Well the turkey was gobbled down and the fireworks were set off now its time to see what 2012 will bring for us the good residents of the Crowsnest Pass. Weather you live in Crowsnest Pass East or Crowsnest PassWest I am sure one or more of the following will be of interest to every one of you.
Strategic plan: The fanfare will continue there will be lots of talk, more studies, great plans, procedures and policies will continue to be created, reviewed and rewritten. Tangible changes that actually affect the lives of the residents in positive timely ways we will see.
2011 census: First results are expected to be out in February last census our community saw the largest decline in population in the province (percentage wise 8% +) and we became the oldest average aged community. Will all the hiring at the mines over the last couple of years change that?
2012 Cupe collective bargaining, there will ultimately be an agreement between the two parties. How will the process play out, some people ran for office based on finding the “efficiencies” this is their opportunity. Efficiencies in collective bargaining usually involve somebody giving something up. Will that happen? John Irwin used to always brag about the last time CUPE walked out, it did not snow for the next two months. We have had an awful pleasant winter so far.
Municipal Financial Audit: It is like a report card for Council and Administration usually comes in around April, I anticipate based on the numbers so far that the municipality will show a slight surplus for last year. Watch the revenue side of the audit it will probably be $2-300,000 higher than anticipated a great way to make one’s self look good.
It will also be very interesting to see what the outstanding taxes are in the audit at the end of the year after everybody had the fear of 51% penalties waved in their face for the last two months.
Three-year budget: Council is working on having a budget in place for the end of March. Areas I and I am sure many other taxpayers will be watching. Tax increases (lets not forget some councilors ran on the position of no tax increases), plus lets watch for the old fashioned tax increases that we don’t call tax increases; franchise fees, user fees, new revenue sources, (water meters, etc). Will council continue down the path of increasing the number of staff, while not replenishing the municipal reserves in addition to increasing the municipal debt load 2012 will tell?
Crowsnest Centre property plan: I’m sure in the not to distant future there will be presented to council a consultant’s report that will surprisingly state the centre sits on a prime commercial site that’s serviced, accessible to highway 3 and has 12000 vehicles a day traveling along it. The issue that will raise its head, is nobody will touch that site without the old hospital being removed, unless the municipality gives the site away. Will the taxpayers be willing to take on a million dollars worth of debt to remove it?
River Run properties: Somewhere in 2012 I suspect some of the investors will approach the municipality looking for a break on the back taxes in return for some minimal development on that property.
New recreation facility: Many people are talking about this; there is even a group that has recently been formed to work on this project. My argument was that this community did not have the tax base or the willingness of all those that live here on a fixed income to subsidize an indoor swimming pool. In fact I listen to a councilor at the last public forum talk about how the taxpayers have had to bear the “burden” of subsidizing a ski hill for years, quite a revelation when you consider that Pincher spends yearly 6-7 times what we spend on our ski hill to maintain there indoor pool. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that this group does not only have the intention to fundraise to build a facility but also to raise additional funds to operate it. I wish them nothing but the best an Indoor facility with no addition costs to the taxpayers I would support that in a heartbeat.
Note: For those that wish to help with this worthy cause I would suggest that check out the following: Crowsnest Can Do Cultural and Recreation Society page on
Facebook, or email crowsnestcando@gmail.com
Bigger government: Remember how the municipality was stream lined from four departments to three. Remember at the beginning of this council’s term there were five management employees. Soon there will be seven. Will that number get even larger when and if the municipality stops using consultants?
Consultants: Wouldn’t we the taxpayers like to know what its cost us so far? The interim CAO, putting together our community peace officer program, the Crowsnest Centre, the new Fire Chief. Will we find out in 2012 will there be an end to this costly process? Remember the moment a consultant says everything here looks good our job is done the paycheck stops.
The democratic process: The last council was slammed consistently for 4-3 votes (which if anybody was counting happened in less than 5% of all votes). Up to now watching this council over the last fifteen months it has appears quiet the opposite, meeting with very little debate and very often decisions made by unanimous vote. Over the last month, I have seen Councilor Sage be the exception to this rule a few times. It will be interesting to see what this year brings; there is a name for governments that operate with no opposition.
Optimistic: How could you not be, we live in one of the most beautiful places in the world, there are lot’s of good people that live here. I hope this community stays affordable for all those that are, or soon to be seniors. I hope this community is careful to remember that its great to have dreams and aspirations but somebody must pay for them. We must also live within our means not just now but down the road.
