The Cranbrook Guardian

23 and 1/2 hours: What is the single best thing we can do for our health?

2012-02-02T11:43:00.000-07:00

What's Happening...

2012-02-02T04:54:00.001-07:00

Thursday, February 2

Rockies Film Series - Take Shelter
At the Columbia Theatre 7pm
Tickets are $10 in advance from Lotus Books
$12 at the door

Backyardigans
A musical theatre production based on the pre-school program.
Key City Theatre - 6:30pm
Tickets are $29 at the KCT boxoffice
or call 250-426-7006

Friday, February 3

Mixed Media for Kids
Cranbrook and District Arts Council along with Leisure Services
offer this workshop for children aged 8 to 14
from 1 to 4pm.
Will be offered again on February 17

Saturday, February 4

Locals Coffeehouse
Studio Stage Door at 7:30pm
Enjoy local musicians
Tickets are $7 at Lotus Books and
Swing Street Coffeehouse\\

Tuesday, February 7

Acoustic Open Mic at DD Magee's
Hosted by David Prinn every Tuesday evening at 6:30pm

Wednesday, February 8

Elizabeth Lake Art Challenge at the KCT Gallery
features paintings and sculptures inspired by Elizabeth Lake
The show closes today. Vote for your favourite piece of art.

Thursday, February 9

Open House at College of the Rockies Campus
Drop by 4pm - 6pm. Get answers to your post secondary
education questions.

Why not electric?

2012-02-01T09:14:00.000-07:00

Cranbrook City Council is undergoing the review of its five year financial plan. There are scheduled replacements for trucks in that review along with the issue of 'carbon offsets'. We wonder if the city has considered electric vehicles for some of these new purchases. We have posted several articles about municipalities across Canada who have invested in electric vehicles and wonder if they might be suitable here and if not considered suitable why that would be? Would a 'cute vehicle' have difficulty with our winter roads and would it be possible to do something about that? Would a vehicle such as this be suitable for a position such as a bylaw officer?

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Ucluelet Plugs Into Electric Vehicles

By Canadian Electric Vehicles
UCLUELET - The District of Ucluelet has purchased two new electric trucks to help reduce their carbon footprint. Ucluelet joins many other BC communities who are moving towards using clean electric vehicles to replace fuel burning fleet vehicles which emit, on average, 4.37 tonnes of CO2 per year.

Community of Ucluelet Mayor, Eric Russcher, based his decision to purchase the electric utility trucks on the fact that they are “Economically viable, environmentally friendly, reduces our carbon footprint, efficient and to top it off they are cute. We have found a true win-win situation.”

The Might-E Trucks Ucluelet purchased are manufactured on Vancouver Island by Canadian Electric Vehicles (CEV) who has been supplying electric solutions to municipalities, governments and businesses around the world for the last 21 years. CEV owner Randy Holmquist says, "It is only the last two or three years that we have seen growth in our Canadian sales but it's a significant increase this year. As communities struggle to reduce their green house gas emissions they are realizing the benefits of replacing dirty fuel burning trucks with clean electric ones" Holmquist is pleased that communities like Ucluelet choose to purchase from a local Canadian company – something which is good for the Vancouver Island economy and good for the Canadian economy.

Conflict of Interest

2012-02-01T06:40:00.002-07:00

Definition of Conflict of Interest - a conflict between the private interests and the official responsibilities of a person in a position of trust

Carmen Purdy was the chairperson of the Urban Deer Committee which advised the City about our urban deer and recommended a deer cull. This was obviously a very controversial decision and is still reverberating throughout the East Kootenays. No matter what side of the issue one is on, it is our understanding that Mr. Purdy did a steadfast job at guiding the committee through its many meetings and mountains of information. When it became known that Mr. Purdy was awarded the contract to cull the deer concerns were raised about the process. Should the Chairperson of the committee which made the decision to cull the deer then go ahead and profit from that decision? In all fairness Mr. Purdy did offer to resign from the committee when he put in his bid for the contract. However, it is our understanding that Mr Purdy was advised by a 'city employee' that he did not have to resign. It was not until newly elected Mayor Wayne Stetski heard that Mr. Purdy had won the contract for the deer cull that Mr. Purdy again offered to resign. To be clear, the committee that Mr. Purdy chaired, did not make the decision regarding the awarding of the contract. Mr. Purdy, by offering to resign, seemingly recognized what a possible conflict of interest it would be but it is of concern that an employee of our City did not see that this very controversial decision required more than the letter of the law. As long as committee members have the opportunity to profit from their decisions, any decision they make will be called into question. The City needs to ensure that the decisions will be above reproach. Even the appearance of Conflict of Interest is unacceptable .

Sidelining Sidewalks

2012-01-31T09:17:00.002-07:00

In March of 2011 Macleans published an article by Tom Hanson titled 'Down Shovels: the city should clear the sidewalks'
http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/03/17/down-shovels-the-city-should-clear-the-sidewalks/

Downing shovels completely would not encourage personal responsibility or health but the article does raise interesting points. The article was mentioned at a Cranbrook Council meeting a year ago and here we are again, discussing the same issue and this happens year after year. By the time we get around to making the situation better, maybe climate change will have solved the problem for us. Of course the major impediment to seeing this happen is always cost, no surprise, so we have posted a poll to the side of this post to see what you think.

An excerpt from the Macleans article:

No Canadian city would ever expect residents to keep the roads in front of their houses clear of snow and ice for the benefit of cars and buses. Yet Vancouver residents are expected to have their sidewalks cleaned for pedestrians by 10 a.m. daily. Saskatoon gives its citizens 24 hours to get the job done. Numerous other cities, including Edmonton, Windsor, Ont., Hamilton, Kitchener, Ont., and Waterloo, Ont., have also off-loaded responsibility for sidewalk shovelling onto residents, although Calgary appears to be breaking new ground with its demand that citizens shovel the path behind their house as well as the sidewalk out front.

Curiously, many other Canadian cities, including Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Fredericton and the majority of Metro Toronto, manage to keep sidewalks clear as part of their routine duties. Sidewalks may be lower on the priority list than roads and bridges, but the effort is there. So what explains this snowy divide?

Cities that require citizens to do their own shovelling frequently cite the heavy cost of sidewalk clearing and limited budgets. But sidewalk plowing appears to be one of the great bargains of municipal governance. Winnipeg, for example, manages to keep its sidewalks free from snow and ice for $2 million a year, or less than $7 per household. Try finding a teenager willing to shovel your driveway just once for $7, let alone a whole season.

Isaman Convicted of Failing to File Income Tax Returns

2012-01-30T08:36:00.000-07:00

Special to The Cranbrook Guardian

Sheldon Isaman, a well- known Cranbrook businessman and developer, was fined a total of $9,000 in Cranbrook Provincial Court Jan. 18 after pleading guilty to nine counts under the federal Income Tax Act.

Charges first appeared on February 3^rd of 2011 and following a number of court appearances since then, this case has finally come to conclusion.

According to a press release issued by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), Isaman failed to file his 2005 to 2007 personal income tax returns as well as his corporate tax returns for Summit West Investments (2002) Inc. for the 2005 and 2006 taxation years and the 2002 to 2005 taxation years. Isaman was fined $1,000 on each count for a total of $9,000.

Isaman was given until Jan. 18, 2013 to pay the fine and the outstanding returns have since been filed, said CRA Communications Manager Dave Morgan. When people are convicted of failing to file tax returns they must still file their returns and pay the full amount of taxes owing plus interest as well as any fines the court may impose, Morgan said.

Isaman currently has a large residential development proposal before the Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) for approval. The 2,400 acre parcel was also part of the controversial East Hill development project proposed for Cranbrook in August 2007, but fell through after a city boundary expansion application to accommodate it was defeated by 35 votes in a hard fought and divisive referendum campaign in November 2009.

Cranbrook lawyer Natalie Hebert, who represented Isaman in court before Provincial Court Judge Grant Sheard, said her client had nothing to say about the matter. “I can advise at this time Mr. Isaman has no comment.”

The matter was originally scheduled for disposition Jan. 19, but was moved ahead a day to Jan. 18 when Isaman pleaded guilty.

Thinking about Literacy

2012-01-29T10:25:00.003-07:00

Friday January 27th was Family Literacy Day. Education Minister George Abbott and MLA Bennett toured several Cranbrook Schools that day.

When Minister Abbott spoke to primary students at Gordon Terrace Elementary School on Family Literacy Day, he asked if any had listened to a rap by Julian Smith titled, ‘I’m reading a Book’. He even quoted a few lines in rap rhythm and received an ovation for doing so. It was interesting that none of the students raised their hands when asked if they knew this song and the ovation would indicate most parents also were oblivious to it..

After posting the video for a few hours we received the lyrics from a teacher with a discriminating ear and some good critical thinking skills. On first listen, it is easy to dismiss the song as just a gimmick and tune it out if it is not your taste in music.

We must wonder how closely the minister had listened to this song and whether he had just been fed some lines by staff. This song and its lyrics may be considered by some as one avenue for encouraging literacy with some students. However there are many ways, which dedicated teachers, parents and students are well tapped into. One of the more mature reading skills to learn is that of critical thinking. It is not so much the fact and fiction, which is difficult to evaluate in this song as maybe language. On the one hand offering a lure into reading but with a bullying overtone? Hmm. What do you think? Older students may well laugh at this but would young students?

If you wish to evaluate the song for yourself, apply some critical thinking skills and decide for which audience, it might be most appropriate, here it is. Lyrics can be downloaded easily through a search.

Skiing at South Star or Skating on Victoria

2012-01-29T09:24:00.001-07:00

Whatever your outdoor excursion this Sunday be careful as you go.

Ski conditions are good at the South Star Trails

Walking conditions are not so good in parts of town

Join BBBS for Girls & Goals Fundraiser Luncheon

2012-01-29T09:19:00.000-07:00

Submitted
Cranbrook, BC (January 24, 2012) – On February 14th join Big Brothers Big Sister of Cranbrook for their inaugural “Girls and Goals” fundraising luncheon. This luncheon is part of a National day of action in partnership with the Girls Action Foundation. GIRLS ACTION FOUNDATION is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting girls and young women to overcome barriers and reach their true potential. This is a great partnership for a great luncheon for women to share a delicious meal with awesome girls and talk about their personal and professional work experience. What are you doing personally, professionally and with your volunteer life that makes you tick? As grown ups how can we inspire the youth of today? For young women this will be an amazing opportunity to meet some cool women who have and are doing amazing things and who you can ask questions to about school, future plans, career goals! This luncheon is a fun and fabulous opportunity to meet some cool ladies, share some stories and learn from each other!

Tickets for the luncheon are $22 (which subsidizes the girls lunches). Tickets for are available by calling (250) 489-3111 emailing dana.osiowy@bigbrothersbigsisters.ca or at 930 Baker Street, Cranbrook

VIP Day at GT

2012-01-28T09:48:00.007-07:00

As part of Minister of Education, George Abbott's tour of Cranbrook's Schools on January 27th, Family Literacy Day, he spent a few hours at Gordon Terrace Elementary School accompanied by MLA Bennett, where he observed several components of their literacy programs including the Sound Connections Program and the Eager Reader Club. Minister Abbott and members of his staff took time to listen to children read and also read to the Eager Readers and some of their parents and grandparents at a special luncheon in celebration of Family Literacy Day.

Sydney reads to Minister Abbott

Minister Abbott later moved on to Mount Baker School in the afternoon for a good look at a school that many hope will soon be replaced. He also visited Amy Woodland School.

Meetings were also scheduled with School Trustees, Parent Advisory Groups and members of School District No. 5 Administration.

Gordon Terrace Library, Principal Michelle Sartoral and Librarian Wendy Gook hosting Ministry Staff, parents, students and District Administration to their luncheon.

Kate serves up the 'special occasion' cake

More Family Literacy information can be found at:
http://abclifeliteracy.ca/family-literacy-day

Demographics Diverge for Cranbrook and Kimberley

2012-01-27T09:04:00.000-07:00

Perceptions by Gerry Warner

"Two-thirds of everything."

Back in 1996, that’s how University of Toronto economics professor David Foot explained the power of demographics in a book that became a best seller, a rarity for the “dismal science” known as economics. “Boom, Bust and Echo.” The 313 page book was subtitled “How to Profit from the Coming Demographic Shift” and it sold more than 300,000 copies and remained on the best seller lists for years.

Foot explained how the “Baby Boomers,” the 32 per cent of the Canadian population born after World War II dominated Canada for three generations after the war but were now giving way to Generation X, the boomers’ children or “bust generation” which make up18 per cent of the population and hot on their heels the “Echo Generation,” 23 per cent of the population and now the children of the Digital Age.

Shown on a graph, the baby boomers look like a giant bulge going up a ladder swallowing everything before it. “A snake swallowing a rabbit,” was how Foot put it. But not everything is going their way because as the Baby Boomers now begin to enter their retirement years there are far fewer left behind them to support their relatively lavish life style. Neither Generation X or the Echo Children have the population or the inclination to keep mom, dad, grandma and grandpa in their comfortable cocoons as they go gently in the good night. And if they are unable to get the high-paying jobs and pay the taxes that keep both private and public sector pension plans afloat, where is the money going to come from?

What is needed is more people, of course. People that have jobs, pay taxes, contribute to pension plans and other social goods – and most important of all – people that produce more people, which is where the power of demographics come in. Simply put, if we stop making babies, which many of us have, there won’t be enough new tax payers coming along to support us in our Golden Years. And this is exactly the fate facing most prosperous, First World countries like Canada. At its best, such a scenario could lead to a slow but steady decline in living standards for everyone in the country, especially the elderly who are living longer all the time and are the fastest growing segment of the population. At its worst, it could lead to inter-generational conflict and who would want that?

So with all of this in mind, I was quite surprised and somewhat alarmed the other day when I came across the latest population estimates for B.C. municipalities from BC Stats Infoline, which works closely with Statistics Canada. BC Stats Infoline produces population statistics annually using a Generalized Estimation System (GES) based on health registrations and residential hydro hook-ups to gauge population growth from one year to the next. Municipalities all over the province use the figures for planning purposes in between federal census takings which take place every five years.

There are certainly some surprises in the latest GES figures. For instance, in the year ending June 2011, Kimberley’s population grew while Cranbrook’s declined slightly. In actual figures, Kimberley’s population in the year ending June 2011 increased from 6,646 to 6,883 while Cranbrook’s slipped from 19,117 to 18, 932 over the same period, a one per cent decline. Now who would have thought that? Certainly the population differences aren’t huge with either city but what’s important is the trend. In Kimberley, the trend is up. In Cranbrook it’s down.

