Crowsnest Pass Ratepayers Association Press Release

Crowsnest Pass Rate Payers Association

 

William Kovach, President of the Crowsnest Pass Ratepayers Association is very pleased to provide an update on the progress of the Association. What began back in June has a number of taxpayers getting together and voicing numerous concerns about the direction our community is heading. In a few busy months of public meetings being held in each community, to determine if there was interest in revitalizing the Ratepayers Association and hearing the concerns of the ratepayers it was  determined very quickly that the public is very interested in having a Ratepayers organization in place. 

The decision was made to move forward to elect an executive comprised of residents from all areas of the Crowsnest Pass. President William Kovach is very pleased to announce that the Association has in a very short time frame already signed up over four hundred members. He encourages anyone interested in joining the organization to contact any of the following executive board members (Cost of $5).

 

William Kovach 564-4709

Gail Montgomery 564-4077

Troy Clark 563 0381

Sasha JaegerBaird 563 6073

Ed Strembecki 564-0184

Marilyn Milley 562-2719

Marlene Anctil 562-8180

Larry Ruzek 564 4384

Rudy Pagnucco 562-8147

 

In line with the concerns raised by ratepayers at those meetings the executive created a mission statement for the organization one that states the following:

 

“The Association monitors municipal decisions to ensure that responsible and accountable governance is being provided for the people of the Crowsnest Pass."

 

The Ratepayers Association wishes to achieve these goals by working in cooperation with the municipal administration and council. To that end the Association has requested the following, a meeting with council and administration to introduce themselves and share the goals of the group (August 21, G+P meeting). A request for information from the CAO, regarding the concerns raised by the taxpayers at the public meeting (Taxation, spending, hiring, use of consultants etc) . The vast majority of which should be readily available as it is contained in the triennial budget put in place by council several months back.

 

Additionally President Kovach would like to announce that to keep the public better informed of how the ratepayers efforts are proceeding, the group will very shortly have it’s own Facebook page, they will also be holding their next executive board meeting September 20 at 7pm in the basement of the Coleman Legion. All members or prospective members are more than welcome to attend. 

Update: The site is now up and running on Facebook just punch in Crowsnest Pass Ratepayers Association.

Council meeting of May 1,2012

• The Municipality now has its own Facebook page.
• The closing date for the hotel development proposals on the Crowsnest Centre site is May 18.
• The tender for the demolition of the Crowsnest Centre calls for a date of August 30 for the completion of the project.
• There was an announcement that a collective agreement containing “numerous changes” was concluded with CUPE last week they are waiting for CUPE to ratify it.
• Administration requested to continue the new meeting schedule until September, and re stated their preference to go to two meetings a month.
• Municipal Off site levies are suspended until the end of January 2013, then to be reviewed at that point.
• Taxes for the Food bank were waived.
• Mayor Decoux asked the rest of council what kind of reaction they received to the budget information letter, most of council stared at each other and gave the impression that they  received little response. Mayor Decoux announced that he had received “146 emails and 15 phone messages” most of them very favorable to the newsletter.
• Administration requested that council approve the release of half the funding for the Museum now and the other half after administration meets with the new Historical Society board. Administration is also looking at ways to assist the museum with their Insurance, Utilities, and Maintenance costs. They were instructed to report back to council on May 15.
• Request to allow the use of quads for the Sinister seven event approved by council, lots of comments around the room about how great it is to have an event that brings thousands of people and lots of money to the community.
• Bylaw 847,2012 Peace Officer/Enforcement Bylaw, Passed first reading
• Bylaw 849,2012 Municipal Emergency Management Committee and Agency Bylaw, Passed first reading.
• Bylaw 846,2012 False Alarm Bylaw, Passed first reading
• Councilor Gail requested that the municipality write a letter to the provincial government supporting the push to twin Highway 63
• Rum Runner Days web site has been updated.