Lastly “Consolidation of Blairmore/Coleman shop” will this really happen or was that press release last July just a poor attempt to show us that “change” was happening? On the other hand, is this a great example of how change will be instituted in this community?
2012 will indeed be an interesting year.
Feel free to leave your comments regarding these issues or any others.
Showing posts with label River Run Development. Show all posts
Showing posts with label River Run Development. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Alberta Venture Magazine Crowsnest Pass Development
Story from May's addition of the Alberta Venture Magazine very well written by Joni MacFarlane from the Crowsnest Pass.
Troubled Waters: The Rough Side of Real Estate Investing in Alberta
A pair of salesmen told an Alberta coal mining town that it could be a resort destination. Six years later, the scenic Crowsnest Pass is still learning a tough lesson about easy money and the business of real estate
http://albertaventure.com/2011/05/troubled-waters/
Troubled Waters: The Rough Side of Real Estate Investing in Alberta
A pair of salesmen told an Alberta coal mining town that it could be a resort destination. Six years later, the scenic Crowsnest Pass is still learning a tough lesson about easy money and the business of real estate
http://albertaventure.com/2011/05/troubled-waters/
Friday, April 1, 2011
Bridgecreek
I understand from a good source that May's edition of Alberta Venture Magazine will have an article on the Bridgecreek coming and goings in the Crowsnest Pass.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Bridgecreek RiverRun story
For those that have been asking here is the Bridgegate River Run story that appeared in the Lethbridge Herald October 18.
Dream Interrupted.
http://www.lethbridgeherald.com/front-page-news/dream-interrupted-101610.html
Dream Interrupted.
http://www.lethbridgeherald.com/front-page-news/dream-interrupted-101610.html
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Crowsnest Council Meeting November 16, the thoughts of a former Councilor
First of all I found it very interesting that Mayor Decoux would bring forth Notices of Motions regarding the Crowsnest Centre, River Run Project, the duplication of Services and Facilities for the April/May time frame.
See http://crowsnestpasshome.blogspot.com/2010/11/crowsnest-pass-council-meeting-november.html
Then announce that this time frame is to coincide with the release of the report from his Economic Task Force.
Whats puzzling his that the task force as not been put in place yet, it was on the agenda the last two weeks, but did not even show up this week, the public was told that it would have seven members and be given 90 days from its commencement of its duties to complete its report.
There as been no release of information on the much anticipated makeup of this committee, and when they will commence.
What raises this concern, well first of all the Mayor did state when he was a candidate for election that this task force would be struck within two weeks of the election. (At least that's the way I heard it) I would assume that struck means more than council agreeing to do it.
The second thing that raises my concern is the time frame, the G+P meeting for next week is cancelled, so even if this issue comes forth at the next council meeting Dec 7.
It only leaves 118 days from there until the first Notice Of Motion April 5th, take out two weeks for Christmas and New Years, a week for Administration and Council to review it leaves 97 days to do the study, works in theory but I suspect very ambitious to say the least.
Second issue from last night, Municipal advertising review which came up under other Business I like most people after the last meeting assumed that there was going to be a Motion made to accept the recommendation to advertise in both papers.
The Mayor raised the issue of finding out just a mere few hours prior to the meeting that the Municipality had a exclusive deal with the Promoter until the end of the year and requested that it be tabled to allow administration to look at the legalities of this issue.
At that time I said to myself no big deal they will just pass it in two weeks.
What made me take a second look at this was later in the meeting the Public Input session a resident by the name of Siegfried Sajitz stood up raised his concerns making a number of points about the advertising.
One of which really caught my attention, how does Council give a clear indication that it is going to advertise in both papers and direct administration to go negotiate the best deal with both papers.
In my humble brain the light went on, imagine going in to a car dealer telling him that you are definitely going to buy a car at this dealership now give me the best deal you can.
The point in my opinion, the Mayor is buying time, why would you waste taxpayers dollars on getting a legal opinion on a contract that ends in 44 days.
Simple the Municipality is paying $180 a week for a one page ad in the Promoter, that price came as the result of a bidding process. Eliminate the bidding process that drove that price, indicate to the previous bidders that you are going to pay for there services anyway. Then tell administration to go negotiate the best deal with them.
What would I do if I was in the papers shoes, I would say thanks for this opportunity, now here is my price ?$.