We, of course, will have a better idea when the next national census is taken in 2015, but as far as the situation looks for Cranbrook now there are some dark clouds on the horizon. A city not growing is declining. There’s no real other way of putting it. It might be nice to just stay the same as Nelson has for so many years, but Nelson lacks room to grow unless they build up. And Nelson’s stagnation in the long run will lead to higher property taxes as the population ages and inevitably declines. That’s not the fate we want for Cranbrook.

Another disturbing figure in Cranbrook is the rental vacancy rate, which has climbed to 7.5 per cent, the last time it was measured by CMHC in the fall of 2011. This is up from close to zero in the 2008 – 2009 period but still well below the double digit vacancy rates of the decade preceding that. No reason to panic, but some cause for concern. As for reasons for our moribund growth situation, that will have to wait for a future column.

It’s Time to Recognize our Outstanding Young People

2012-01-27T08:54:00.000-07:00

This February, JCI (Junior Chamber International) Kootenay will be awarding its 2nd Annual Outstanding Young Persons Award. The TOYP Award of JCI Kootenay recognize individuals between the ages of 18 and 40 who exemplify the best attributes of the world’s young people in the categories of accomplishment, achievement, contribution, innovation and leadership. Recipient(s) will be selected by a committee comprised of business, public, community and non-profit sector leaders and will be honoured at the Evening of Excellence on February 25, 2012.
Honourees selected in past by Junior Chamber International have represented the heights of progress in all human endeavours. Many have gone on to even greater achievements. All have continued to serve humanity in a great variety of ways. JCI Kootenay is a leadership organization of young people, ages 19 to 40, who live and work in the East Kootenay. The mandate of the organization and the members is in the importance of creating positive change in within the community and the world.

Completed submission forms are available for download on the JCI Kootenay Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/JCIKootenay

and are due by 4:30 pm on Friday, February 17^th, 2012.

For more information contact: Dana Osiowy (250) 489-3111 danaosiowy@gmail.com

What's Happening...

2012-01-26T06:58:00.001-07:00

Thursday, January 26

'Noises Off' - a comedy at the Key City Theatre
Tonight and Friday 7:30pm, and Saturday matinee at 2pm
Tickets are $15 available at the box office
or call 20-426-7006

'Raising Kain' Reading - Cranbrook Public Library 7pm
A reading by Keith Powell from his recent book, Raising Kain
The Adventurous Life of Conrad Kain
The author will also present slide shows of his trip to Austria and the
Kain Hut in the Bugaboos

Saturday, January 28

Health and Wellness Expo - the Prestige Inn
10am-4pm
Presentations on health and wellness throughout the day.
In addition their will be 15 exhibitors will be in attendance.
Admission Free

Monday, January 30

Friends of the Cranbrook Library present - A Red Sea Travelogue
See Ron Wierstra dive off the coast of Sudan, with sharks and amazing coral
7pm Lecture Theatre, College of the Rockies

Tuesday, January 31

Live Music - Open Mic at DD Magee's
Dave Prinn host open mic night at DD Magee's (formerly Finnigans Wake)
6:30-10:30 pm, No Cover

Wednesday, Feburary 1

Myanmar and South East Asia Travelogue with Roger and Sharon Mitchell
Presented by the GoGo Grannies
7pm, Lecture Theatre, College of the Rockies

From 1955...... The Late George T. Moir

2012-01-25T07:51:00.000-07:00

If not for Mr Moir, Cranbrook would not have a Moir Park. It is not in the location he bequeathed to the city as that has now been reduced to what remains of the gravel pit now almost fully excavated by the city. The proceeds of that gravel have of course contributed to current Moir Park. The man after whom Moir Park is named appears to have been quite a character.

From The Cranbrook Courier January 27th 1955;

A Tribute To His Memory By L. P. Sullivan

George T. Moir, the energetic little man with the bowler hat and the flowing bow tie, who did so much for Cranbrook early day youth, has passed into the valley of the shadow. Word of his demise was received in the Kootenays with profound sympathy by people in every walk or life.

Community interests, he always said, are what keep us alive and active. Being an early day railway telegrapher he quite frequently used the phrase "let the wires down' and we become mere idlers on the sidelines with little or no interest in life.

Moir always provided the Courier with plenty of "live" copy. He lived news, although he detested publicity and the limelight.
His aggressive spirit and fearless manner in all his undertakings were not always received on the part of the public with acclaim. Indeed he was assailed on numerous occasions for his outspoken opinion on local issues. He enjoyed a good clean fight and hewed to the line, letting the chips fall where they may, and let it be said to his credit there were plenty of chips falling . . .

I knew him best for his prominent part in the Cranbrook Amateur Athletic Association, a body of some thirty men who handled all athletic events, including high and public school meets. During his term as secretary he handled over $25,000 in cash and insisted that each and every year an annual audited statement be published.

The C.A.A.A. paid the city of Cranbrook an annual rental of $300 for the old arena rink after the eviction of the curling club, and usually ended the season with a surplus of from $800.00 to $1000.00. With this surplus the grounds of the Cranbrook District Agricultural Association were purchased from W. J. Uren, CPR superintendent here, who held a mortgage for some $6000 Local men who contributed financially to the venture were Frank Constantine, A. A. MacKinnon, Dr. W. Green, George Moir and L. P. Sullivan. The purchase was made, with the distinct understanding that the grounds would always be used for athletic purposes. This has never been fully carried out.

On the occasion of the Pioneers Reunion in 1938, with the consent of the three remaining signers, the grounds were donated to the city and named Moir Park, honouring G. T. M.

Just what kind of an individual was George T. Moir? Throughout his years of residence here there was a sort of continuous rebellion in his make-up — Against poverty and drabness; against conformity in business; in society against snobbery and sham.

With a character like this it is easy to understand the conflict that went on. At times the little man was the most unpopular person in town. But he had guts and generally carried the day.

Liberal-Labor in politics he was always advocating better conditions for the masses. On numerous occasions he took me to task for not taking a more aggressive stand against liquor. When I told him that liquor was in the world from the beginning of time and would probably remain to the end, the little man blew his top and said: "There is only one redeeming feature about the Courier. It is Liberal and does stand for the working man."

In closing this tribute to the late George T. Moir I wish to pay my respects to a great individualist, a man without fear and without prejudice. It was good to have known him and to be associated with his many worthwhile activities. It is too bad that Cranbrook has not a. few more of his kind. Peace be to his ashes.

L. P. SULLIVAN

Cranbrook Courier January 27, 1955

Post Notes for the Council Meeting of January 23, 2012

2012-01-24T06:30:00.004-07:00

This meeting is now available to watch at:
http://www.cranbrook.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=583:city-council-meeting-january-9-2012&catid=90:2012-news&Itemid=595

Delegations

5.1 Chris Alying gave an update from the Integrated Community Sustainability Plan Committee (More commonly known as Cranbrook Connected). Cranbrook Connected is hiring a co-ordinator who will work on several key tasks including creating a sustainability checklist, developing a communications plan, helping to develop a set of criteria for an annual award and community event, as well as developing connections and relationships in the communities between other social and cultural agencies. Cranbrook Connected will concentrate on several of the Big Ideas identified in their report including "Water Forever" and Revitalization of the Downtown Core or "Restore the Core"

5.2 Nathan Lieuwen, from the Kootenay Ice requested City support for 2nd annual Family Faith Night (February 11)
While all councillors agreed it was a great event for the city some expressed their discomfort with providing money to a "faith" based event. Councillor Warner was concerned that it would open the door to other faith groups who would also expect money from the City. Lieuwen felt that it was a family event which deserved City support.

Correspondence

9.1 In response to the correspondence from Dean and Jennifer Siewert, Mayor Stetski stated that the City was making every effort to encourage economic development in the City including Downtown Revitalization, a Committee for Hwy3, and requesting the Chamber of Commerce to provide information regarding ways in which the City could make it easier for small business in our community.
9.2 In response to Heath Slee, UCBM President regarding Cranbrooks membership in UCBM is was agreed that Cranbrook would renew its membership.
9.6 Ron Miles, Chair of Family Faith Night II requesting $554.50 in funding from the City generated a significant amount of discussion. While Council supports the event they were not willing to support the administration recommendation to provide the event with City monies. Councillor's Davis and Cross agreed that they could not support the City providing funding for this event. Councillor Scott felt that the faith group should consider fundraising. Only two of Council supported the recommendation, Councillor Pallesen and Mayor Stetski. The rest of Council voted against the recommendation
9.7 Council unanimously supported that February 11, 2012 be proclaimed as Kootenay Ice Family Faith Night II.
9.8 Council unanimously supported a proclamation that May 13-19 be declared "Drinking Water Week"

Administration Update

The largest issue discussed in the Administration Update was the removal of snow from sidewalks and if a bylaw was something that the City should be looking at. Since there is no bylaw requiring the citizens of Cranbrook to remove the snow from their sidewalks there is no enforceability. Mayor Stetski was specifically concerned about the routes most taken by Senior Citizens and perhaps the areas that they used most could be prioritized. CAO Will Pearce pointed out that Seniors live in many different parts of the City. Mayor Stetski indicated that he was most concerned with areas around the Green Home and other Srs. housing areas. Councillor Cross asked if the City was using "crusher dust" on our roads and sidewalks. CAO Will Pearce indicated that the City did not use crusher dust but rather gravel, sand and salt. Councillor Cross asked Councillor Scott for more information regarding the Snow Angels program which last year did not have enough volunteers to successfully run the program. Both Councillor Cross and Scott agreed that more people had cleared their sidewalks this year than last. Council requested a map of areas that are already having snow removed by the City.

Business Arising

10.1 Report Recommendation from the Engineering Department re: Development Cost Charges
The discussion around this particular issue was somewhat confusing so there was a motion to defer the policy direction. Most of Council felt that they needed more time to understand this very important issue which will have a significant impact on the amount of money the City collects from developers. Council was offered 2 options by Administration. Presently, the City of Cranbrook required developers to pay $2,032.00 per lot which is much less than it actually costs us to provide a lot with City services. One of the recommended rates, which is mentioned in the Growth Management Study for a single residential home in Cranbrook is $11,409 per lot.
Councillor Cross suggested that the options be deferred until the next meeting as she required more time to understand this important and complicated issue. Councillor Whetham, who had concerns about the assist rates, also supported a deferal. Council did not want to commit to administrations options if they could not alter the percentage of "assists" among other issues.

Committee Recommendations

11.1 CAO recommendations for the Cranbrook -Kimberley North Star Rail to Trails included installing fireproof garbage cans as well as creating a by-law restricting motorized vehicle use.

New Business

12.1 Councillor Angus Davis is appointed as alternate to the Ktunaxa Kinbasket Treaty Advisory Committee
12.2 Councillors Davis, Scott and Whetham are appointed as City representatives on the CBT Community Initiatives and Affected Areas Programs grant approval committee.
12.3 2012 Draft Business Plan was supported by Council.

ByLaws

13.1 Zoning Bylaw No. 3737, 2012 (first, second reading) Carried Unanimously
13.2 Report Recommendation OCP Amendment Bylaw No. 3739, 2011 (second reading) Carried Unanimously.

Weighing All Costs of Development Cost Charges

2012-01-23T11:53:00.001-07:00

From the Government web site:
http://www.cscd.gov.bc.ca/lgd/finance/development_cost_charges.htm

Development Cost Charges
Urban expansion and development often leads directly to an increase in the demand for sewer, water, drainage, parks and roads.

Development cost charges (DCC's) are monies that municipalities and regional districts collect from land developers to offset that portion of the costs related to these services that are incurred as a direct result of this new development. The demand created does not always relate to works that are located adjacent to the property being developed. For example, new development may require a local government to increase the size of its water storage reservoir. Developers pay DCCs instead of the existing taxpayers who are not creating the demand and are not benefiting from the new infrastructure.

Using DCCs, local government can apply a common set of rules and charges to all development within a community. DCCs are applied as one-time charges against residential, commercial, industrial and institutional developments. They are usually collected from developers at the time of subdivision approval or at the time of issuing a building permit.

Although written for elected officials this document is available and may be interesting to some.
http://www.cscd.gov.bc.ca/lgd/intergov_relations/library/DCC_Elected_Officials_Guide_2005.pdf

Comment
Cranbrook's DCC's have been considerably lower than those in other BC cities. In fact DCC's were only introduced to Cranbrook in the 90's. The City is reviewing current DCC rates and have as one proposal very modest increases from 8 years ago when they were last set. No change in current assist factors is also one proposal.
The document can be read at:
https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=1923

Considering rates of inflation, the resulting increase in infrastructure costs and the known major infrastructure upgrades that will be required to partly accommodate future growth, should DCCs not be raised substantially?

The argument for keeping DCCs at a lower rate with a high assistance factor from the City is that it will attract more development and business.

However we must ask - At what cost to taxpayers long term? Will not increasing the DCCs by a larger amount cause the City to continue to lag behind in tackling its serious infrastructure problems?

The cost of upgrading Cranbrook's Sewage Disposal System has doubled since initial estimates. Higher DCCs might have helped pay for the increase in capacity to accommodate more recent development.

It is known that costs to upgrade our water delivery system to help accommodate new growth will be high but current estimates are likely to also double by the time the work is done. A higher DCC rate might contribute to the costs incurred due to development.

Roads have been neglected for years - yet new subdivisions have been built which put more wear and tear on the current road system. A higher DCC rate might have alleviated the extra costs due to extra development - sidewalks, lighting. 14th Avenue, for example, still does not have sidewalks in an area of new development. Would an appropriate DCC rate not have paid for sidewalks?

In the new subdivision of Mount Royal (a Summit West Development), the roads have problems. Manhole covers are raised out of the road surface. Areas of asphalt have already been removed and surfaces are uneven. One must ask if appropriate standards were adhered to in initial construction and if not a higher DCC rate might help pay for the necessary upgrades as new development becomes dependent on that current infrastructure. One must also ask if the current standard of new road construction is adequate given issues such as that illustrated below.

road condition, Mount Royal

If Cranbrook is to attract business and the resulting residents, surely quality of roads and infrastructure play a large part. Isn't it time to get real with the costs of doing that business? Shoddy roads, lack of sidewalks, incomplete parks, ongoing infrastructure issues are not attractive and do not showcase a quality place in which to live.

The deterrent in the long term to business and economy needs to be considered and weighed against the short term deterrent to developers.

