Council update, 22 April 2012
Hello everyone:
What an interesting week it has been. It was great to see so many people out for the all-candidates’ forum on Thursday night! I hope that we have a high voter turnout tomorrow.
VOTE TOMORROW
For the provincial election tomorrow, you can vote at the high school between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. For questions about voting: www.elections.ab.ca
HAVE YOUR SAY ON STREET LIGHTING
We’re working on a new street lighting policy. You can find a link to the Town’s new GIS-based commenting tool here:
http://www.banff.ca/business/planning-development/Street_Lighting_Policy.htm
Having said that, I just gave it a try, floundered around a bit, and gave up. To me, it doesn’t seem very user-friendly -- I’ll ask about this tomorrow at council. But, in the meantime, have a go – you may be much better at this than I am!
COUNCIL MEETING TOMORROW
Council meets tomorrow at 2 p.m. and – as always – you are very welcome to attend. Every council agenda includes two opportunities for people in the gallery to ask questions about items on that day’s agenda. You can see the whole agenda package for tomorrow at this link (it’s 9.8 MB, so will take awhile to open):
Here are some of the highlights ...
2011 Financial Results
You can see the town’s year-end actuals for 2011, starting on page 24 of the package, and the town’s audited financial statements starting on page 45. Yes, I know that most of you will avoid these like the plague, but this is important information. For example:
• The town was almost exactly on budget in 2011 – there was an $8K surplus. There is a lot of background noise behind this overall figure – you can see notes for these variations on each page of the report. (For example, we had to transfer $255K from our budget stabilization reserve to cover the cut in provincial funding for our RCMP, the hiring squeeze saved $182K more than Council had asked for in the budget, etc. etc.)
• The town’s debt – incurred through major projects such as downtown reconstruction (a $22 million project) and the recreation centre (a $31 million project) -- is being paid off quite rapidly. At the end of 2010, the town had tax/grant-supported debt of $17.5 million. At the end of 2011, the town had tax/grant supported debt of $14.7 million. The figure at the end of 2012 is budgeted to be lower yet again. It’s good to see these figures in audited financial statements.
So, if you want the straight goods on where the town is at financially, please peruse these reports. If you’re interested in historical comparisons, you can see the town’s audited financial statements going back several years on the website.
Farmers’ Market
Starting on page 104 of the package, you’ll find a report on the plans for the Farmers’ Market for this year. The market will operate on Wednesdays from June 13 to September 12, and I know we’re all looking forward to it. Council is being asked to allow additional event signage on market days – I am generally OK with what is being asked for, with the exception of proposed signage on the high school field fence.
Legacy Trail bridge options
Parks is extending the Legacy Trail at the Norquay entrance to town, so that cyclists can stay on a bike path from town out to Vermilion, rather than having to go on the road and make that somewhat hazardous left turn. To tie into this, a ped/cycle bridge is proposed across 40-mile Creek. The report (starting on page 150 of the package) shows options using re-used Glulam beams, or concrete, or fibreglass, or steel, or new Glulam. We’ll be exploring the pros and cons in the meeting. At present, I’m inclined to support re-using the Glulam beams in this new application.
Tennis court re-build
As I’m sure you all know, the tennis courts at the Rec Grounds are cracked and need repair or replacement. These are the last two free, public courts in town – when I first came to Banff, there were eight! The report recommends that we do a surface rehabilitation for $130K, but it’s risky, because the ground under the courts is prone to heaving. The report says that the life of a resurfaced court could be anything from 3 – 15 years, and there’s no way of knowing for sure. There is another option. For $400K, we could do a total re-build, producing courts with an expected life of 30 years. I would like council to explore and consider this option. How much have we spent on skaters in town? Surely we should give some consideration to what might work best, over the long term, for tennis. You can see the report starting on page 169 of the package.
Briefings
Starting on page 184, you can see a series of briefings to council about various programs: the upcoming community social/recreational assessment, the grant funding for the Get Out program, and the work of the Bow Valley Learning Council (formerly the Bow Corridor Continuing Education Council).
ALSO TOMORROW – BANFF HOUSING CORPORATION SHAREHOLDER MEETING
At 4:30, council will take a break from the Council meeting to meet as the BHC shareholder. You can see the package for the meeting at this link:
http://www.banff.ca/Assets/PDFs/Locals+PDF/Housing_BHC/BHC+Shareholder+Meetings/BHCS-Agenda-120423.pdf
As always, this meeting is open to the public. We’ll look at the 2011 audited statements (starting on page 4 of the package), the 2012 business plan and budget (starting on page 17 of the package), review the overall value of the BHC’s equity share in housing (starting on page 25 of the package), and update bylaws and policy to incorporate some new direction from the shareholder to BHC. This includes direction to pursue rental housing, and acknowledges that the Town may pay for activities that it asks BHC to undertake for the benefit of the overall community.
WHAT ELSE IS ON COUNCIL’S CALENDAR?
Council members meet tomorrow with the Banff Lake Louise Hotel Motel Association to discuss a range of subjects of interest to the association. On Tuesday and Thursday, we’re involved with a social studies project with the Grade 12 students. Banff Housing Corporation Board meets on Friday morning.
MUSING ON THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LISTENING AND AGREEING
It appears to me that sometimes the statement “you didn’t listen” is used, when what is meant is “you didn’t agree”. It is possible to listen to someone, very carefully, even multiple times, and still not agree with them. For example, any of you might have come to the all-candidates’ forum during the municipal election in 2010, you might have listened closely to what all the candidates had to say, and you might have decided not to vote for me (darn!). That would *not* mean that you didn’t listen to me. It would just mean that – taking into account what I said, plus everything else you’ve heard and experienced – you didn’t agree with me. And that would be fine.
THE FINE PRINT
As always, this post represents my individual point of view. This is not a communication from the Town of Banff or its Council. I welcome your comments and questions.
All the best until next time! Leslie