Yesterday, as I campaigned around town I noticed the golden leaves everywhere along Cochrane's ravine systems and the Bow River. This is truly a lovely town, and fall displays the wonderful natural environment we enjoy. I spent half the day in Glenbow, the other half in Bow Meadows and the evening in the East End. I find that by meeting with citizens in all different parts of Town, I am able to get a better picture of the real common issues and shared community values.
In Glenbow, most people aare concerned about increased traffic and unmanaged growth, and several comments were made about vandalism of fences and yards. Several citizens were concerned with the Town's failure to maintain park areas. Of particular note, the Town has removed the playground equipment from a tot lot and never replaced it, nor did the Town take the time to re-landscape the area. As a result, the area has a garbage can and a few large rocks, and is empty space with an uneven surface for any kind of physcial activity, for example soccer or ball. The Town has done something similar in Cochrane Heights, whereby they removed all the playground equipment from a tot lot next to a residential area and simply did not replace it, even though the original developer dedicated the land for that purpose. The community association in Cochrane Heights has asked repeatedly for it to be replaced and the Town has done nothing about it.
I find it interesting that the Town asks community associations to attend meetings with a few members of council and adminsitration. The associations attend and relate their concerns, but nothing ever changes. I have to wonder if there is any point in these meetings or if they are just opportunities for certain councillors to extend offers to help to raise their political profiles. For example, in the East End, our community association has asked that the noise bylaw be enforced many times, and the noise issue seems to grow rather than lessen. It is really a problem for people who live adjacent to the industrial lands which were developed after the residential neighbourhood. We also told this group of councillors that we have serious concerns about the location of a proposed sidewalk, and the Town did nothing to assist the landowners to learn more about their plans-it was the community association that took over citizen notification and education about what Council was doing. If the Councillors really want to continue these meetings, they should make sure that the community associations have their issues addressed promptly so that there is something new on every agenda rather than posturing and rehashing and new promises every meeting. I would sure like to help make those sessions more collaborative and effective-and get something done!
In Bow Meadows, some citizens are still conerned that a promised pathway system in the Jumping Pound Creek floodway that was washed out in 2005 and again in 2008 has not yet been built. It seems as if the Town takes forever to get some of these simple projects done. I sure hope they have proper provincial and federal permits to work in the Jumping Pound floodway to reinstate the pathway there using the proposed culverts and hard infrastructure, all of which will likely be washed out again if the area floods in the future. There were more environmentally friendly and effective methods available to ensure that citizens had access to those hydrologically sensitive lands, but those were rejected by Council at the time. Hopefully, this project gets done quickly.
One citizen in Bow Meadows commented that he is tired of "fighting city hall", because it seems like every time there is an issue in Bow Meadows the whole community is expected to attend meetings to express their community opinions.
In Bow Meadows, I was greeted with enthusiasm and much support, and it was the first community where anyone brought up the "brand" issue. People there are not very happy with how this Council pushed the new brand down our collective throats. It has left a bad taste to many citizens, and a "tendency to gag"! I have to agree.
In the East End, citizens were concerned about the Highway 1A and Centre Ave intersection where they have to wait for long periods to turn onto Highway 1A to leave for work in the city or to get off Highway 1A into town at night on the way home. There are near misses everyday. Probably the most important note from two families I talked with was the need for some part time jobs in town for stay at home moms who may want to work while the kids are in school. People look forward to the Walmart shopping complex and see this development as an opportunity to work part of the day at retail and other jobs as a means of second income. Everyone I talked to in the East End is worried about taxation and cannot understand the system or why taxes fluctuate. There is a great need for education on the market value system and the taxation rate and why the Town seems to continue to raise taxes unchecked. People do not want Cochrane to become an elitist community where only the wealthy can continue to live here.
One woman in the East End wants to have a pesticide bylaw put in place to control the cosmetic application of pesticides on both public and private lands, and I agreed that we waste a lot of money on pesticides to get rid of dandelions and the like. Of note, those chemicals flow directly off our lawns into the storm drains and into the Bow River and tributaries. I would be happy to help the Town to get such a bylaw in place to regulate and control the cosmetic application of pesticides, and promote naturescaping as an alternative to pesticide application as well as a water conservation strategy.
That's all for now! See you out there in a bit! Thanks to all of you for taking the time to chat with me. I am enjoying every moment.
No comments:
Post a Comment