Advance Notes for the Council Meeting of January 23rd 2012

2012-01-22T17:39:00.003-07:00

6:00pm Council Chambers

Delegation

Chris Ayling, Chair of Integrated Sustainability Plan or Cranbrook Connected – quarterly report
Nathan Lieuwen, Kootenay Ice, Family Faith Night

Administration Update

This can be read at:
https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=1914

This update includes responses to a Council Enquiry of the January 9th meeting concerning ‘icy sidewalks’.

Comment
Unfortunately it does not directly answer the questions asked. One of the questions was whether it would be possible to clear just the main arterial walking routes to the down town immediately after a snowfall as is done for roads?
Only the costs of completely clearing all sidewalks on a rotational basis was provided.
It was recommended residents continue to buy ice melting products for their own use. We would direct residents to this link:
http://chemistry.about.com/cs/howthingswork/a/aa120703a.htm
The city spreads crusher dust and small gravel on its roads for traction. It is not to be anticipated that foot traffic would create as much or more dust than vehicular traffic. Chemical products cause deterioration of concrete and vegetation. It would be interesting to weigh the cost of an unknown number of buckets of crusher dust to the cost of medical costs due to broken bones or the cost of good will and incentives for residents to look after their own sidewalks.

Other topics included in this report are:
Revitalisation tax exemptions, Secondary Suites, Mosquito Control program, Building Permit Summary, Leisure Services Report and Library Report

Correspondence
All items can be read beginning at:
https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=1915

Letter 9.1 lists the number of empty store fronts on the strip as a concern for attracting new business and asks what council has in mind to keep the city attractive.
There are also letters requesting funding and traffic safety.

Business Arising
Development Cost Charge Bylaw Update- DCC's
This item 10.1 is explored at length at
https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=1923

Comment
This item would be of particular interest to many residents who have concerns about the city’s infrastructure. More information is available in the City’s Growth Management Study at:
http://www.cranbrook.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=340&Itemid=584
And also in abbreviated form under the tab at the top of this page.
The City is examining
How much Development Cost Charges should increase?
What amount of assistance to these charges should the city provide to developers?
Developers are responsible for the initial coasts of new infrastructure to service new development. Ongoing maintenance is paid by the city.

Committee Recommendations
Recommendations from the Advisory Committee for The North Star Rails to Trails concerning garbage disposal, washroom maintenance and more
https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=1924

New Business
12.1 Appointment of alternate to Ktunaxa Kinbasket Treaty Advisory Council
12.2 Concerns grant applications for 2012 and 2013 CBT Community Initiatives and Affected Area Programs
https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=1926

12.3
A lengthy document concerning the City’s 2012 Business Plan.
This document lists as Attachment 1 individual Councillors priorities for the Business Plan for the City.
https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=1927

Bylaws
13.1 A consolidation document incorporating past amendments to the current zoning Bylaw 3737.

13.2 A report Recommendation from the CAO to incorporate the Slaterville Neighbourhood Plan into the City’s OCP.

Urban Lake

2012-01-22T08:34:00.002-07:00

Elizabeth Lake

Around Town and Looking Good

2012-01-21T07:47:00.000-07:00

Laurie Goodlad of 'Muriel and Jane's General Store' and Phil Gadd of 'The Loaf 'Bakery

A Lament for the Good ‘Ol Days of Eastman Kodak

2012-01-20T07:46:00.001-07:00

Perceptions by Gerry Warner

How many of you remember your first camera? If you’re over 30, virtually all of you would have owned a film camera and at least 90 per cent of you would have been using Kodak film and many of you would have been shooting with a Kodak camera.

Not anymore!

Thursday this week Eastman Kodak company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, ending one of the most storied ventures in the history of U.S. business and a story that has virtually touched us all. Many of the 27,000 Kodak employees laid off in recent years must be wondering how to make a happy “Kodak Moment” out of this. Fate has dealt them a harsh blow as the digital juggernaut has moved on leaving more victims in its wake.

A few years ago, I remember hearing a story that when Kodak began to restructure its operations it demolished one of the no longer needed film buildings at its Rochester factory. As the giant wrecking ball began to swing knocking bricks and mortar flying, many Kodak employees were out on the street snapping pictures with their digital cameras, of course. And who says irony is dead?

My first camera was a Kodak Brownie. It’s still sitting on a shelf across from me in my home office in a small camera collection that goes back to the days of those old, fold-out accordion style cameras that my grandfather used. One thing that you could say for the old Kodak Brownie is that it was simple, the very epitome of “point and shoot.” No F-stops to worry about, no zoom, no depth of field, just point, press the button and shoot.

Those were the days. And those old Brownies amply illustrated one of the most solid dictums of photography – “F8--125 and be there.” Or at least that’s how Dan Mills, one of my old colleagues at the Townsman once put it to me and he’s right because a F8 depth of field setting and a 125th of a second shutter speed will cover about 90 per cent of the picture situations most amateur photographers will encounter.

In other words, you don’t have to be Ansel Adams, or Brian Clarkson for that matter, to get great pictures. The important thing is “to be there.” The “be there” might be near dusk on a cold winter day like we’re now having with your camera pointed at Mt. Fisher and the Steeples just as the alpen glow turns the peaks into a reddish gold.

Or as happened to me last summer in the Rockies northeast of Radium when I rounded a corner of the trail and came face-to-face with a young Grizzly standing on its hind feet starring in my direction with the sun at his back lighting up the silver hairs on his spine and the brown tufts of fur around his ears. And me, the great backwoods photographer, for some inexplicable reason had my camera stuck safely in my pack. It could have been a National Geographic picture, but I didn’t get it. However, one of the women in our group did have her camera ready, and even though she felt the trepidation we all felt facing that young griz, she got a shot of Usus Arctos Horrbillis as he slowly settled down on his haunches and sauntered off into the bush. Phew!

But maybe my best camera story concerns the very first SLR (Single Lens Reflex) camera I ever owned – a Russian “Zenit,” which cost all of $55 in 1972 and was my first photographic move up from my old Kodak Brownie still sitting on the shelf. I took a lot of ribbing about my trusty, old Zenit, a big clunky thing that wasn’t at all like the sleek Nikons, Pentaxes and Leicas that were flooding the market in those days. But it took good pictures and once when I was on a raft race in the Thompson River and the raft overturned and we all got wet with several cameras ruined forever.

But not the Zenit! I took it home, wiped it off and stuck it in the oven for about an hour on the lowest setting the oven would produce. Several hours later, I took it out looked it over and decided to press the shutter – kerthunk. Just like it always sounded and its water-tight light meter was working just as before. It’s sitting on the shelf too, and if I could just buy some film for the darn thing, I’d use it again.

But film today is pretty well a thing of the past. Just ask Eastman Kodak.

This comment and photo came in from SMW.

"I have fond memories of my Kodak Brownie, but I was glad that I was

packing my lightweight Panasonic Digital Camera with its zoom lens to

catch this shot of Gerry Warner reaching the summit of Lakit Mountain

in July 2011, when he led a group of hikers from the E.K. Outdoor Club."

What's Happening...

2012-01-19T06:45:00.001-07:00

Thursday, January 19

Noises Off - A Comedy
Opens tonight at the Key City Theatre
Continues Friday and Saturday night and
January 26, 27, & 28.
Tickets are $15

Robbie Burns Evening
A traditional Scottish Prime Rib Dinner and haggis
Entertainment by Angus MacDonald and friends
Anglican Church Hall at 6:30pm
Tickets are $25

Saturday, January 21

Grant Writing Workshop
Presented by Columbia Basin Trust
College of the Rockies Rm. 205
9am-12:30pm
To register please call 250-426-2099
or email cdcfpm@shaw.ca

Robbie Burns Night
Kimberley and Cranbrook Highland Dance Association's
Annual Robbie Burns Night
Prestige Inn starting at 5pm
Cocktails and a full Scottish Dinner
Tickets are $35 adults and $20 children
Tickets available at Lotus Books.
Please reserve seating by contacting Nicole Fulton
at nicofult@gmail.com

Monday, January 21

Rankin Family
The Rankin Family are performing tonight
at the Key City Theatre
Tickets are $47.50
Available at Key City Theatre
250-426-7006

Kundalini Yoga
The Radha Yoga Centre is offering Kundalini Yoga
Each Monday, starting tonight
The location is Lotus Books 7:30-9pm
Cost is $80

Tuesday, January 22

Hatha Yoga
The Radha Yoga Centre is offering Hatha Yoga
at Van Redecopp's Studio at 26012 Ave. S.
9am-10:15am every Tuesday morning until March 20

The Culprit on 11th St.

2012-01-18T08:20:00.001-07:00

This is the water main which split and flooded homes on 11th St., Cranbrook on Friday 13th of January. The split was caused by a faulty pipe. According to staff this was likely caused by a lack of, or insufficient, or uneven distribution of the strengthening agent in the metal.

The Real Links between Money, Real Estate and Golf

2012-01-18T08:19:00.000-07:00

An excerpt from:
As golf declines, life on links ain't what it used to be

by Mike Perrault and Keith Matheny, USA TODAY

Ashley is the kind of die-hard golfer and second-home buyer who has driven much of the real estate growth in California's Coachella Valley and other golf-oriented residential areas such as those near Las Vegas, in Arizona, Florida and elsewhere.

But fewer Bill Ashleys are coming.

"We're not getting replacements for those people," said real estate analyst Lou Goodkin, president of Miami-based Goodkin Consulting.

"There are fewer golfers, fewer people who can pay the high amounts to buy into a club. There's going to be a lot more people out there that are challenged in their retirement years than we've had in the past."

Golf resort communities are bleeding money and members, as the recession exposed the vulnerability of the business model that created an unbreakable linkage between golf and real estate.

In the nine cities of the Coachella Valley, including Palm Springs, where multiple presidents, Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra swung the clubs and lived in golf-centric resorts, today nearly one out of every four homes listed for sale is on a golf course.

"We're entering a new normal," said Pete Halter, chairman of The Halter Companies, an Atlanta firm that advises developers. "We can't think this will be over soon. Things have changed for good."

Among the forces reshaping the relationship between golf and real estate:

•Fewer people play golf, and Baby Boomers don't have the time, money or interest in the game their parents did. The number of golfers in the U.S. has fallen by 13% in the past five years, according to National Golf Foundation statistics. The number of golf rounds played nationwide last year through November was down 3.5% from the previous year, according to the foundation.

•Nationally, golf memberships have dropped by a million since the early 1990s, and of the 3,400 courses built across the country in the past decade, 93% are daily fee courses, according to industry associations. Coachella Valley golf resorts have responded by slashing often six-figure club membership fees by as much as 70%.

To read the entire article:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/story/2012-01-15/golf-communities-real-estate/52591988/1

'The Loaf' Comes to Cranbrook

2012-01-17T16:32:00.001-07:00

Many who purchased bread from the Loaf Bakery at the Farmers Markets this past summer and fall asked if the bread could be made available in Cranbrook. The Loaf Bakery is located in Fernie.

Good News - The Loaf's bread will be available on Thursdays as of this Thursday January 19th, at Muriel and Jane's on Tenth Avenue. The delivery may not arrive until 11:00am so best not to rush down too early. Frequency and quantities of deliveries will depend on responses so maybe this will be the time to put in an order!

Check out the website at:
http://loafbakery.ca/use_your_loaf/

and visit Muriel and Jane's General Store on Thursday for the freshest, best selection.

Around Town and Looking Good

2012-01-17T09:11:00.000-07:00

With the somewhat meagre snowfalls of the last few days this beautiful sight needs to go into the winter memory bank of Cranbrook Winter 2011/12.

Photo Stewart Wilson

City Grants Scrutinized

2012-01-17T09:03:00.000-07:00

City Grants to Organisations came under scrutiny yesterday at the first Public meeting of Council to discuss the Five-year Financial Plan.

It was pointed out by Councillor Pallesen that for some organisations such as the Bugle Band this is their only source of funding. Other general perceptions included the fact that there seems to be less emphasis in the community placed on groups actively fundraising for themselves through such methods as bottle drives.

One such group that was criticized was the Arts Council. However it was pointed out the Arts Council has been ‘couch surfing’ and rental hopping for years and all their energies have been put into surviving rounds of homelessness and fixing up temporary accommodations.

Despite the criticism Council did agree to raise their grant by $5000.00 although it was hoped their fund raising efforts would become more visible in the community. Councillors Pallesen and Scott voted against this increase. Councillor Davis was absent. It should be pointed out the total amount of under $20,000.00 is still well below other Community Arts Council Grants.

The Cranbrook Guardian will attempt to obtain a complete listing of the grant authorisations.

2012 Five Year Financial Plan Public Meeting TODAY

2012-01-16T07:51:00.000-07:00

If you have any interest in how your tax dollars and incoming grant monies are spent this may interest you.

From the City website:

Monday, 16 January 2012, 3:00pm - 8:00pm

A special meeting of Council to review the proposed 2012 Five Year Financial Plan is set for Monday January 16, 2012 in Council Chambers at City Hall from 3:00pm to 8:00pm. The public is invited to attend.

Tentatively slated for discussion by Council and administration for this meeting includes the following items --
- 2011 Carry Forward Projects for approval as part of the 2012 plan;

- 2012 Grants to Organizations for review;

- Water Fund – 2012 and 2013 (Capital, Special Studies/Projects, Operating);

- Sewer Fund – 2012 and 2013 (Capital, Special Studies/Projects, Operating);

- Solid Waste – 2012 and 2013 (Capital, Special Studies/Projects, Operating);

- Airport – 2012 and 2013 (Capital, Special Studies/Projects, Operating)

Items for discussion are subject to change. Two additional meetings to review the proposed budget plan are set for Monday January 30 and Monday February 13, 2012.

Location : City Hall Council Chambers

Community Gaming Grants

2012-01-16T07:46:00.000-07:00

Jan. 11, 2012
Office of the Premier
Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development
B.C. acting on commitment to support community groups

VANCOUVER – Changes to the way community gaming grants are awarded will help ensure non-profit organizations have greater certainty and support in the vital work they do, announced Premier Christy Clark today.

“Through an open public engagement process, we heard from more than 1,700 British Columbians about what we can do to improve our gaming grant system,” said Premier Clark. “We listened and we’re taking action. Community gaming grants will be made available to more groups so they can focus on what they do best – delivering essential services to B.C. families.”

In July, Premier Clark appointed Skip Triplett – former Kwantlen Polytechnic University president – to lead the Community Gaming Grant Review. The primary goal of the independent review was to get advice on how to improve the governance and funding formula for community gaming grants.