How would I come to a price? well I would look back at what we used to charge $7-800 a page and think well we don't want to appear to be greedy and more importantly make the previous council right, so we will go in say around $600 a page, with the intent that if the Municipality cries enough we will come back at say the $450-500 per page.
Why is all of this relevant, well put the pieces together the Mayor is buying time for a reason that is really not relevant and right now administration is going through the crying process, is it really called bargaining?
See http://crowsnestpasshome.blogspot.com/2010/11/crowsnest-pass-council-meeting-november.html
Then announce that this time frame is to coincide with the release of the report from his Economic Task Force.
Whats puzzling his that the task force as not been put in place yet, it was on the agenda the last two weeks, but did not even show up this week, the public was told that it would have seven members and be given 90 days from its commencement of its duties to complete its report.
There as been no release of information on the much anticipated makeup of this committee, and when they will commence.
What raises this concern, well first of all the Mayor did state when he was a candidate for election that this task force would be struck within two weeks of the election. (At least that's the way I heard it) I would assume that struck means more than council agreeing to do it.
The second thing that raises my concern is the time frame, the G+P meeting for next week is cancelled, so even if this issue comes forth at the next council meeting Dec 7.
It only leaves 118 days from there until the first Notice Of Motion April 5th, take out two weeks for Christmas and New Years, a week for Administration and Council to review it leaves 97 days to do the study, works in theory but I suspect very ambitious to say the least.
Second issue from last night, Municipal advertising review which came up under other Business I like most people after the last meeting assumed that there was going to be a Motion made to accept the recommendation to advertise in both papers.
The Mayor raised the issue of finding out just a mere few hours prior to the meeting that the Municipality had a exclusive deal with the Promoter until the end of the year and requested that it be tabled to allow administration to look at the legalities of this issue.
At that time I said to myself no big deal they will just pass it in two weeks.
What made me take a second look at this was later in the meeting the Public Input session a resident by the name of Siegfried Sajitz stood up raised his concerns making a number of points about the advertising.
One of which really caught my attention, how does Council give a clear indication that it is going to advertise in both papers and direct administration to go negotiate the best deal with both papers.
In my humble brain the light went on, imagine going in to a car dealer telling him that you are definitely going to buy a car at this dealership now give me the best deal you can.
The point in my opinion, the Mayor is buying time, why would you waste taxpayers dollars on getting a legal opinion on a contract that ends in 44 days.
Simple the Municipality is paying $180 a week for a one page ad in the Promoter, that price came as the result of a bidding process. Eliminate the bidding process that drove that price, indicate to the previous bidders that you are going to pay for there services anyway. Then tell administration to go negotiate the best deal with them.
What would I do if I was in the papers shoes, I would say thanks for this opportunity, now here is my price ?$.
How would I come to a price? well I would look back at what we used to charge $7-800 a page and think well we don't want to appear to be greedy and more importantly make the previous council right, so we will go in say around $600 a page, with the intent that if the Municipality cries enough we will come back at say the $450-500 per page.
Why is all of this relevant, well put the pieces together the Mayor is buying time for a reason that is really not relevant and right now administration is going through the crying process, is it really called bargaining?
Crowsnest Pass Council Meeting November 16, 2010.
Councilors Gallant and Saindon were not present both away at the AADMC Convention in Edmonton
Mayor Decoux started the meeting by welcoming new CAO Tully Clifford to the Crowsnest Pass.
In addition he commended Myron Thompson and his Public Works crew for the job they did preparing for the Christmas Parade on November 12th
Adoption of Agenda
Motion to accept as presented passed Unanimously
Adoption of previous minutes
Motion to accept as presented passed Unanimously
Delegations None
Administration Report
At this point Mayor Decoux had new CAO Tully Clifford present himself to Council.
He then handed over the Admin presentation to Myron Thompson to talk about the Health and Safety External audit which is done every three years, good news unlike three years ago we passed the audit by 82%
Motion to accept the report passed Unanimously
Business Arising None
Committee Reports
Minutes from FCSS for Sept 22 meeting
Minutes from Protective Services Sept 20 meeting
Motion to accept passed Unanimously
Bylaws None
Notice Of Motion
1/Mayor Decoux proposes to bring forth a Motion regarding the Land and Building containing the Crowsnest Centre (April 5,2011)
2/Mayor Decoux proposes to bring forth a Motion regarding the property known as "River Run"(April 19,2011)
3/Mayor Decoux proposes to bring forth a Motion regarding the area of the Cuff Report that talks about the duplication of services and facilities in the Crowsnest Pass (May 3,2011)
Mayor Decoux also informed the crowd gathered that this Motion were timed to correspond with the release of the report being put together by his Economic Task Force.
