council email update, March 8, 2009

Hello everyone:

Well, it still feels like winter, but I was delighted to see pussywillows along the Cave & Basin Marsh loop today.  Although it's hard to tear yourselves away from the combination of long days, good snow and sunshine, here are a few items you might want to know about ...

Obstetrics closure at the hospital

The closure has gone ahead, and it seems to have changed from three months to indefinite.  Hats off to the community folks who are actively commenting and making their voices heard on this one.  The demonstration at the hospital on Saturday was polite, lively and well-attended, and I expect that we will be seeing lots of people at the council meeting tomorrow as well, as the hospital CAO will be there to discuss the closure with council.

I've attended the two demos at the hospital, and -- along with Councillor Karlos -- I also met with Dr. David Swann (leader of the Liberal opposition in the provincial legislature) when he came to Banff on Saturday to look into the situation.  Dr. Swann has been asking about this issue in the legislature.  You can see the government's response on YouTube ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRFW0Td-VKA

If you want to follow what's going on with this issue, and you're a Facebook user, you can join the Facebook group Bow Valley Residents Supporting Banff's Labour and Delivery Program. 

I hope that we can all work with the hospital to help them plan for re-staffing their present nursing shortage and re-opening the program.  Having babies born in Banff is an important part of the spirit of our community.

RCMP Community Advisory Committee

I know that many of you are interested in issues such as late night noise, and I hope that you may take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about what goes on, and to be part of finding solutions.  The Banff detachment is looking for volunteers to join a community advisory committee, to give them input on their priorities and to let them know the interests and concerns of the public.   If you're interested in serving on this committee, you can find out the details by chatting with Staff Sergeant Wayne Wiebe at 403-762-2228. 

It's great that they're reaching out to the community -- let's show them that we appreciate it by making sure they get the volunteers they need.  Please pass this info on to any of your friends who might be interested!

COMING TO COUNCIL ON MARCH 9

Here are some highlights from tomorrow's council agenda ...

Hospital delegation

As I mentioned, Cindy Mulherin of Mineral Springs will be coming to talk with council about the obstetrics closure.

Loan guarantee for Rocky Mountain Housing Co-op

Council will be asked to give second and third readings to a bylaw to continue providing a loan guarantee for the RMHCA -- these are the apartment-style buildings beside the Rec Grounds.

ROAM transit system changes

Council will be asked to approve some changes to the transit system - moving some stops, realigning some routes, and going to two routes year-round instead of two in the winter and three in the summer.  The intention is to provide a shorter interval between buses, and a longer service day.  You can see all the details by going to:

http://www.banff.ca/AssetFactory.aspx?did=1884

and scrolling down to page 38.

Water well #6

There's good news in the same package ...

http://www.banff.ca/AssetFactory.aspx?did=1884

... at page 59.  Because more Banffites and businesses have been conserving water, the town's demand for water has stabilized, rather than increasing as was predicted in the 2004 Water Master Plan.  As a result, it looks as though we won't need to go ahead with the proposed sixth water well, but have enough capacity in existing wells to meet our requirements.  And that's not just scraping by, either -- provincial requirements state that we must be able to meet our maximum daily demand (the amount of water drawn on the highest-use day of the year) even if our highest-producing well is out of service.  The engineers are telling us that we can do this now and for the next five years (given present trends), so we don't need an additional well.

THE FINE PRINT

As always, this post represents only my point of view, and does not purport to represent the official position of the Town of Banff or of the Banff Town Council.