In response to Mr. Triplett’s report on the review, which provides 16 options for consideration, the Province will reinstate funding eligibility for adult arts and sports organizations, environmental groups and animal welfare agencies. The Province will also increase support for other organizations that have experienced funding reductions in the past three years, including those responsible for fairs, festivals, youth arts and culture, community service, the B.C. Senior Games and community education organizations.

In addition, government will continue to work on streamlining the application process for grants, including exploring options for introducing multi-year funding in the coming years.

“Non-profits do tremendous work for British Columbians. In some smaller communities, they are the sole service providers, ensuring B.C. families have access to important resources that improve their quality of life,” said Ida Chong, Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development. “By investing more in our non-profits, we’re investing in stronger communities, healthier families and a more culturally diverse British Columbia.”

“I applaud the work of Skip Triplett, Chair of the Community Grant Review, and thank Premier Christy Clark and Minister Ida Chong for this very timely policy decision,” said Norman Armour, executive director, PuSh International Performing Arts Festival. “Reinstating adult arts within the eligible criteria for Provincial Gaming support recognizes the important role that the arts play in the lives of British Columbians. The social profit arts in B.C. are a remarkably vibrant and resourceful sector; the news of this investment will have a profoundly positive and lasting effect.”

To apply online for community gaming grants, go to: http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/gaming/grants/community-gaming.htm

Triplett’s independent report has been released in full and can be found at: http://www.communitygaminggrantreview.gov.bc.ca/

Community; What does 'happy' have to do with it?

2012-01-15T08:24:00.001-07:00

http://www.actionforhappiness.org/

Winter's Irony

2012-01-14T09:07:00.001-07:00

It was more than ironic yesterday that down in Baker Park brown grass surrounded the popular skating rink when a much more distressing event was flowing on 11th Avenue. It was more than a mop and bucket job up when water began pumping out of the grass to flood parts of three roads in quick order. So much water was flowing for a while that it was also gushing out of manhole covers down the hill. As city crews arrived and assessed the situation the water quickly formed a dangerous skating rink of another kind. Crews worked all day and to our knowledge water in homes was restored by dinner time but we sincerely hope the residents did not suffer too much damage - it is hard to imagine that they did not.

Of course it was Friday the 13th.

Be careful where you smoke, or better yet, just quit.

2012-01-13T08:20:00.000-07:00

Perceptions by Gerry Warner

I can still remember my first cigarette.

I was about 12. I'd already experimented with candy cigarettes, popular in the late 50's and my friends and I used to smoke what we called “punk wood,” a kind of a shrub that used to grow in the bush around Castlegar with a hollow stem. We'd light one end of it around a bonfire and draw the smoke down the tube and into our tender and still developing lungs.

Oh, did we think we were cool!

But now it was time to make the jump to the bigs and my sly mother, a long time smoker herself, was eager to help me along. So she lit one of her Players, Du Maurier – I can't remember exactly what it was – and being the dumb, somewhat extroverted 12-year-old I was, I took a long, deep, drag and ##!%!!&%@$! Oh my God, I almost threw up and I can honestly tell you that was the first and last regular cigarette I ever attempted to smoke. ( Yes, yes. I'm also a child of the '60's and there were funny cigarettes around in those halcyon days, and unlike a certain former president, I did inhale. But that was more than 40 years ago and no longer counts. I've never smoked a real cigarette. Not too many people can say that.

But thanks to probably the most successful public health program in history and some justly deserved million dollar fines to the tobacco companies this is all changing and changing drastically. According to the latest Statistics Canada figures, the Canadian smoking rate is down to 20.8 per cent and “Supernatural B.C.” has the lowest rate of all at 17.4 per cent although the rate is slightly higher in the Interior Health region at 17.6 per cent and that includes the Kootenays where the smoking rate is usually higher than most other regions of the province.

And you'd have to have been living under a rock the past 20 years to not have noticed the difference. Remember the good ol' days when office smokers would have ashtrays piled so high with butts that you could hardly see the ashtray itself. It seems like only yesterday that smoking was barred in restaurants, pubs and bingo establishments, one of the last bastions to go. How many people can remember hockey games when by the third period there would be a thin, blue haze hanging over the ice? As a lifelong non-smoker, I remember and I don't miss it. I seriously doubt if they sell candy cigarettes anymore and you don't see magazine ads where people say they smoke the same brand as their doctor. In an old magazine I came across recently, I saw the most incredible smoking ad ever for a fire-proof comforter that you could crawl under so you didn't need to worry about smoking in bed. No kidding!

The renunciation of smoking by modern day society is one of the greatest cultural shifts of our times, but the battle isn't quite over yet according to a recent call I got from a local resident.

The caller was a lady that suffers from asthma, who didn't appreciate someone smoking beside her in one of the City bus shelters just off Baker Street downtown. She especially didn't appreciate smoke being blown in her face when the shelter, as do all bus shelters in the city, clearly displays a no smoking sign on the glass with a fine of up to $2,000 for offenders under City Bylaw 3020.

Ignorance of the law, of course, is not a defence, but it's hard to keep up with every law and regulation in these fast moving times, so I did a little research and this is what I found out. Under the provincial Tobacco Control Act, no one below 19 is allowed to smoke and smoking is not allowed in any public building, workplace or enclosed structure, which includes bus shelters. Under the provincial law, fines for smoking in prohibited areas can be as high as $5,000, a steep price for consorting with the Nicotine God. And in some cases like bus shelters there is jurisdictional overlap and you could be fined by either the City or the Province (Interior Health) or both.

Like most things to do with government, the regulations are complex and if you're unsure you can contact the Interior Health Tobacco Enforcement officer at: (250) 505-7210 or the City. Then again, why don't you just butt out because as Mary S. Ott says in Bartlett's Unfamiliar Quotations: “Cigarettes are killers that travel in packs.”

Ski Bums Never Die

2012-01-12T09:07:00.000-07:00

This is just one of the movies shown at the Banff Film Festival and we have more than a few of these ski bums in the East Kootenays also. The joy of living where we do. Way to go!

What's Happening...

2012-01-12T07:05:00.001-07:00

Thursday, January 12

Mountain Town Maulers Recruiting Drive
7pm Cranbrook Society for Community Living (Near Baker Park)
Looking for coach's, players, and referees to take part in Roller Derby

Elizabeth Lake Art Challenge
Key City Theatre Gallery until February 8
The Gallery is open from 10am-4pm M-F and
11am-3pm on Saturdays
A variety of artwork all inspired by Elizabeth Lake.

Saturday, January 14

Dance at the Seniors Centre
7pm-11pm
Dance to the music of Country Roundup
Lunch to be served
Call Flo for more information at 250-489-2720

Sunday, January 15

Pancake Breakfast
Fraternal Order of the Eagles are hosting a
Pancake Breakfast from 9am-11am at the Eagles Hall
on Kootenay Street.
Admission is $5
Proceeds to ALS

Family Fishing Derby for Kids with Cancer has been postponed
originally scheduled for this date from 10am-3pm
Horsehoe Lake Ice-Fishing, games, rides, and silent auction
Contact familyfishingderby@gmail.com for more information
Townsman
Warm weather postpones Family Fishing Derby

Thanks to the bizarre warm weather the area has been experiencing lately, the Family Fishing Derby has been postponed until February.
Monday, January 16

Cranbrook Garden Club Meeting
7pm Manual Training Centre
New Members Welcome
Contact Anna at 250-489-2443

Tuesday, January 17

Rocky Mountain Melo-Dears
6:30-8:30 Cranbrook and District Arts Council
104,135-10th Avenue South
You are invited to join the Melo-Dears for an evening of singing
Free to CDAC members or $2 for non-members

Wednesday, January 18

Rocky Mountain Naturalists AGM
7pm, College of the Rockies, Rm 235
For More Information please contact Marianne at 250-489-1601

Thursday, January 19

Robbie Burns Evening
6:30pm Anglican Hall
Traditional Scottish Prime Rib dinner and Haggis
Musical Entertainment
Tickets are $25 and available from Todd
at Hub International Call 250-426-8261

More on Advertising Signage

2012-01-11T07:36:00.000-07:00

To stimulate the discussion.

Council Committee Appointments

2012-01-10T13:25:00.000-07:00

Item 12.3 on the Council Agenda last evening was the appointments to committees. They are as follows:

Advisory Planning Commission: David Heidt, Jane Campbell, John Vanden Broek

Atheltic Commission: Chris Nault, Scott MacLeod, Chris Franklin

Board of Variance: Greg Jaster, Fred Graham, Sharon Billey

Cranbrook in Motion (appointments previously made, we acknowledged their appointments): SD #5, Patricia Whalen; Cranbrook Transit, John Darula; ICBC, Dan Ford; Ministry of Transportation & Infrastructure, Michael Pearson; RCMP, Corporal Pat Prefontaine.

Cranbrook Public Library Board: David Clark, James Shepherd, Tasy Strouzas

Economic Development Committee: Chris Ayling, Gord Felske, Lourdes Roxas-Butalid

Environment & Utilities Committee: Dave Hall, A.J. Brekke, Tom Haverko

Family & Community Services Committee: Salvation Army, Nancy Zier; Cranbrook Community Living Society, Melanie Fiorentino; Ministry of Children & Family Development, Lani Dowling; RCMP, Constable Lisa Schlatter; Public-at-Large, Carly Proudfoot

Urban Deer Management Advisory Committee: Public-at-large, Laurette Hamoline

Wellness & Heritage Committee: Public-at-large, Louise Selby; SD#5, Chris Johns, COTR, Yvonne Nelson; Key City Theatre, Sandy Zeznik; Cranbrook & District Arts Council, Linda Holmes.

Key City Theatre Society Board: Rezin Butalid

Kootenay Regional Advisory Group (Treaty Advisory Committee): Councillor alternate deferred to next meeting.

Post Notes for the Council Meeting of January 9th Part 2

2012-01-10T12:19:00.000-07:00

Continued from the previous post.

Council Enquiries

Councillor Cross passed on an enquiry about Icy Sidewalks from a concerned resident. This issue has been discussed on this blog. Administration took the suggestions and will respond.

Administrative Update
Complete report available at:
https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=1872

Correspondence
23 items which can all be read beginning:
https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=1873

Selectively:

9.1 – a request from Cranbrook in motion for a city representative on the committee will be passed on to the Cranbrook in Motion Committee. It was pointed out that it is very difficult for a Council representative to be present every Cranbrook Committee

9.2 $394,000.00 will be transferred from the Gas Tax Agreement Community Works Fund to the City.

9.8 It was suggested by Councillor Cross that a letter be sent in support of a letter sent from a few other municipalities concerning Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Negotiations. If this is brought in it could affect local contactors. The correspondence can be read at:
https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=1880

9.10 A resolution was made and passed to support the Cranbrook and District Science Fair with a contribution of $500 from the contingency fund

9.18 A resolution was made to support the reinstatement of Community Living Funding by way of a letter to MLA Bennett

9.20 A request to expand the Economic Development Zone Bylaw designed to stimulate renewal of the downtown came from several businesses and CABBDA. The request would expand the tax benefits to areas of the Industrial Park. As this would have major implications and was not what the bylaw was designed for, the request was referred back to administration.

Comment
This bylaw like many others of its kind in other communities is a targeted tax relief bylaw designed to assist with the revitalisation of the downtown core.

9.22 Operation Street Angel will be invited to appear as a delegation

New Business

12.1 The report recommendation from the Chief Administrative Officer to extend funding for the RCMP position of Court Clerk was passed. This position expedites court matters.

12.2 Authorisation was granted to complete the application to the Department of Canadian Heritage for a grant of $9800 for Canada Day Celebrations.

12.4 The recommendation of making recordings of the most recent council meetings available to the public on the City Website was discussed and passed. However a request was made by Councillor Cross to look into whether it would be possible to make past recordings available on DVD at the Public Library.

12.6 An application for a further tax exemption from the Cranbrook Golf Club was not approved.

12.7 Approval was given to complete the loan process for payment of improvements to the Memorial Arena. Councillor Warner asked what the public had received for this money and Treasurer Staudt explained that a new roof, new slab, electrical upgrades, new entrance were all part of the upgrades.

Bylaws

13.2 First reading was given to the Slaterville Neighbourhood Plan. This will become a secondary plan within the current OCP. A second public hearing will likely occur in early February. Councillor Whetham and Cross both complimented staff and the residents for the completion of the plan.

Round Table Comments

Councillor Cross acknowledged and thanked staff for their work with grant applications for the funding of the Waste Water Management upgrades. She also acknowledged and thanked those Fort Steele and Cranbrook residents, Jim Roberts, Arlene Ridge and David Humphrey for their diligence, research, concern and persistence in ensuring serious issues were and are being dealt with.

Meeting adjourned.

Post Notes for the Council Meeting of November 9th 2012 Part 1

2012-01-10T09:38:00.002-07:00

This meeting was very full after the Christmas break. For that reason post notes will be broken into two posts.

Delegations
· MLA Bennett addressed an earlier request from Council for more information regarding the Resource Roads Act. This is still in the process of being created and although the deadline of Dec. 19th for official input has passed Mr. Bennett assured residents that if they have concerns or points to make they can contact his office and make their concerns known through him. The new act is being designed to address maintenance of more than 450,000.00 kilometres of roads, (which are not part of the public highways systems), who the designated maintainers might be and what roads might be put out of service. The act is designed to focus primarily on industrial use but has obvious implications for those who use trails for recreational purposes. The new act is designed to be ready for introduction to parliament for the fall of 2012.

More information is available at:
http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/mof/nrra/

There are also a number of sites, which comment on the implications of this proposed act – just Google Resource Roads in BC.

· Kevin Patterson Environmental Services Manager, Regional District of the East Kootenay addressed Council regarding the Invasive Plant Management Program. The last Council voted to not renew their existing bylaw which involved an almost $8000.00 contribution to the program. Mr Patterson detailed the involvement of the program over the past few years with the city and asked Council to reconsider.

Councillor Pallesen agued against renewed involvement as she felt taxpayers of Cranbrook were paying “the lion’s share of the program”. Council agreed to send this issue back to administration for review especially due the fact that the figures presented at this meeting were slightly different than those originally presented.

Comment
It must be remembered that Cranbrook has the ‘lion’s share’ of residents in the area and it is that large population which is also in large part responsible for the spread of invasive weeds through backcountry use with trucks and ATVs as well as other uses.