Other Business
1/ Waiving of ice fees for Pee Wee Tournament
Note: This now sends the request for waiver back to the Culture and Rec Board, to suggest that there is any likely hood that the board would vote against council's wish chances are slim.
Motion to accept passed Unanimously
2/ Municipal Advertising Council did not realize that the deal with the Promoter was exclusive until 3:30pm November 16. The Mayor moved to table this until the next meeting to give Administration time to look at the legal side of this issue.
Motion to table passed Unanimously
3/Dates for Orientation with Administration
Nov 30 and Dec 1 Motion to accept passed Unanimously
4/Travel Alberta Open House
Motion to send Councilor Gallant to on Nov 22 passed Unanimously
5/Date for tour with Spray Lakes Saw Mills
Motion to accept Dec 17 passed Unanimously
6/Council Retreat Dec 8
Motion to accept passed Unanimously
7/Ball Soccer Complex-Outstanding bill owned to Drain Brothers
Motion to pay $10,000 out of 2010 operational budget and $15,871 out of 2011 operational budget passed Unanimously
8/Waving of Off site Levy for Food Bank
Motion to accept passed Unanimously
9/Request to lease Road Allowance-Crowsnest Mountain Resort
Administration made a recommendation to not do this, Motion made to accept that recommendation passed Unanimously
10/Brighter Futures Multi Year Lease
Three year lease last tenant at the MDM to go through this process, now all tenants are on a three year lease with one fixed rate for all groups and a 3% increase each year of the lease.
Motion to accept passed Unanimously
11/Signing Authority-CAO, Director of Finance and all members of council given signing authority for the Municipality. Motion to accept passed Unanimously
12/Councilor Absence-Saindon will miss the Dec 14 meeting
Motion to accept passed Unanimously
13/Council appointments to the Culture and Rec Board
Motion to accept Sarah Gallant to the Board passed Unanimously
Motion to accept Janis Entem to the Board passed Unanimously
14/Council appointments to the Municipal Heritage Board
Motion to accept Barbara McClary to the Board passed Unanimously
15/Cancellation of the November 23 G + P meeting-Five Councilors away at AUMA convention, Motion to accept cancellation passed Unanimously
Council Member Reports
Councilor Sage spoke about a meeting he attended with the South west Rockies group, suggested that they need to be more aware of the Crowsnest in their promoting of area tourism and also suggested that Crowsnest Businesses can advertise on their web site.
Councilor Londsbury recommended that the Mayor should write a letter to all the legions commending them for the great job they do on Remembrance Services
Mayor Decoux spoke about the excellent job all the legions do, and suggested that the Municipality attempt to put together the paperwork to allow a fly by, by the Canadian Snowbirds this summer
Public Input
Siegfried Sajitz (excuse spelling if I got it wrong)
Took the floor to raise his concerns about the Municipalities direction on advertising, he asked council if this was an effective spending of the taxpayers dollars, he asked if the numbers presented by the Herald had been confirmed by administration. He also asked if there had ever been any complaints from the public about not being able to access Municipal Advertising. He also questioned the wisdom of telling both papers that you will advertise in both, then telling your administration to go bargain with them for the best possible deal.
He asked council to stick with the present policy and give it to the lowest bidder.
In Camera-None
Adjourn
Motion to adjourn passed Unanimously
Mayor Decoux started the meeting by welcoming new CAO Tully Clifford to the Crowsnest Pass.
In addition he commended Myron Thompson and his Public Works crew for the job they did preparing for the Christmas Parade on November 12th
Adoption of Agenda
Motion to accept as presented passed Unanimously
Adoption of previous minutes
Motion to accept as presented passed Unanimously
Delegations None
Administration Report
At this point Mayor Decoux had new CAO Tully Clifford present himself to Council.
