push the Province in to doing anything more than that, they are dreaming. Keep in mind the road to Ft McMurray will not be completely four landed until 2014.
One good point that a speaker raised is as far as getting people into our town do we really want to push them through the Pass at a 100KM a hour?

Question. Affordable Housing?

The study that was done on affordable housing clearly shows that long term we need it. We have to follow the leadership of other communities in this area and find "credible" developers that will partner with us to access Federal/Provincial Grants and move in this direction.
The municipality does have land available for this.


Question. How does the Municipality support small business?

The municipality needs to talk to the business community (Chamber etc) and find areas where we can assist them, if its a problem with regulations, paperwork, bylaws that are impeding them then we need to address those issues. The municipality purchasing its goods locally as far as I am concerned as long as a local supplier is competitive and can supply a quality product then that's automatic.

Question. What happens with the Crowsnest Centre?

Last council meeting we directed administration to come back with a cost on taking the building down. It will be expensive, but if we want commercial business to come here we have no other place to put it. To attract anybody especially larger companies you have to have property that does not require a lot of work to make it flat, it must be serviced and it must be accessible to the highway. There are 12000 vehicles a day going by this site imagine if we could pull just 5% of them off the highway.


Question. What will we use as a disaster centre during emergencies?

Many communities experience emergency type situations, not many have an old hospital to put people up in. What we do have available, is the following: the present hospital, three existing schools, two arenas, the MDM facility, Elks Hall, Polish Hall, Seniors halls, hundreds of hotel beds and what a lot of people did in years past, is take people in to their homes.

Question. Looking for Bridge Builders on Council?

This is where it is so important to have a strong Mayor on council, one who does not believe that the only agenda to be promoted is his, one who can work with a diverse group of individuals, people that want to move the community forward, and govern it in an effective manner.
You can read the Cuff report and the other corporate review yourself on the municipal web site.
This Mayor did not do a very good job of team building and leading, this Mayor did not provide a willingness to look at change, the spilt in council was created by the steadfast refusal to consider change and in fact put up every road block available to maintain the status Quo.
Being a bridge builder means that you have to be a leader, willing to look at different ideas even when you don't agree and willing to work with other people that don't just show up at meeting and vote your way because they fell they should.

Question. Helping Seniors

This council as committed to support the renovation and expansion of the York Creek Lodge, with 40% of our population being seniors this is so important. We have our seniors living in 280 square foot rooms. We must do a better job for them and I will support whatever we have to do to improve the lodge.