· Clint Habart from Minute Muffler made a request to Council for a Reader Board outside his business. He was supported by a number of other businesses. This request had previously been denied, as it does not fall within the Cranbrook’s Sign Bylaw regulations. Mr Habart made the point that his current ‘special offer’ sign had only brought in two extra customers (to his knowledge) in the time it had been up.

The request was referred back to administration for a period of six weeks while bylaw changes from Creston and other information is reviewed.

Comment
Council has a very difficult and precedent setting decision to make with regard to this type of sign. It would be interesting to know whether this type of sign would bring in any more business than any other type of sign such as the sign about which Mr Habert commented. It might if it was the only one but once there are many, what difference would it make? Do residents wish to see the same type of advertising as is seen in many US and larger Canadian cities? Does Cranbrook wish to look like every other city in this way?

Maybe it is time for an in-depth and careful review of advertising signage, its effectiveness for business and overall impression of the city both positive and negative.

Readers may like to read yesterday’s post to stimulate some thought.

City Without Advertising

2012-01-09T14:08:00.003-07:00

Council is being asked to consider an advertising request at this evening's meeting. Congratulations to the party involved for coming to council with the request. There are many signs, which ignore sign regulation bylaws already in place. Many signs are haphazardly stapled to poles and sitting on boulevards. We must ask what they add to the aesthetics and memories of those who drive, walk, or cycle the strip, whether visiting for the first time or whether a resident or returning visitor. If not controlled, signs could get bigger, bolder, higher,wider and more prolific all in an attempt to be noticed. What limits should there be?

Is it time for the city to review and implement its sign bylaws?

In 2006 Mayor Gilberto Kassab of Sao Paulo Brazil had a quest to eliminate visual clutter from the city. This resulted in a ‘Clean City Law’.

“The Clean City Law’ came from a necessity to combat pollution . . . pollution of water, sound, air, and the visual. We decided that we should start combating pollution with the most conspicuous sector – visual pollution,” said Kassab.

From the Editors of Big Think in 2012

What's the Latest Development?

Five years after São Paulo, Brazil, began fighting visual pollution by banning billboard, poster and bus advertisements, people report being happier with their city and business leaders have become more forward thinking. The ban was the result of the 'Clean City Law' of 2006 which required the removal of tens of thousands of unregulated advertisements. "Anna Freitag, the marketing manager for Hewlett-Packard Brazil, said her company had never considered how inefficient billboards and the like were until they were illegal."

What's the Big Idea?

Some Americans now looks at more than 4,000 advertisements per day. Since the ban in São Paulo, which with 12 million residents is the largest metropolis in the Southern Hemisphere, people can again see the city's architecture and businesses have been forced to reevaluate their marketing strategies in ways that connect more directly with consumers. Marketing experts say the industry has grown complacent with public advertising even though it executes a 'call to action' less effectively than social media advertising.

From http://weburbanist.com/2010/03/06/clean-city-sao-paulo-scrubbed-of-outdoor-ads/

While advertisers weren’t too happy about the law – $8 million in fines were levied against those who dawdled in taking ads down, and Clear Channel launched an unsuccessful campaign to raise support for putting them back up – the citizens clearly approve. Surveys found that at least 70% are happy with the change.

Advance Notes for the Council Meeting of January 9th 1012

2012-01-09T07:44:00.001-07:00

Council Meeting is at 6:00pm Council Chambers

Three Delegations

1. Bill Bennett, MLA, Kootenay East re: Natural Resource Road Act
This should be of interest to those who use the back country for trail access.

2. Kevin Patterson, Environmental Services Manager of East Kootenay: Invasive Plant Management Program

3. Clint Habert, Minute Muffler re: Request for Allowance to install readerboard signage
https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=1871

Administration Update
The full update concerning RCMP Contract negotiations, Secondary Suites, Deer Cull Report, Rotary Way Extensions and Repairs, Library Services and Water Loss Management Seminars can be read at:
https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=1872

Correspondence
There are numerous, (due to the longer gap between Council meetings over Christmas) pieces of correspondence in the Council package. They can be read beginning at:
https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=1873

Of note:
9.12 RCMP - Crime Prevention through Environmental Design magazine and DVD Video available through the Municipal Clerk

9.22.1 Operation Street Angel with Debbie Whitehead invited to appear as a delegation at a future Council meeting

New Business
12.1 – 12.7
Can be read beginning at:
https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=1896

12.3 concerns appointments to committees

12.4 concerns the recording of council meetings and their availability to the public. Due to the unreliability and delayed broadcasting of service from Shaw, administration is recommending recordings be made available on the city website but that archives of past meetings NOT be kept.

12.6 concerns a request from the Cranbrook Golf Club that their taxes be waived.
https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=1901
Administration recommends that no further tax exemption be granted to the Cranbrook Golf Club as a significant exemption ($18,982.00 in 2011) is already provided.
An interesting table of area Golf Club taxes is provided at the link above.

Designer's Dream

2012-01-08T10:10:00.000-07:00

Thank you Stewart Wilson and Elizabeth Lake.

Mount Baker Students Hopes and Dreams

2012-01-08T09:47:00.000-07:00

Mt Baker SS Hopes and Dreams from Mike Stolte on Vimeo.

More Like March

2012-01-07T09:10:00.000-07:00

fresh spring-like leaves

brown fields looking north west

brown city looking south west

open creek

Brave or Foolish 2012 Political Predictions?

2012-01-06T14:59:00.001-07:00

Perceptions by Gerry Warner

It's that time of the year again when yours truly goes out on the proverbial limb and reveals how much or how little political sagacity he really has with his annual New Year's Political Predictions.

If I'm laughed out of town before the end of 2012 no one can say I didn't ask for it.

Might as well start at the top with U.S. President Barack Obama, who I have to confess has been a huge disappointment for me in his first three years, especially on the foreign policy front, where you would be hard-pressed to squeeze a razor blade between his brutal use of military power abroad and former President George Bush. Obviously as former President – and a great general – Dwight Eisenhower warned, the Military-Industrial Complex calls the shots on American foreign policy and most every other aspect of American life as well.

Consequently, it wouldn't break my heart to see the first black American president denied a second term, but if I had to bet my life on it today, I'd pile my chips on Obama's name for three good reasons – Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul.

Romney, a political chameleon if there ever was one, would turn himself inside out to be president, but it's to no avail. He has long since lost his political cred with moderate Republicans for flip-flopping on so many issues like medicare and gay rights and he can never be right wing enough for the social conservatives and Tea Party flat earthers that are the tail wagging the Republican dog. (Or should that be elephant?)

As for the others, Rick Who will be the flavour of the day for about another week before he's forgotten while Dr. Ron Paul, the libertarian Texas congressman, who would be my choice because he's been against most U.S. foreign wars like Iraq and Afghanistan, doesn't stand a chance for that very reason.

Therefore I give Obama a second term and I earnestly hope that he proves me wrong about my feelings about his first term, but somehow I doubt it.

This takes me to my biggest prediction faux pas of 2011 when I insisted that Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper would never win a majority. Harper certainly fooled me and he fooled a lot of other political pundits too. Obviously, barring a political catastrophe that I can't imagine, cunning Stephen will still be around for another year although I wouldn't empty my pockets betting on Defence Minister Peter MacKay, especially now that he has such a stunning, new, trophy wife. (Oops! I'm going to get into trouble for that one.)

Then there's the federal NDP, normally not of much interest, but now that they're “Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition” – fooling virtually every pundit in the land, – we must pontificate on their fate and frankly I think it's going to be a perilous one. Let's cut to the quick. On election night, those many months ago, I said the election of the 59 Quebecois as NDP MP's would be the ruination of the NDP and I stand by that prediction.

Why you rightfully ask? The answer is simple. I hate to be cynical but in my opinion Quebec politicians, regardless of political stripe, have one abiding passion – Quebec – and they care very little about the rest of Canada. Consequently the sh-- is going to hit the fan in February at the NDP leadership convention when the NDP old guard, which has had only limited success outside of Quebec, tries to boost its favourite son Brian Topp, who's never held elective office, over Thomas Mulcair, who was the only elected NDP MP in Quebec until the last election and was a MNA in the Quebec National Assembly for 13 years.

Great potential at this convention for blood on the floor.

And a quick note. I think the obituaries for the Federal Liberals are a little premature. Up until now Canadians have only seen Stephen Harper “light” with his string of minority governments. But now that Harper has his long sought after majority, we're going to see Stephen Harper “heavy.” It might not be a pretty sight.

And then, of course, there's the zany world of B.C. politics where you make predictions at your peril. With the Liberals still trying to figure out how to pay for their HST boondoggle and less than united behind their perky new leader, the outlook is decidedly grim. In fact the next election in May 2013 is the NDP's to lose, but as I've said many times before, never underestimate the ability of the B.C. NDP to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

As for the bright spanking new team at the Cranbrook City Council table, I'm expecting an Academy Awards performance. But then again, I may be a little biased.

Good News $8.5 Million

2012-01-05T16:31:00.005-07:00

It was good news and smiles all round today at Cranbrook City Hall.

David Wilks MP for Kootenay Columbia announced today that the City of Cranbrook would receive another 8.5million dollars towards the completion of Cranbrook’s major wastewater treatment upgrades. These funds will come from the Gas Tax Fund.

There are four phases of the waste-water treatment improvements to be completed but according to Jamie Hodge, City Engineer, these funds will enable ultra-violet treatment to be applied to the effluent that currently irrigates both the cattle feed and provides their drinking ‘water’. This provision is significant, as there has been much concern expressed about the effluent provided to cattle for drinking and the ultra violet treatment had been put on hold due to funding restrictions. The funding will also be applied to installation of aeration systems, completion of the transfer pipeline and improvements to the pump stations.

Mayor Stetski thanked the federal and provincial governments and the UBCM for their support of the Wastewater Improvement Program. He said, "This funding will allow us to vastly improve our treatment of effluent to better serve our community and our ranching partners"

Councillor Cross, Maryse Leroux,(Policy Analyst), Jamie Hodge, (City Engineer), Heath Slee, (President, UBCM), Mayor Wayne Stetski, MLA Bill Bennett, MP David Wilks, Councillors Pallesen,Warner and Davis

The Union of British Columbia Municipalities(UBCM) administers the Gas Tax Fund in BC in collaboration with Canada and British Columbia. On December 15th 2011 the Government of Canada passed legislation to make the Gas Tax Fund a permanent annual investment of $2 billion. Heath Slee, President of UBCM and also present at this announcement said, “ UBCM appreciates the support the Gas Tax program is providing as local governments upgrade core facilities".

Linking Money to Nature's Capital

2012-01-05T08:37:00.001-07:00

When land is removed from the agricultural land reserve for purposes that are not agricultural in nature, many are concerned. At one of Citizens for Livable Cranbrook’s public meetings, a slide show with Randy Harris, we learned how land in Madagascar is being bought up by other nations for agricultural purposes. At the Conserving Natural Landscape forum (http://livablecranbrook.blogspot.com/2011/06/notes-from-conserving-working.html ) we learned how the Agricultural Land Reserve often meets with resistance from land owners who wish to remove their land from the reserve due to financial circumstances.

Our valley is not immune to this problem and this opinion piece from the Tyee clearly spotlights to the real value of our agricultural land.
From the Tyee’s annual tradition - The Tyee's latest roster of Big Ideas, our annual series highlighting creative ideas for improving our lives and communities, launches today. (December 2011)

Idea #1: Link Money with Natural Capital

The coming year will see the world continuing to grapple with an increasing global currency crisis. Most modern forms of money are backed by nothing more than waning public confidence, and the symptoms of this deteriorating situation are splashed on the front pages of the world's newspapers almost every day.

These worries are in many ways well founded. The money in your wallet or bank account is progressively devalued every time a government cranks up the printing press, such as the recent rounds of quantitative easing in the United States. As the European monetary union lurches towards disintegration, and the U.S. demonstrates almost daily their political inability to deal with their ballooning debt crisis -- where is a safe place to keep your wealth in 2012 and beyond?

Many have turned to gold, a rare and otherwise useless metal that is valuable in the same way that Paris Hilton is famous -- only because we believe it to be true. Many gold hoarders are pining for the day when paper currencies collapse and their investments will hit thousands of dollars an ounce. Being lucky enough to live in a generation that has so far avoided significant societal turmoil, one might wonder why anyone would wish for such a thing. And while ballooning gold prices might yield short-term profits for the few who hope for the worst, it would also usher in an environmental disaster.

Gold extraction is one of the most destructive and wasteful mining processes in the world. With current prices over $1,500 an ounce, it is now profitable to mine ore with less than one half of a gram of gold per tonne -- meaning that 70 tonnes of polluting waste rock need to be crushed and processed to wring out a single ounce of gold. Things like clean water that actually have value are despoiled on an enormous scale to extract something that has no intrinsic value at all. Gold mining is perhaps the most poignant example of the yawning disconnect between conventional economic theory and the natural world that sustains us.

Drive natural stewardship

Imagine instead if some future currency was not pegged to mere expectations, or to arbitrary and polluting metals like gold and silver. What if money was instead backed by a basket of indicators like arable land and potable water? Such things not only have intrinsic value now, their value is expected to increase in the future.

In fact, this process is already happening. Institutional investors are rapidly scaling up speculation in the world's arable farmland. A recent survey by the OECD found that private investment in farmland in 2010 was approaching $25 billion, and most observers believe this will double or triple in coming years.

The Knight Frank International Farmland Index is another industry newsletter promoting investment on the world's remaining food growing areas. Their most recent publication showed that in contrast to slumping U.S. real estate values, American farmland prices increased by 10 per cent in 2010. Brazil's farmland increased by twice that amount. It seems the financiers of the world have finally realized the old adage that "you can't eat money."

For the complete article:

http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2011/12/19/2012-Money-Capital/

What’s Happening…..