He then handed over the Admin presentation to Myron Thompson to talk about the Health and Safety External audit which is done every three years, good news unlike three years ago we passed the audit by 82%
Motion to accept the report passed Unanimously
Business Arising None
Committee Reports
Minutes from FCSS for Sept 22 meeting
Minutes from Protective Services Sept 20 meeting
Motion to accept passed Unanimously
Bylaws None
Notice Of Motion
1/Mayor Decoux proposes to bring forth a Motion regarding the Land and Building containing the Crowsnest Centre (April 5,2011)
2/Mayor Decoux proposes to bring forth a Motion regarding the property known as "River Run"(April 19,2011)
3/Mayor Decoux proposes to bring forth a Motion regarding the area of the Cuff Report that talks about the duplication of services and facilities in the Crowsnest Pass (May 3,2011)
Mayor Decoux also informed the crowd gathered that this Motion were timed to correspond with the release of the report being put together by his Economic Task Force.
Other Business
1/ Waiving of ice fees for Pee Wee Tournament
Note: This now sends the request for waiver back to the Culture and Rec Board, to suggest that there is any likely hood that the board would vote against council's wish chances are slim.
Motion to accept passed Unanimously
2/ Municipal Advertising Council did not realize that the deal with the Promoter was exclusive until 3:30pm November 16. The Mayor moved to table this until the next meeting to give Administration time to look at the legal side of this issue.
Motion to table passed Unanimously
3/Dates for Orientation with Administration
Nov 30 and Dec 1 Motion to accept passed Unanimously
4/Travel Alberta Open House
Motion to send Councilor Gallant to on Nov 22 passed Unanimously
5/Date for tour with Spray Lakes Saw Mills
Motion to accept Dec 17 passed Unanimously
6/Council Retreat Dec 8
Motion to accept passed Unanimously
7/Ball Soccer Complex-Outstanding bill owned to Drain Brothers
Motion to pay $10,000 out of 2010 operational budget and $15,871 out of 2011 operational budget passed Unanimously
8/Waving of Off site Levy for Food Bank
Motion to accept passed Unanimously
9/Request to lease Road Allowance-Crowsnest Mountain Resort
Administration made a recommendation to not do this, Motion made to accept that recommendation passed Unanimously
10/Brighter Futures Multi Year Lease
Three year lease last tenant at the MDM to go through this process, now all tenants are on a three year lease with one fixed rate for all groups and a 3% increase each year of the lease.
Motion to accept passed Unanimously
11/Signing Authority-CAO, Director of Finance and all members of council given signing authority for the Municipality. Motion to accept passed Unanimously
12/Councilor Absence-Saindon will miss the Dec 14 meeting
Motion to accept passed Unanimously
13/Council appointments to the Culture and Rec Board
Motion to accept Sarah Gallant to the Board passed Unanimously
Motion to accept Janis Entem to the Board passed Unanimously
14/Council appointments to the Municipal Heritage Board
Motion to accept Barbara McClary to the Board passed Unanimously
15/Cancellation of the November 23 G + P meeting-Five Councilors away at AUMA convention, Motion to accept cancellation passed Unanimously
Council Member Reports
Councilor Sage spoke about a meeting he attended with the South west Rockies group, suggested that they need to be more aware of the Crowsnest in their promoting of area tourism and also suggested that Crowsnest Businesses can advertise on their web site.
Councilor Londsbury recommended that the Mayor should write a letter to all the legions commending them for the great job they do on Remembrance Services
Mayor Decoux spoke about the excellent job all the legions do, and suggested that the Municipality attempt to put together the paperwork to allow a fly by, by the Canadian Snowbirds this summer
Public Input
Siegfried Sajitz (excuse spelling if I got it wrong)
Took the floor to raise his concerns about the Municipalities direction on advertising, he asked council if this was an effective spending of the taxpayers dollars, he asked if the numbers presented by the Herald had been confirmed by administration. He also asked if there had ever been any complaints from the public about not being able to access Municipal Advertising. He also questioned the wisdom of telling both papers that you will advertise in both, then telling your administration to go bargain with them for the best possible deal.
He asked council to stick with the present policy and give it to the lowest bidder.
In Camera-None
Adjourn
Motion to adjourn passed Unanimously
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Issues in the Crowsnest Pass
I would like to take a few moments to address some issues raised by one of my fellow bloggers, who recently declared his candidacy for the Mayors position in the Crowsnest Pass.
Some of the issues raised I agree with and some I obviously will not. But I will address each one of them the best I can.
