Hello everyone:

I hope you're getting a chance to enjoy the great skiing, and that you're also managing to stay warm!

Here's a quick rundown on what's been happening at council, and what's coming to the council table tomorrow.  As always, these items are presented from my point of view, and this message does not pretend to be an official communication of Council or of the Town of Banff.

MID-BLOCK CROSSWALKS ON BANFF AVENUE

If you're like me, you may be having a little trouble remembering to notice these new crosswalks.  The Town staff has put up some different signage to try to make them more visible.  Let me know what you think -- is the new signage working for you?

SNOW REMOVAL

I've heard from a few people about the length of time that it took to clear the roads and sidewalks after the big December storm.  As I'm sure you know, that combination of a heavy snowfall, followed by a bit of rain, followed by very low temperatures, makes for a worst-case scenario for the folks that have to clear the snow.  Apparently, this was added to by the fact that a couple of pieces of key equipment, including the grader, had minor breakdowns and needed repairs.  Having said all that, the town staff is no happier than you are about the length of time the clearing took, and they're reviewing all their priorities and snow-clearing procedures to try to do the best job possible within the money available.  I'll keep you updated on this.

FAMILY DAY HOMES

As you know, there's a bylaw in front of council, coming for 3rd reading tomorrow, to make family day homes and private babysitting services able to be licensed as home occupations in the town of Banff.  If you're not a parent of pre-schoolers, you may not know that the Banff Child Care Centre has a waiting list of 100 -- so it is urgent to try to encourage more private spaces in town.  Given the importance, a few people have wondered why I'm asking so many questions about the bylaw.  "Just get it passed!" is the message from some.  I certainly do understand the urgency, but I also think we need to make sure we do it right.  There are so many interests involved:

• The children -- are we doing everything we are required to do in order to ensure their comfort and safety?
• The parents -- are we having a comprehensive and transparent discussion of the bylaw, so that people will clearly understand what "licensed by the Town of Banff" means -- and what it doesn't mean?
• The operators -- how can we be as clear as possible in the bylaw about what factors will be looked at in granting a home occupation permit, so that people will feel confident in applying?
• The neighbours -- how can we best ensure that they have a chance to have input?

 For all these reasons, I'm asking lots of questions about this bylaw.  I feel that it's not unreasonable to spend a couple of extra weeks examining something so important.

COMMUNITY STANDARDS BYLAW

The bylaw folks have been working very hard on this, and the combining of noise, nuisances, graffiti and similar items under one bylaw is a great idea.  We've made a few changes and there are some more recommended for tomorrow's meeting.  I've heard from several of you who are anxious to see the best noise protection possible (aren't we all!)

One contentious item is these 2 clauses:

No person shall conduct himself or behave in a manner that gives an Officer reasonable grounds to believe that such conduct or behaviour will disturb the peace of the neighbourhood or disturb other persons in the Town or unreasonably interfere with other persons' enjoyment of the Town, and any such person shall cease such conduct or behaviour as requested by an Officer.

That's because -- much as I want to have peaceful nights -- I also believe we should be doing enforcement based on what people are actually doing, not what we think they might do in future.  I'm also uncomfortable with reaching conclusions about people based on the size of the group they're hanging around with.

However, the bylaw folks and the RCMP feel otherwise, and have put lots of thought into their point of view as well  -- you can read their comments here:

http://www.banff.ca/AssetFactory.aspx?did=1323

(just scroll through to page 17 to see the report).

We'll see which way it goes tomorrow!

ELECTION PROCEDURES

I've asked Council to consider three changes to election procedures tomorrow -- #2 is the most important one, from my point of view:

1.  that we clarify that, if necessary, there can be more than one advance polling day

2.  that we direct that at least one advance poll be held no less than a week before the election.  This is because I heard from a lot of you that the 4-day spread in 2007 was just not enough, since October is a time when a lot of people take vacations.

3.  that we run our voting station somewhere other than Town Hall.  This is because I observed during the election that there were pictures and text posted on the way into the voting station, and in the voting station itself, that related to particular candidates and to particular points of view on election issues.  This is not anyone's fault -- it's just something that is likely to happen in a Town Hall location.  So I'm suggesting we avoid that. 

The staff report to council can be seen here:

http://www.banff.ca/AssetFactory.aspx?did=1323

(just scroll through to page 11 to see the report).

As you'll see, staff agrees with point #1, disagrees with point #3, and recommends that we hold an advance poll on a weekend day. 

WAYFINDING

I had a look at an early draft of the wayfinding plan this past week -- this is the project that will install new directional signs throughout the town in 2009.  Although there are lots of things that need tweaking, I'm pretty excited about the overall look of the signage, and the fact that there will be more directional signs meant for pedestrians and trail users.  If you have any places near you where people (drivers or walkers) often get lost, please tell me about them, and I'll check to ensure that they are included in the draft plan.

Until next time, best wishes to you all -- Leslie