council email update — 21 June 2009
Happy solstice, everyone!
Here are the highlights of tomorrow's Council agenda. (You can see the whole agenda package at http://www.banff.ca/Assets/PDFs/Town+Hall+PDF/Council+Agendas+PDF/2009+Agendas+PDF/council-agenda-090622.pdf )
BOW VALLEY VOLUNTEER DRIVER PROJECT
The towns of Banff and Canmore and the MD of Bighorn are working together to create a volunteer drivers program, to help seniors and the disabled get into Calgary for important medical appointments, etc. The briefing to council (page 21 of the package) includes information on how this will be organized.
FCSS "MEET ON THE STREET" INITIATIVE
FCSS is trying out a new way for them to connect with the community: taking to Town kiosk/tents out and setting them up in neighbourhoods, offering beverages and cookies, and chatting with people that come by. This program is going to be piloted on Grizzly Street this week, and will be carried out in full in the fall. You can see the full briefing on page 26 of the package.
ENVIRONMENTAL REBATES
You're probably familiar with the town's popular toilet rebate program. On page 31 of the council package, you can read about a proposed revamping of the program to include rebates for more energy and water-saving devices (rain barrels, programmable thermostats, etc) and to introduce a part of the rebate program that will be open to commercial applicants. The report also points out other rebates available from the feds and the provice -- just by reading it, I found out about a $100 rebate for my new energy-efficient washing machine -- so you'll want to check it out!
BANFF HOUSING CORPORATION
Council will also be holding a BHC shareholders' meeting on June 22, and you can see the agenda package for it here:
Council will be asked to vote on seven recommendations coming out of the discussions with the BHC homeowners on May 28. These include confirming that the current sublease agreements are not changing, creating a "plain English" version of the main points of the sublease agreement, providing evidence that "equity creep" (a gradual increase in prices paid on the assumption that the community equity will be passed along) is taking place, providing information on administration fees and what costs they are used to offset, and recommendations for setting up a working group to deal with further discussions.