Municipal Shell Game-Finances
Infrastructure Grants were committed to the municipality, administration argued that these projects needed to be completed last year and this. I felt we should have waited until we received the grant monies first and then did the projects. We moved ahead both years with full knowledge that the grant money was on the way, but the projects would be complete possibly prior to the money arriving, contractors had to be paid. So last year we approved a bylaw to borrow up to $1.9 million, (this was never used) and this year we approved a bylaw to borrow up to $2.6 million. If the federal and provincial government come through in a timely fashion our usage of this money should be similar to last year.
This also refers back to the need I have raised again and again for five years of building our reserves, if we had decent reserve levels we would not find ourselves in this position.
Affordable Housing
A study was done and at that time affordable housing was shown to be very necessary for our community due to a shortage of affordable accommodation, then the recession happened and the availability of rental accommodation at more affordable pricing became greater.
But there is no question that not too far down the road this will be an issue again, the municipality would have to partner up with the Feds, Province and developers to make this happen because we do not have the cash, but we do have suitable land available. This is what as happened in other communities the municipalities supply the land the two levels of government financial assistance and the developers build the homes.
Public Transportation
Important issue but one that comes with it great cost, there is nowhere that I am aware of where public transportation pays for itself. Our present town rounder is subsidized to the tune of roughly $120,000 a year. To run for 40 hours a week that works out to about $60 per hour that the taxpayer subsidizes that service. Its only a matter of money we could double the availabilty but it would likewise double the cost.
Community Centre Including an Indoor Pool
Should we go after federal and provincial dollars for this type of project, of course but this is something that will take time and a lot of money to happen, future council will have to get very creative to achieve this goal.
Local Businesses
Every election I have heard people stand up and talk about attracting business here, nobody every talks about "how". We have to make this community as attractive as possible from a visual point of view and the cost factor (taxes) to attract people here and sell what we have (proximity to the mines, and cities and one of the most beautiful places to live in the world).
Anyway I know it makes good propaganda to slam the local council for the loss of business, but to expect us to shoulder the blame for a national chain going bankrupt? for companies making the decision to move out of rural areas? and for other businesses closing due to unfortunate circumstances, how could any of those be councils fault.
Reality in the Crowsnest Pass is that we have a very mobile population, 40% of our home owners are week enders who have the opportunity to shop else where, another 25% work at the mines and have four days off every week to go shop out of town.
Its tough to have a business here that can compete with the big box stores out of town.
What always interests me is when you see some of the strongest proponents of shopping locally in Costco or Walmart.
River Run
Big investigation go ahead, from a municipal point of view the mistake we made was not having security in place. Some Council members asked for this again and again and was told by our administration and our leader that it would be provided at the required time.
We all know where we are at today. Personally I will never vote for a development again unless there is security in place prior to the project starting.
Should our Mayor have been involved in promoting this developer? should an employer of the developer been on council? the Mayor told us it was not a conflict and the councilor excused himself when an issue with the developer came up.
This was a private acquisition of a private piece of property, funded by people that choice to invest their money. I think this is between the developers, the investors and a whole bunch of lawyers.
Silence of other candidates
Obviously I can only speak for myself, every candidate that runs for office as some kind of strategic plan for their campaign. I will announce what I am doing at the time that works best for my plan. The election will decide who is right and who is wrong. (But I am running, just have not decided for which position)
Full Time Mayor
Over the years the present Mayor as been accused of micro manging the municipality, which was confirmed by George Cuff when he recommended that the Mayor no longer attend management meeting.
I can not find a rural community of our size that as a full time Mayor, how much would we pay a full time Mayor?, we have some people that feel that council members should do their job for no remuneration. Its suggested that we take some of the funding away from our CAO and use it to pay for a Mayor, if you think you are going to attract a CAO here for $60-70 000 a year good luck, go look at what other small communities pay their CAO's its part of public record.
We need to have good strong administration that will provide sound unbiased apolitical information to the council so they can make informed decisions
Hiring of a CAO
Interesting to hear our Mayor talk about how this council should not hire the next CAO, our present CAO started in August of 2004 the election took place in October of 2004.
When we received the Cuff report it revealed to us that our present CAO would be retiring at the end of 2010. The election takes place on October 18 2010, new council will not meet until the first Tuesday in November, anybody that as sat on council knows that the first meeting is about swearing everybody in, saying hello, having councils picture taken for the web site, appointing members to various committees and a light agenda.
The real work starts at the second council meeting in November leaving a period of six weeks prior to the CAO's retirement to make a decision, at that same time council is slammed with the 2011 budget, and a group of administrators that are all very eager to justify why their departments need more money.