2012-01-05T08:32:00.000-07:00

Thursday January 5th
Rockies Film Series
Margin Call
Tickets Lotus Books $10 in advance or $12 at the door
Columbia Theatre

Saturday January 7th
Banff Mountain Film Festival
7:30pm Key City Theatre
Tickets $22 Key City Theatre

Tuesday January 12th
Science Family Fun Night
Cranbrook Public Library
Especially geared to those who are not keen on science
For the next 6 Tuesdays
6:30 –8:15pm
8 to 12 year old accompanied by an adult
to register
250-417-2896

Tuesdays 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Rocky Mountain Melo-Dears
Singing for fun
#104 135, 10th Avenue South
Cranbrook and District Arts Council
Free to Arts Council members and $2 drop in for non-members
250-426-4223

Wednesday January 11th
African Travelogue
With Graham Knipfel
International Project Coordinator with COR
Admission by donation to the Stephen Lewis Foundation
Hosted by the GoGo Grannies

Wednesdays
1:00-4:00pm
Paint Talks
Cranbrook and District Arts Council
#104 10th Ave. S.
Painting support group

Get you tickets now for
Noises Off starting January 19th
Rankin Family Monday January 23rd
key City Theatre Box Office

Our Peaks from Above

2012-01-04T08:13:00.000-07:00

This is an exceedingly beautiful series of images - with aerial views of the coal mines, the Flathead, the Bugaboos and Jumbo Glacier and is well worth the watch.

Thank you to Douglas Noblet

Wild Air Photography, Nelson
http://www.wildairphoto.com/

Wild Flowers in Winter

2012-01-04T08:12:00.001-07:00

Many plants hold their seed heads through winter. They are often just as pretty and often more architectural to look at than the original flower from which they formed. When dusted or piled high with snow, seed heads form a very eye-catching part of the winter landscape and often plants that are hidden by foliage in summer will be more easily noticed in winter.

Pinedrops is one such plant and it is special for another reason also, for it is a saprophyte. A saprophytic plant is one, which is dependent upon the dead and rotting matter of other plants and animals. Saprophytes are an essential part of decomposition of organic matter and contribute to the improvement of soil fertility. These plants will die if dug up and removed from their natural habitat for recreating that environment in the home garden is not easily achieved.

stem hanging over the path

This beautiful cinnamon-coloured, metre high, persistent seed or spore head of Pinedrops was found very close to the edge of Cranbrook last week. The botanical or Latin name for this special plant is Pterospora andromeda meaning feathered or winged spores and Andromeda of Greek legend.

The woody seed head stands a meter tall and is easily spotted when grass and other vegetation has died down.

Icy Sidewalks - continued

2012-01-03T08:17:00.001-07:00

The previous council dealt with icy sidewalks for the last time in May of 2011. This excerpt is from the minutes of that May meeting.

CBK. IN MOTION – MAY 12/11 RECOMMEND. 221-11 THAT Council receive the Report Recommendation from the Corporate Services Department titled “Cranbrook in Motion Committee Recommendations May 12, 2011 Meeting; and further, that Council approve the recommendation from the Cranbrook in Motion Committee with regard to snow removal requirements to maintain the current voluntary-compliance system for snow removal on residential sidewalks; to include a component in the City’s Communications Plan that encourages residents to clear the sidewalks in front of their residences and encourage participation in the “Snow Angel” program by way of promotional events.

Given that the city likely does not have the extra funds or equipment to clean all sidewalks for us

Given that ‘voluntary’ is not working in many areas and many residential areas have dangerous walking conditions

Given that most people do not know how or where to contact Snow Angels and given that there have proven to be too few at this time

Given that there are many residents who are disgruntled with the dangerous conditions of many sidewalks

and Given that walking in the fresh air daily is one of the best ways to keep up or improve health and thus save the medical system

What would you suggest to improve the situation?

Please send us your suggestions?

Should there be an enforceable bylaw with fines for non-compliance?

Could garbage collection drivers or posties report dangerous sidewalks back to the city?

Should individual letters be sent to residents?

Could those required to do community service be asked to do this work?

Could the city offer crusher dust to spread on their frontage sidewalk to anyone who cares to collect it – free of charge?

Your solutions?

Willows on Waste

2012-01-03T08:16:00.001-07:00

At one time Cranbrook’s spray irrigation fields held an area that was dedicated to the growing of different tree species on a trial basis. The experiment lasted a few years in conjunction with the Ministry of Forests. It is unknown why the experiment ceased and the city recently removed the old irrigation system that was languishing in the small arboretum where many now unirrigated trees have since died.

It would seem growing trees on this waste effluent might make a lot more sense than growing beef for human consumption.

This practice which is now being experimented with in Alberta certainly provides good food for thought.

From the Edmonton Journal by Dave Cooper December 10, 2011

EDMONTON — After flourishing on waste water from the town’s sewage treatment plant for more than two years, Whitecourt’s biomass crop of willows and poplars was ripe for harvest.

And last week, researchers brought in three different machines to cut, chip or bundle the various varieties of the fast-growing wood.

While trees aren’t usually on the list when farmers decide what crops they will plant, these species are being tested as both fuel and a way to naturally dispose of treated waste water and sludge.

Whitecourt offered the seven-hectare site beside its treatment plant to researchers in 2006, along with an electricity hookup and an unlimited supply of waste water to irrigate the young trees with underground pipes.

“The cut last week was our second on that site. The irrigated trees were 30-per-cent larger than the ones that weren’t irrigated, and we think they will be a good fuel source for our wood-burning power plant,” says Peter Yackulik, the town’s project manager.

“The question to be answered is what will it take to commercialize this operation in the future.”

The project is part of a federally led research program, with Alberta leading the way.

Whitecourt was the first test site in Canada, and there are now five locations in the province, says Richard Krygier, a researcher with Natural Resources Canada’s Canadian Wood Fibre Centre.

Saskatchewan is also interested, and Krygier hopes what has started here will eventually be copied across the country.

The other municipalities taking part with Whitecourt — Edmonton, Camrose County, Grande Prairie and Beaverlodge — met recently with government and industry supporters to form the Alberta Rural Organic Waste to Energy Network (AROWEN) to exchange ideas and encourage others to consider their approach.

“There are now 24 municipalities, companies or government departments working on this project,” says Krygier, listing an irrigation firm, a nursery company and a laboratory.

The research may provide an alternative way to treat waste water. Most areas with fewer than 5,000 residents still use lagoons and primary treatment systems, which eventually discharge into streams and rivers.

Larger centres with state-of-the-art sewage systems, such as Whitecourt and Edmonton, still have to dispose of the leftover sludge.

Researchers are studying the effects of applying this material to fields of willow trees, where it breaks down and acts as a natural fertilizer.

Edmonton’s project involves using sludge with trees on a test plot near the new remand centre being built on the city’s northern outskirts.

These trees produce biomass that can be burned for heating or to generate electricity, or in the future could be used in bio-products such as chemicals and drugs.

At the Whitecourt site, Krygier says five varieties of willow and two types of poplar were planted on irrigated and non-irrigated land.

The waste water is the same highly treated effluent discharged into the river, so it really can’t be considered sewage.

“This was our first project and we weren’t prepared to work with something that was a little ‘fresher’,” Krygier said, referring to sewage treated only to the primary level.

Using soil moisture sensors, irrigation occurred when the young trees were so dry they needed extra water.

Irrigation only works during the growing season, so a town relying on willow fields would need a winter waste water storage site, such as an engineered wetland, Krygier says.

Harvesting was done with a Claas unit, which did a good job quickly chipping the stalks, a baling machine and a cane cutter pulled behind a tractor.

It’s a new application for equipment many Alberta farmers are already accustomed to using. Farmers also have plenty of experience handling chipped material (silage for dairy cows) and round bales of hay and straw.

“But you are talking $35,000 for the cutter, $140,000 for the round bailer and $160,000 for the Claas head unit, so we were demonstrating different equipment scales of harvesting.”

The willow and poplar chips are being dried in the yard of Edmonton’s Northern Forestry Centre, testing a new technique adopted from Ireland — pumping air through slotted pipes under the pile — that has been modified by a local grain-drying firm.

“In Ireland they could dry wood chips with 45 to 50 per cent moisture content, which is what they are right now in winter, down to 18 to 20 per cent in four months,” Krygier says.

The chips will be studied and graded at a national forestry research lab to determine their quality.

Other countries, such as Sweden, have plantations of fast-growing trees harvested every few years just like crops. If it makes economic sense, large areas of brush land, marginal farmland and even the land under power lines could support willow crops in Alberta.

dcooper@edmontonjournal.com+

Read more: http://www.canada.com/technology/Alberta+harvests+first+crop+waste+raised+willows/5842836/story.html#ixzz1gFF0yimY

First Day of 2012 at Fort Steele

2012-01-02T09:18:00.001-07:00

Evidence of the new water distribution system is everywhere at Fort Steele.

The lack of snow did not hinder this New Year's Day tradition

Fine looking sheep with fine looking feed

No rink has a better view

Hot apple cider and cookies from the ladies of Lambi House

Snow or not the rides were still on and when else do you get a chance to ride in the covered wagon?

Icy Sidewalks

2012-01-02T09:16:00.000-07:00

A Huge Thank You to those residents who take the time and consideration to regularly clear their sidewalks. Uncleared sidewalks become treacherous for walkers after the thaw/freeze cycles we seem to experience more of each winter.
The chart below displays information about deicers but nothing beats a regularly shoveled sidewalk with an occasional dusting of common crusher dust or gravel. Crusher dust is not harmful to the environment, is easily swept up in spring and can even be added to the garden if not contaminated with any of the chemicals. A bucket of crusher dust lasts a long time and can be obtained from any gravel supplier - it is a lot cheaper than chemicals and can be cleaned up and recycled in the spring ready for use the next winter.

For those who like, want or need to walk a clear dry sidewalk is truly appreciated.

from
http://chemistry.about.com/cs/howthingswork/a/aa120703a.htm

comes this list of chemical deicers, all of which have disadvantages.

Chemicals Used to Melt Ice

Name Formula Lowest Practical Temp Pros Cons

Ammonium sulfate (NH4)2SO4 -7°C(20°F) Fertilizer Damages concrete

Calcium chloride CaCl2 -29°C(-20°F) Melts ice faster than sodium chloride Attracts moisture, surfaces slippery below -18°C (0°F)

Calcium magnesium acetate (CMA) Calcium carbonate CaCO3, magnesium carbonate MgCO3, and acetic acid CH3COOH -9°C(15°F) Safest for concrete & vegetation Works better to prevent re-icing than as ice remover

Magnesium chloride MgCl2 -15°C(5°F) Melts ice faster than sodium chloride Attracts moisture

Potassium acetate CH3COOK -9°C(15°F) Biodegradable Corrosive

Potassium chloride KCl -7°C(20°F) Fertilizer Damages concrete

Sodium chloride (rock salt, halite) NaCl -9°C(15°F) Keeps sidewalks dry Corrosive, damages concrete & vegetation

Urea NH2CONH2 -7°C(20°F) Fertilizer Agricultural grade is corrosive

Happy New Year

2011-12-31T23:13:00.000-07:00

Happy New Year Cranbrook

This is what it looked like in Sydney Australia

Out and Around Cranbrook this Week

2011-12-31T09:09:00.002-07:00

From the October like scenery at Elizabeth Lake to winter on Cranbrook Mountain

Mt. Baker from Hoo Doos Ft. Steele - photo Stewart Wilson

Snow shoeing up Cranbrook Mountain - photo Iwan Ruoss

Cranbrook and Baker Mountain from West Hill - photo Jenny Humphrey

Firemen Santa Sleigh Show Becomes Local Tradition

2011-12-30T09:04:00.004-07:00

Perceptions by Gerry Warner

I don't know what your enduring memory of Christmas 2011 is going to be, but aside from the balmy weather, I know what mine is, especially as a new city councilor.

It must have been around 8 p.m. when I heard the familiar Christmas Eve wail of a siren alerting the Warner household that one of Cranbrook's oldest Christmas traditions was about to pass by our cozy, little bungalow. And there it was lights flashing, carols blaring and jolly old St. Nick beaming and waving from his trailer-mounted sleigh and eight reindeer pulled by a Cranbrook Fire Dept. truck and several of Cranbrook's finest inside.

And then a funny thing happened.

The old wooden sleigh was coming down 18th Ave. South and turning on 2A St. South kitty-corner to my house when the sleigh's trailer hit a pothole in our oft-criticized bad roads and poor Santa's beard fell off. Not quite off actually, but it slipped down below his chin and he had to hurriedly pull it back up in mid-wave, a well executed move on Santa's part.

I couldn't help but think it was going to be a long night for Santa and his supporting crew and this got me to thinking even more about how this unique Cranbrook Christmas tradition came about and how long it has been going on. So I put in a call to Clayton Murrell, president of Cranbrook Professional Firefighters Local 1253. He made several calls of his own and from this a fascinating tale of local history emerges that may not be exactly right in all the details but is pretty darn close just the same.

As it turns out, no one is exactly sure how long Cranbrook's fireman Santa has been making his rounds, but Clay is sure it's at least 30 years and could be more than 40. In the early days, an actual sleigh was used borrowed from a farmer or rancher in the Bull River area and pulled around, possibly even by horses, but no one is sure. Eventually, the firemen themselves built a wooden sleigh of their own and modified it several times over the years because our bumpy roads were hard on both the sleigh and Santa, Murrell says. “The poor guy would be bounced around for six hours. It was pretty tough.”

Other improvements were made too such as going from an old eight-track tape system with “terrible sound” for the carols to a modern system providing quality sound, Murrell says, who's been involved with the Santa sleigh show for 22 years.

And Murrell's length of service is typical of the fire department as a whole, he says. “Almost every guy in the department has had something to do with it over the years. We start getting calls as early as September and October about when the sleigh is going to run and the route.”

Getting ready for the big night is no small endeavour in itself because it takes about two days to set up the sleigh and trailer and plan the timing and the route. Up to eight firefighters volunteer to be part of the show and take turns during the sleigh's six-hour run around town so they can have time to be together with their own families on Christmas Eve.

Despite this, there is never a shortage of volunteers, Murrell says. “Even though they're off duty, they're happy to do it. It's so neat to see the excited looks on the kids' faces. Once you've done it once, you're hooked and eager to do it again.” In some cases, firemen doing the Santa sleigh show remember enjoying it themselves when they were children and now enjoy doing it as adults for the next generation.

“It's become a Cranbrook tradition,” Murrell says.

And yes, there are sometimes incidents during the Christmas Eve sleigh show that make the tradition even more memorable, he says. Apparently one Christmas Eve several years ago, a father, who had just finished showering was standing on the doorstep with a towel wrapped around him and holding his young toddler as Santa's sleigh went by.

The little tyke got so excited he broke free from his father's grip and ran towards the Santa sleigh. Dad got excited too and ran after his wayward son and had almost reached him when his towel fell off and he was left standing naked in the snow.

“The guys will never forget that one,” Murrell chuckles.

Happy New Year Cranbrook . . .

