From the Delegations
Tara Szkorupa’s delegation for the Rocky Mountain Naturalists consisted of an update on the Elizabeth Lake Restoration project. Neil Muth’s delegation on the Annual Review of the Columbia Basin Trust followed. This was a perfect combination of a glimpse into the financial structure of the Columbia Basin Trust and an excellent example of how the investment monies work in the form of grants for citizens’ groups. Tara showed photos of the before and after of the Rocky Mountain Naturalists work at Elizabeth Lake. Many volunteers have completed the natural habitat and path renewal with materials purchased with grant monies. Thanks to those many volunteers’ hard work and the Columbia Basin Trust, Elizabeth Lake now has less non-native species of plants, more native grasses, young shrubs and trees as well as better chip covered, designated paths for walking.
Council Enquiries
Councillor Whetham asked on behalf of a Fort Steele Resident, why the cattle were still being sprayed with effluent at the end of August. Jamie Hodge City Engineer explained this was a mistake and a problem with the pivots, which did not switch themselves off. It has since been fixed.
Administration Updates
It was good to see Eric Sharpe’s presentation on road improvements and encouraging to hear how much thorough road reconstruction was achieved this summer with a budget of just over three million dollars. Many of the roads that were resurfaced were also rebuilt with more appropriate substructure and in some cases new water mains. It was also good to hear that the removed asphalt is being stockpiled for reuse elsewhere when appropriate.
Waste Water Update
It was very disappointing that the much anticipated scheduled update by Jamie Hodge, City Engineer, on the Waste Water Upgrades was partially held over until next council meeting. A failure in technology prevented a full viewing and explanation of the new systems currently being put in place.
Leisure Services
It is anticipated the refurbished Memorial Arena will be reopened by the third week of December
New Business
An item concerning an application for subdivision of the lot/s on which the empty Mitsubishi building exists was somewhat confusing. It appeared as though preliminary approval of the application was given but that there was a lot of concern around maintaining parking should another dealership take over this property.
Bylaws
Anticipated Revenue Borrowing Bylaw No. 3713 was adopted. This is possibly an interim financing, regular type of borrowing.
Round Table Comments
Both Councillor Whetham and Councillor Wavrecan commented on their attendance at the lecture by Architect Jeremy Sturgess.
Councillor Wavrecan commented he heard Jeremy Sturgess say in order to have sustainability you need to have growth.
For the record:
When asked about the reconciliation of the words growth and sustainability and the fact that it has been said by a few Cranbrook residents that ‘to not grow is to die’, Jeremy Sturgess said,
“Sustainability does not mean not growing. In fact I think sustainability is about growing. It is just about growing in a measured way. Measured doesn't mean less. It means with custodianship.” About sprawl, he said, “If it’s not greed, it’s waste”
Councillor Whetham also mentioned his meetings with the residents of Slaterville over the last few months. The stage is now almost set, financing permitting, for the beginnings of some planning for this rather neglected but historical corner of Cranbrook.
Thank you Cranbrook Guardian reporters for such informative reporting on council meetings. I was also at the Jeremy Sturgess presentation and heard him say that most cities, with the exception of possibly Vancouver, have room to grow within their current boundaries, Cranbrook included.
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