This would not be such a big deal if you had an experienced council making the decisions, but what if you have a lot of new faces around the table? what if you had a strong Mayor that took advantage of the newness of his council to take advantage and pick his man for the position? (I know that as never happened here but I am sure it as elsewhere)
Local Media-Bias
I cannot imagine what my fellow blogger is referring to, in the Crowsnest Pass!
I like wise believed that the job of the media is to report the news, I could ramble on for hours about this issue buts whats the point.
Anyway there are a few comments about issues in the Crowsnest Pass.
Some of the issues raised I agree with and some I obviously will not. But I will address each one of them the best I can.
Municipal Shell Game-Finances
Infrastructure Grants were committed to the municipality, administration argued that these projects needed to be completed last year and this. I felt we should have waited until we received the grant monies first and then did the projects. We moved ahead both years with full knowledge that the grant money was on the way, but the projects would be complete possibly prior to the money arriving, contractors had to be paid. So last year we approved a bylaw to borrow up to $1.9 million, (this was never used) and this year we approved a bylaw to borrow up to $2.6 million. If the federal and provincial government come through in a timely fashion our usage of this money should be similar to last year.
This also refers back to the need I have raised again and again for five years of building our reserves, if we had decent reserve levels we would not find ourselves in this position.
Affordable Housing
A study was done and at that time affordable housing was shown to be very necessary for our community due to a shortage of affordable accommodation, then the recession happened and the availability of rental accommodation at more affordable pricing became greater.
But there is no question that not too far down the road this will be an issue again, the municipality would have to partner up with the Feds, Province and developers to make this happen because we do not have the cash, but we do have suitable land available. This is what as happened in other communities the municipalities supply the land the two levels of government financial assistance and the developers build the homes.
Public Transportation
Important issue but one that comes with it great cost, there is nowhere that I am aware of where public transportation pays for itself. Our present town rounder is subsidized to the tune of roughly $120,000 a year. To run for 40 hours a week that works out to about $60 per hour that the taxpayer subsidizes that service. Its only a matter of money we could double the availabilty but it would likewise double the cost.
Community Centre Including an Indoor Pool
Should we go after federal and provincial dollars for this type of project, of course but this is something that will take time and a lot of money to happen, future council will have to get very creative to achieve this goal.
Local Businesses
Every election I have heard people stand up and talk about attracting business here, nobody every talks about "how". We have to make this community as attractive as possible from a visual point of view and the cost factor (taxes) to attract people here and sell what we have (proximity to the mines, and cities and one of the most beautiful places to live in the world).
Anyway I know it makes good propaganda to slam the local council for the loss of business, but to expect us to shoulder the blame for a national chain going bankrupt? for companies making the decision to move out of rural areas? and for other businesses closing due to unfortunate circumstances, how could any of those be councils fault.
Reality in the Crowsnest Pass is that we have a very mobile population, 40% of our home owners are week enders who have the opportunity to shop else where, another 25% work at the mines and have four days off every week to go shop out of town.
Its tough to have a business here that can compete with the big box stores out of town.
What always interests me is when you see some of the strongest proponents of shopping locally in Costco or Walmart.
River Run
Big investigation go ahead, from a municipal point of view the mistake we made was not having security in place. Some Council members asked for this again and again and was told by our administration and our leader that it would be provided at the required time.
We all know where we are at today. Personally I will never vote for a development again unless there is security in place prior to the project starting.
Should our Mayor have been involved in promoting this developer? should an employer of the developer been on council? the Mayor told us it was not a conflict and the councilor excused himself when an issue with the developer came up.
This was a private acquisition of a private piece of property, funded by people that choice to invest their money. I think this is between the developers, the investors and a whole bunch of lawyers.
Silence of other candidates
Obviously I can only speak for myself, every candidate that runs for office as some kind of strategic plan for their campaign. I will announce what I am doing at the time that works best for my plan. The election will decide who is right and who is wrong. (But I am running, just have not decided for which position)
Full Time Mayor
Over the years the present Mayor as been accused of micro manging the municipality, which was confirmed by George Cuff when he recommended that the Mayor no longer attend management meeting.
I can not find a rural community of our size that as a full time Mayor, how much would we pay a full time Mayor?, we have some people that feel that council members should do their job for no remuneration. Its suggested that we take some of the funding away from our CAO and use it to pay for a Mayor, if you think you are going to attract a CAO here for $60-70 000 a year good luck, go look at what other small communities pay their CAO's its part of public record.