December Weather

2011-12-30T09:04:00.000-07:00

On the 30th of December in 1968 the temperature in Cranbrook bottomed out at –40 degrees Celsius. The average snow depth for the month of December from 1971 to the year 2000 was 17cm. Although daily average for December in that thirty year period was milder at –7degrees C, Decembers were generally a lot colder than the one we have just experienced.

This December 30th 2011 our predicted high is 4 degrees C with a low of -4 degrees C and we’ll be lucky if we have much snow in town by the end of the day. We have experienced mild December temperatures before as on the winter of 1975 when the high for the 9th of December was 12.2 degrees C. but this December must be shaping up to be one for the record books.

Does anyone out there remember such a brown Christmas before, as the one we have just experienced in town?

Stats according to:
http://www.eldoradocountyweather.com/canada/climate2/Cranbrook.html

All Time Popular Posts

2011-12-29T08:31:00.002-07:00

Our most popular stories:

As readership of our humble little blog has grown steadily in the last year we would like to thank all those faithful readers who check in once in a while to read those items we consider relevant or of interest to our special little town which is snuggled into one of the most beautiful parts of the world. Our articles are frequently not original but we hope they might present ideas worth considering for the enrichment, sustainability and development of our municipality.

It is interesting to look at our most popular posts over the last 18 months for most were items of local political interest. The condensed version of the Growth Management Study also was certainly a popular page feature that we added (and are still working on) but despite the seemingly high interest in local municipal government, the turnout in the November election was still a mere 33% of the eligible electorate.

Our piece on The Passivhaus which contained several links to sustainable building technique sites consistently generates interest from all over the world, as does anything about our North Star Trail which is usually searched for and discovered under Rails to Trails. The Holiday Train generated a lot of interest in December mostly because the interest comes from the entire country.

Readers may find these stats interesting:

What's Happening....

2011-12-29T08:31:00.000-07:00

Saturday December 31st
New year's Eve Dance
Country Roundup
Senior's Centre
250-489-2720

New Year's Eve at Durango's
limited tickets
250-417-3739

Sunday January 1st
New Year's Day Wagon/Sleigh Ride
Fort Steele
11:00am - 3:00pm

Wednesday January 4th
Elizabeth Lake Art Challenge deadline
Key City Theatre

Get Yor tickets now for
Banff Mountain Film Festival Saturday Jan 7th
Noises Off January 19, 20, 21, 26,27,28
Rankin Family January 23rd
Tickets at Key City Theatre Box office

Bridging Urban-Suburban Divide

2011-12-28T08:51:00.000-07:00

Project Calgary: Bridging urban-suburban divide

Community debate reflects values more than property

By Theresa Tayler, Calgary Herald December 25, 2011

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/Project+Calgary+Bridging+urban+suburban+divide/5908003/story.html#ixzz1hnYsus7F

Paul's suburban friends seem less engaged in their community in terms of supporting local business. They also seem to interact less with their neighbours than his urban friends do.

"This could be because suburbanites seem to spend more time in their vehicles getting to and from work, so there's not as much time to interact with one another," Paul says. "However, those in the suburban areas tend to champion their own amenities and green spaces. They often live in closer proximity to nature, so they have that to be proud of."

According to McCready, the dynamic between the urban and suburban Calgarian reflects the youth of our ever-growing city.

While hubs across the globe, such as Paris, London, New York and Montreal, have had centuries to develop culturally and architecturally, Calgary's only been at it for 136 years.
Due to Calgary's boom-and-bust economic history, McCready says the concept of urban sprawl has come into play as the city has struggled to build quick housing for people who arrive in times of prosperity.

"We have to realize we're not Europe. What I find interesting about the North American setting is the lack of patience that we have for building up a city. It takes a century or two for a city to gain its full character," McCready says.

While McCready applauds groups such as the Calgary Downtown Association (a group that works to promote the city's inner core) and Imagine Calgary (a partnership between the city and various private arts and community groups to envision how Calgary could look in the future) for their commitment to building the city culturally and economically, he worries the common discussion between Calgarians is focused primarily on rejuvenating the downtown areas.

There is less emphasis placed on helping new suburban areas become viable communities, as well.

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/Project+Calgary+Bridging+urban+suburban+divide/5908003/story.html#
ixzz1hnY2DUz8

Civility and Quality of Life

2011-12-27T08:59:00.000-07:00

This is the title of a report from the Young Foundation in October of 2011. This report is relevant internationally and it states, “Wherever they lived, many said civility was the single most important contributor to their quality of life.”

“Experience of incivility shapes the way people feel about their communities and general social health more than crime statistics, according to new research, ” it goes on.

It argues that civility acts as ‘glue' in holding communities together and that when this breaks down it causes hurt, stress and deeper social problems. The research, co-funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and Economic and Social Research Council, found that long-term trends make civility harder to sustain but even more important.

The trends that make civility harder to sustain include:

· Pressures on time; people feel that their working lives are more pressured, exacerbated by commuting times and that incivility is more likely to occur when people are hurried.

· Mobility, diversity and density; people feel that shared codes of civility are harder to maintain as they have more interaction with strangers and less interaction between the generations.

· Technology: a common complaint was people speaking loudly in public on mobile phones or overhearing music from headphones. People are also concerned about incivility online.

For the full article:
http://www.youngfoundation.org/media-centre/press-releases/charm-offensive-needed-counter-pressure-civility

What a Wonderful World

2011-12-26T08:57:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T23:03:00.002-07:00

Merry Christmas
and the
Very Best of the Season
to all our readers

In Case you Missed it Last Year

2011-12-24T08:44:00.000-07:00

Another Way to Enjoy Your Brussel Sprouts

2011-12-23T20:32:00.003-07:00

Our National Game or the National Shame? by Gerry Warner

2011-12-23T07:28:00.003-07:00

The Cranbrook Guardian feels honored to introduce a new, regular column by former columnist but newly retired, Gerry Warner. Gerry’s last position before retirement was with the Cranbrook Townsman and we are delighted to accept his volunteered essays, opinions and items of general interest.

This topic has no doubt provided some heat around Cranbrook ice surfaces.

Our National Game or the National Shame?

How would you like to be the best in the world at what you do, but broken up and finished at the age of 24 and never knowing – nor the world ever knowing – how good you might have been?

That's the sad scenario facing Sidney Crosby, the hockey phenomenon from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, the player that scored the “golden goal” for Canada in the 2010 Olympics, who is now out “indefinitely” with another concussion thanks to the thuggery that passes for “hockey” these days.

And it isn't just Crosby who's fallen victim to the “rock' em, sock' em” hockey popularized by Don Cherry from his bully pulpit on CBC's “Hockey Night in Canada” every Saturday night. In addition to “Sid the Kid,” NHL leading scorer Claude Giroux is also out with a concussion along with several other players, including Philadelphia Captain Chris Pronger who's out for the season.

Pronger, however, is 37 and has had an illustrious career as an all-star defenceman. Crosby barely got started on what could have been a Gretzky-like career and now even a Vegas bookie wouldn't give you odds on Crosby ever winning another scoring title. Or even completing another season for that matter. And this is tragic, not just for Crosby – the “face of the NHL” as is often said – but for the future of Canada's national game, which is rapidly catching up with the RCMP as one of Canada's most criticized institutions.

Small wonder when you consider a stunning series in the New York Times two weeks ago on former NHL goon Derek Boogaard, or “the Boogeyman” as he was otherwise known, who once went almost five years between goals but pounded on other players' skulls almost every game until his knuckles literally started to peel off. He died at 28 of Traumatic Encephalopathy, his brain basically a vegetable from the blows he endured and the pain killing drugs he took to dull his suffering.

In some ways, the titles alone of the three-part series tell you all you need to know about the Boogaard tragedy – “A Boy Learns to Brawl,” “Blood on the Ice” and “A Brain Going Bad.” Did I say the Boogaard tragedy? I really should have said the “Hockey Tragedy.” But when it comes right down to it, the best title would be “The Canadian Tragedy” because Boogaard was a big, tough Canadian boy from Melfort, Saskatchewan – son of a Mountie, no less-- doing what far too many Canadian boys have to do to succeed at our National Dream, a dream-cum-nightmare that is now ending careers at a tender age and cutting lives short in what is now a vulgar National Spectacle acted out on living room screens and in arenas coast to coast including our own.

A tad harsh, you say? If that's what you think then I challenge you to Google the New York Times series and read it for yourself. In this short space, I can only give a few highlights, but here they are:

- After countless bare-knuckle fights, chunks of scar tissue would flake off Boogaard's knuckles. The knuckles themselves would be driven back into his hand almost to his wrist and the team's trainer would have to pull them out again.

- Despite his monstrous reputation as a fighter, off the ice Boogaard was more like a gentle giant, always volunteering for charity work and eager to speak to children, who he would talk to after getting down on his knees to their level.

- In the fall of 2009 during a concussion checkup, a doctor asked Boogaard how many words he could say that began with 'r.' The veteran NHL brawler couldn't think of any.

I could go on, but I think you get the drift. NHL hockey today, and sad to say the three top junior leagues, including the WHL, which provide about 40 per cent of NHL players, is becoming a Roman-like spectacle of violence and thuggery more akin to a night of UFC mixed martial arts fighting than the fastest game on ice. Careers are being cut short, players are dying of concussion-related issues before they hit 30 and two former NHL enforcers committed suicide in a ghastly two-month period last summer.

And while making a lot of noise about cutting down on so-called “head shots,” the NHL establishment including managers, players and fans remain conspicuously silent on banning fighting or violent body hits that can also cause concussions by shaking the brain inside the skull.

Have we gone mad?

Maximizing the Recycling

2011-12-22T20:52:00.000-07:00

Many Thanks to the RDEK, the Townsman and the Advertiser for publishing a Recycle Guide for Cranbrook at this time of year when it becomes especially challenging to keep waste to a minimum. Those pages are well worth clipping and keeping for reference. They are large, however and so we are are republishing an updated condensed version that we first made available during Waste Reduction Week last year.
It looks like this but can be downloaded at:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/39034343/Recycle%20Guide%205.doc

What's Happening ...........

2011-12-22T08:15:00.000-07:00

Saturday December 24th
Social DanceSenior Centre
7 - 11:00pm
For more information call Flo at 250-489-2720
or email tomicki@cyberlink.ca

Tuesday December 27th
Turkey Run Off Race
Cross Country Sking and Snowshoe Race
Kootenay Orienteering Club
Lois Creek Trails Kimberley
Registration 11-11:45am
Mass Start at noon

Wednesday December 28th
Fort Steele
Annual Sleigh or Wagon Rides depending on snow conditions
11:00am - 3:00pm
Bonfire

Get your tickets now for
Banff Mountain Film Festival - Saturday January 7th
The Rankin Family - Monday January 23rd
Noises Off - January 19, 20, 21, 26,27 and 28th

All tickets at the Key City Box Office

Elves and Reindeer off Duty

2011-12-22T07:58:00.000-07:00

Aspire Dance at Joseph Creek Village

2011-12-21T08:15:00.001-07:00

A number of students from the Aspire School of Dance put on two mini performances at Joseph Creek Village this week. Dancing to Christmas music and demonstrating their skills in tap, ballet, hip-hop and stage theatre they entertained the residents and spread some Christmas cheer.

Recycling the Christmas Packaging

2011-12-21T08:15:00.000-07:00

As we enter the gift giving season when mountains of packaging quickly pile up, planning how to divert all that waste from the land fill would be an environmentally friendly thing to do. We have many yellow bins around Cranbrook where cardboard, glass, plastic and paper can be binned for recycling and we have a curbside recycling business for which we must pay. (It is worth every penny and an article will be forthcoming)Wood Buffalo Municipality which includes Fort McMurray Alberta has made recycling much easier with the help of their own website: http://www.recycle-more.ca/index.php

Here is a great little project from that site for the kids or adults to bide away some creative time - making Christmas gift boxes from old Christmas cards.

http://www.recycle-more.ca/development/forms/Reused%20Greeting%20Card%20Box%20-%20November%202010.pdf

The whole of the Wood Buffalo Municipal site is worth a look. One of the facilities is the ability to watch previously recorded Council Meetings. Considering the sometimes unreliability of our Shaw broadcasts, this may be something for Cranbrook to consider.
http://www.woodbuffalo.ab.ca/site3.aspx#

Around Town and Looking Good

2011-12-20T08:17:00.001-07:00

Christ Church Anglican, Cranbrook's oldest church

Solar Power in Delta

2011-12-20T08:08:00.000-07:00

Kimberley is working on its sun mine and our new mayor Wayne Stetski has 'using more solar power' as one of his goals for the sunniest place in BC. Campbell River was named one of B.C.'s highest users of solar power in April of this year. Considering it is part of the wet coast we have a lot of catching up to do! This is Delta's newest project.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Delta Installs Solar Power System at Boundary Bay Airport

By Corporation of Delta

DELTA - Mayor Lois E. Jackson, Delta Council and Alpha Aviation Inc. are pleased to announce the installation of a solar power system at the Boundary Bay Airport terminal building. This innovative system brings the terminal building a step closer to a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver rating.

The leading edge solar technology, which was developed by the Alpha Group, converts light energy captured by 60 solar photovoltaic panels into DC power. The DC power is stored in batteries and once the batteries are fully charged, it is converted to AC power that can be used to power a portion of the requirements of the terminal building. The project was accomplished through collaboration of businesses.

“Our system was designed and built by a true collaboration of the Alpha Group of Companies including Alpha Technologies Ltd in Burnaby, BC; Alpha Energy and OutBack Power Technologies,” said Lyle Soetaert, Boundary Bay Airport Manager. “This team pulled the system together to help us provide a renewable energy solution for our facility. As we continue to expand at the Boundary Bay Airport, we will continue to find ways to use technology to help us increase our use of renewable sources of energy.”

Delta was named a Solar Community by the Honourable Blair Lekstrom, Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum on May 29, 2010 and is a leader in environmental stewardship with such initiatives as the green fleet for corporate vehicles and energy retrofits at Sungod Recreation Centre and Ladner Leisure Centre. Delta is currently well on its way to reaching the goal of reducing corporate greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent below 2007 levels by 2015.

“This is a great example of Delta businesses leading the way on green technology,” said Mayor Lois E. Jackson. “We continue to see businesses throughout Delta follow the lead of the municipality in adopting green energy alternatives and Alpha Aviation’s solar power showcases ingenuity in practice.”

For more information on this media release, contact the Mayor’s office at (604) 946-3210 or email mayor@corp.delta.bc.ca.