We need to have good strong administration that will provide sound unbiased apolitical information to the council so they can make informed decisions
Hiring of a CAO
Interesting to hear our Mayor talk about how this council should not hire the next CAO, our present CAO started in August of 2004 the election took place in October of 2004.
When we received the Cuff report it revealed to us that our present CAO would be retiring at the end of 2010. The election takes place on October 18 2010, new council will not meet until the first Tuesday in November, anybody that as sat on council knows that the first meeting is about swearing everybody in, saying hello, having councils picture taken for the web site, appointing members to various committees and a light agenda.
The real work starts at the second council meeting in November leaving a period of six weeks prior to the CAO's retirement to make a decision, at that same time council is slammed with the 2011 budget, and a group of administrators that are all very eager to justify why their departments need more money.
This would not be such a big deal if you had an experienced council making the decisions, but what if you have a lot of new faces around the table? what if you had a strong Mayor that took advantage of the newness of his council to take advantage and pick his man for the position? (I know that as never happened here but I am sure it as elsewhere)
Local Media-Bias
I cannot imagine what my fellow blogger is referring to, in the Crowsnest Pass!
I like wise believed that the job of the media is to report the news, I could ramble on for hours about this issue buts whats the point.
Anyway there are a few comments about issues in the Crowsnest Pass.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Gold Creek Development in the Crowsnest Pass
July 20 the Gold Creek Development came to Council to seek approval on their development agreement and the amount of security they would be required to post with the Municipality prior to commencing.
They provided information that gave a list of quotes for the various types of work required which came to a total of $738,000, within their documentation I noticed that there was a note attached that stated "the quote could vary by up to +/- 20%" which of course alarmed myself and some of the other councilors.
After some debate came a suggestion from myself that a simple solution which would protect the municipality/taxpayers was to pass the Development Agreement with a condition that the Security Deposit would be raised 20% to $900,000.
Within the debate comments were raised that after what happened at the River run site should we not be proceeding, very carefully. All made sense right?
What occurred after that just blew me away when the vote was called Councilor Mitchell and Mayor Irwin were opposed, Councilors Ward, Cole, Salus and Macleod were in favour. Irwin and Mitchell felt that increasing the Security Deposit was not required.
Thankfully it passed and yes the Developer may feel that the additional security was not necessary but if they live up to their commitments they get all the money back, and the faster they work the faster the money is released, and the Municipality has no risk.
How or why would anybody vote against this?
If anybody does not understand the concerns here I will have pictures of the River Run Development shortly
They provided information that gave a list of quotes for the various types of work required which came to a total of $738,000, within their documentation I noticed that there was a note attached that stated "the quote could vary by up to +/- 20%" which of course alarmed myself and some of the other councilors.
After some debate came a suggestion from myself that a simple solution which would protect the municipality/taxpayers was to pass the Development Agreement with a condition that the Security Deposit would be raised 20% to $900,000.
Within the debate comments were raised that after what happened at the River run site should we not be proceeding, very carefully. All made sense right?
What occurred after that just blew me away when the vote was called Councilor Mitchell and Mayor Irwin were opposed, Councilors Ward, Cole, Salus and Macleod were in favour. Irwin and Mitchell felt that increasing the Security Deposit was not required.
Thankfully it passed and yes the Developer may feel that the additional security was not necessary but if they live up to their commitments they get all the money back, and the faster they work the faster the money is released, and the Municipality has no risk.
How or why would anybody vote against this?
If anybody does not understand the concerns here I will have pictures of the River Run Development shortly
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
River Run Project Crowsnest Pass (52 Acre property)
Tuesday April 6th at the council meeting the issue of the River Run project was discussed by council this is the land know as the 52 acre site in the Crowsnest Pass. The municipality never received security deposits on this property. The local residents in addition to the approximately 12000 vehicles that travel on Highway 3 everyday get to enjoy the view of a number of large piles of dirt and a large amount of exposed coal dust. We have no idea when this project will move forward but as of Tuesday night, security as been demanded by council and it will be made clear from the motion of council that no further development will proceed without that security being in place.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
River run Shareholders audio available Crowsnest Pass
This audio is available at the following address, of the Riverrun Shareholders meeting.
http://www.feeltheenergy.ca/
http://www.feeltheenergy.ca/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)