The Story of Stuff

2011-12-19T06:57:00.000-07:00

December 18, 2010 Vancouver Airport

2011-12-18T10:25:00.000-07:00

Saturday's Skies

2011-12-18T08:30:00.000-07:00

Red sky at night; shepherds delight,

Red sky in the morning; shepherds warning.

Saturday December 17th 2011, we had it all.

photos Jenny Humphrey and Stewart Wilson

Do You Know This Shoplifter?

2011-12-17T15:36:00.000-07:00

On December 13th $1700 worth of merchandise was stolen from Walmart. The full release from the RCMP with photo is available here:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/39034343/shoplifter.pdf

Slaterville Receives Attention at Last

2011-12-17T07:58:00.000-07:00

by Jenny Humphrey

What a great Christmas gift for the residents of Slaterville to see the progress of Slaterville’s neighbourhood plan and the work that has been put into this by city staff. I don’t live in Slaterville, nor do I own property there but my interest in that neglected part of town began long ago when I was introduced to a lovely walk, which led out of town from the end of 6th St NW. In August of 2010 amid the lively discussions of densification, Smart Growth and the East Hill, a rezoning application for Slaterville came before Council and I recalled a Brown Bag Lunch from April of 2009 when Steve Lehman had appeared to talk about the lack of services and apparent neglect that this area of our community felt. I refreshed my memory with a slow walk around Slaterville and its quaintness of character and its historical significance once more struck a chord.

The Cranbrook Guardian posted:
http://livablecranbrook.blogspot.com/2010/08/significantly-slaterville.html

After a few phone calls I discovered a facebook page that exemplified the connection and fond memories Slaterville residents have for this historical part of Cranbrook.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2363610675#!/group.php?gid=2363610675&v=wall

After a discussion with Councillor Whetham about what could be done, Councillor Whetham undertook to meet with some residents and put the wheels in motion to formally request that a Neighbourhood Plan be initiated. It was and the results were revealed at an Open House on Wednesday December 14th 2011.

The determination of residents, their council representation and city planners has resulted in a plan for some definite improvements to this forgotten part of Cranbrook. Maybe once again Slaterville will take its significant place as an equal and important part of Cranbrook. I look forward to seeing the improvements take place.

Just one of the suggested plans presented at the Open House for the Slaterville Neighbourhood Plan. This map showed areas for potential sidewalks, a direct trail to Pinewood School, speed bumps and intersection improvements.

Vancouver Sun - Logging War on Pine Beetle

2011-12-16T08:14:00.000-07:00

The Vancouver Sun has launched a series of articles. They began Dec 2 2011 and can be found at:

http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/environmental+costs+logging+pine+beetles/5798233/story.html#ixzz1faeFo02F

The environmental costs of B.C.'s logging war on pine beetles

FIRST IN A SERIES: The plan was simple: Log and sell as much dead pine as possible before it decayed or burned. But the environmental costs of the large-scale salvaging of Interior forests are still being tallied

By LARRY PYNN, Vancouver Sun

THE INTERIOR PLATEAU -- The province sold the epidemic as unprecedented in North American history.

Biblical plagues of mountain pine beetles sweeping across the Interior landscape in dark clouds, leaving a dead zone more than five times the size of Vancouver Island in their wake.

This was war. And the government fought back with an equally aggressive salvage-logging strategy, initially to try to stop the beetle’s spread, and then to harvest as much dead wood as possible before it decayed or burned.

The result? Massive clearcuts with no upper limits, faster approvals for cutting permits, more logging companies taking ever more timber, with industry in charge of conducting its own affairs.

It’s been a full decade since the B.C. government started increasing the annual allowable cut of lodgepole pine stands by an average 80 per cent — in some areas, much higher.

The province promised that salvage logging of Interior pine forests would respect “other forest values” — the environment — but is that what happened?

A lengthy investigation by The Vancouver Sun shows that large-scale salvage logging has had wide-ranging negative environmental impacts that extend well beyond the death of pine trees due to beetle attack.

Salvage logging has hammered biodiversity on the landscape, affecting everything from smaller predators such as fishers and marten to plants such as mosses, liverworts and mycorrhiza fungus, which lives underground in the root system and plays a critical role in transferring nutrients to trees.

The removal of vast stands of forest has also increased the risk of flooding, leading to more erosion and sedimentation, which can affect everything from roads, bridges and culverts to fish and other aquatic life and even to dyking systems in the lower Fraser River.

The landscape has been so radically altered that provincial forests officials have provided maps to Emergency Management BC and others showing where dead pine and salvage logging are most heavily concentrated — and where the potential for flooding is greatest.

Salvage logging also increases hunting pressure both by humans and wild predators — due to a proliferation of logging roads — while increasing greenhouse gas emissions by opening up the forest to rot and by removing the green trees that absorb carbon dioxide.

All this during a decade of provincial cutbacks that included a dramatic decline in funding for forest research — $2.5 million in 2010, down from $38.8 million in 1997.

From Vancouver to Prince George, researchers are decrying B.C.’s failure to address the cumulative impact of salvage logging and fearing there is insufficient oversight of a deregulated, “results-based” system that puts the onus on forest companies to meet government objectives.

Looking at the big picture, these researchers say the mountain pine beetle represents a unique opportunity for the province to rethink the management of B.C.’s forests in the face of climate change — a key reason behind the epidemic.

Revisit the way logging and reforestation is done, they say, and strike a better balance between biological and commercial values.

“We have to value it differently,” said Suzanne Simard, a professor of forest sciences at the University of B.C. “Right now, we value two-by-fours. We don’t put a market value on the other things.”

B.C. and its beetle-killed forests are part of a global community grappling with issues of deforestation, climate change and biodiversity.

“The whole picture has to transform, not just here but around the world,” said Simard, who supports maintaining a greater natural diversity in B.C.’s forests.

And if we don’t address the issue?

Kathy Lewis, a professor of ecosystem science and management at the University of Northern B.C., confirms that a diverse forest is the best way for B.C. to meet the uncertainties of climate change, and fears the public doesn’t realize their importance to clean water and their ability to store carbon.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/environmental+costs+logging+pine+beetles/5798233/story.html#ixzz1fadiw4V3

New Skills Training Programs Announced

2011-12-16T08:11:00.000-07:00

Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation
From a News Release of December 9th

The B.C. government is investing over $13 million in new employment skills training in regions throughout British Columbia.

College of the Rockies will receive:

· $87,120 – Introduction to the Trades Program, 12 participants. This 10-week program provides participants with certification required to gain employment in a trades-related position at an entry or apprentice level.

· $269,332 – Forestry Boot Camp Training Program, 24 participants. This three-week program provides the certification needed to gain entry-level employment in the forest industry.

· For more information about ESA training programs at College of the Rockies, please contact Bonnie New at 250 489-2751 ext 3440 or: bnew@cotr.bc.ca.

As part of ‘Canada Starts Here: The B.C. Jobs Plan’, over 50 skills training programs are being delivered by 20 post-secondary institutions throughout the province under the government’s Employment Skills Access Initiative (ESA). This project is funded within government’s existing fiscal plan.

Training programs are expected to be at least three weeks in duration, to a maximum of 12 months, with an emphasis on programs that provide participants with provincially or industry-recognized credentials. For occupations with established provincial standards for training and certification, training programs must follow and meet those standards.

Participants in programs must be unemployed individuals who have not established an Employment Insurance claim in the past three years, or five years in the case of maternity/parental leave.

The Employment Skills Access Initiative is funded through the Canada-British Columbia Labour Market Agreement (LMA).

The Mystery of Santa's Golden Bell by Kerry Ries of Cranbrook

2011-12-15T11:12:00.002-07:00

This is the link to Kerry Ries's story as heard on CBC radio yesterday morning.
http://www.cbc.ca/daybreaksouth/

Click on the page, scroll down to click on the sound clip of Chris Walker reading the story.

Thank you to Kerry Ries for this lovely story and to the magical and abundant Hospital Thrift Store. You never know what you might find in there. Kerry Ries is looking for the previous owner of the music box bell which is not the same as the photo above.

Chris Ayling Named Citizen of the Year

2011-12-15T07:44:00.000-07:00

Chair of Cranbrook's Integrated Community Sustainability Plan (ICSP) for Cranbrook, Chris Ayling, was named citizen of the year by outgoing President of the Chamber of Commerce, Sean Campbell, at yesterday's Chamber Luncheon. The ICSP or Cranbrook Connected as it it is better known is a long term and broad in scope strategic plan that will give our community and City Council a shared vision of our future to work towards. The plan has been praised by many and the City is currently advertising for a coordinator to assist in implementation of the plan's 8 Big Ideas for Sustainability
http://www.cranbrookconnected.ca/cranbrook-connected-about-us.php

Our Congratulations to Chris Ayling for this well deserved award.

What's Happening...

2011-12-15T06:37:00.002-07:00

Thursday, December 15

Affordable Art
Last day of the Affordable Art Exhibition
at the Key City Gallery. All pieces under $300

Friday, December 16

Christmas Cantata
LDS Church on 2nd St. N.
7pm, Everyone is Welcome

Sunday, December 18

Sleigh Rides at Fort Steele
10am-4pm
If there isn't enough snow wagon rides will be substituted
Also skating on the skating rink
Also
Childrens Christmas Crafts and photos with Father Christmas
11:00am - 3:00pm
Lambi House

Climate Change Affects Us All

2011-12-14T09:20:00.000-07:00

An interview with Banki Moon, UN Secretary General

Although this interview discusses several topics which affect us all, the Durban Conference on Climate Change is the first topic of this video and worth a listen even if you do not have the half hour to listen to the entire interview.

The UN secretary-general shares his views on the climate conference in Durban, the situation in Syria, gay rights and the issues behind the Goldstone report.

Health Outcomes Influencing Planning Decisions

2011-12-14T06:58:00.002-07:00

Many people have a misconception that those people who live in the country are healthier than those who live in cities. In fact sometimes the opposite is true. Country residents are often more likely to be obese, smoke and be sedentary. There are many studies that demonstrate country living is not always more healthy than living in a city. If you live in the country you have further to travel for medical care, you walk less and drive more. In cities you have more opportunities to walk - our children are able to walk to school for example. Modern urban planning recognizes the importance of green space, creating walkable cities, higher density housing, and improving air quality as contributors to more healthy living.

So it is interesting that this past week, the East Hill Development was not sent to a second reading, but referred back to staff at the Regional District of the East Kootenays. This was the result of a letter from the Interior Health Authority about these type of rural subdivisions and how they are not particularly healthy. The letter stated how urban sprawl has a negative outcome on physical activity opportunities which can lead to increased occurences of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and some cancers. It also went on to state that this particular development was too remote from public transit to be a viable option. Interior Health will increasingly be making comment on introduced bylaws such as this rezoning application as they are trying to "link public health to the built environments."

Given what we now know about rural living, should Interior Health be making comment on this type of development? What do you think?

Air Quality Study Results

2011-12-13T08:34:00.002-07:00

In the early part of this year, collaboration between provincial and federal agencies, Wildsight, the East Kootenay Citizens for Clean Air, the University of Victoria, the College of the Rockies, and the Citizens for a Livable Cranbrook conducted a three-week study
(http://livablecranbrook.blogspot.com/2011/10/whats-our-air-quality-part-1.html
http://livablecranbrook.blogspot.com/2011/10/whats-our-air-quality-part-2.html)
to a mapping exercise that plotted levels of PM2.5 (particulate matter, 2.5 microns or less in diameter) in the Kimberley/Cranbrook area. PM2.5 is an air contaminant that has serious health impacts, especially to people at risk (the elderly, the very young, and those suffering from chronic cardio-respiratory conditions); and to anyone when concentrations are high.

The study took place during the peak of the heating season when smoke from wood-burning appliances was known to be affecting air quality. The analysis of the collected data identified relative levels of PM2.5, and most importantly, ‘hot spots’ (neighbourhoods where levels were consistently elevated ). A summary of this data is presented below. There are three areas of concern:

· Marysville

· Wycliffe/King Street Corridor

· South/Central Cranbrook (centred on 10th Street and 10th Avenue )

The results of the study have the potential to be used in a number of ways and recommendations were made in the summary report. At present the campaign is for awareness and hopefully a stimulus for those with wood burning stoves in these locations to seriously consider upgrading to a more efficient stove.

This data was released to the public at a special presentation
http://livablecranbrook.blogspot.com/2011/10/wood-heat-and-neighbourhood-air-quality.html
It is anticipated the technical document produced as a result of this study will be presented to City Council in the New Year.

The data is now ready for City Councils, Interior Health or any other agency who may wish to use it to promote better air quality in the communities of Kimberley and Cranbrook.

The complete document is available here:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/39034343/Air%20Quality%20Report.pdf

and a Guide to Residential Wood Heating is available here:
http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/co/maho/enefcosa/upload/wood_heating_EN_W.pdf

Holiday Train in Cranbrook Video by Audio Tomic

2011-12-12T15:11:00.004-07:00

Thank you, Jason Beauchane of Audio Tomic Cranbrook.

Food Security in Todmorden, England

2011-12-12T05:02:00.003-07:00

With severe droughts in many food producing states such as Texas and California and ever increasing food prices here, we might wonder if some of our previous food choices will be unavailable to us in the future. Maybe it is not as alarmist as once thought and more and more we might wonder if its not something we should be planning for. What would we do? Obviously grow more of our own food and try to buy more from local producers. In England, a community is already taking concerns over food security to the next level by gardening everywhere.

From the British Newspaper the Daily Mail by journalist Vincent Graff read this intriguing story about the British town of Todmorden:

Carrots in the car park. Radishes on the roundabout. The deliciously eccentric story of the town growing ALL its own veg

Admittedly, it sounds like the most foolhardy of criminal capers, and one of the cheekiest, too.
Outside the police station in the small Victorian mill town of Todmorden, West Yorkshire, there are three large raised flower beds.
If you’d visited a few months ago, you’d have found them overflowing with curly kale, carrot plants, lettuces, spring onions — all manner of vegetables and salad leaves.
Today the beds are bare. Why? Because people have been wandering up to the police station forecourt in broad daylight and digging up the vegetables. And what are the cops doing about this brazen theft from right under their noses? Nothing.
‘I watch ’em on camera as they come up and pick them,’ says desk officer Janet Scott, with a huge grin. It’s the smile that explains everything.
For the vegetable-swipers are not thieves. The police station carrots — and thousands of vegetables in 70 large beds around the town — are there for the taking. Locals are encouraged to help themselves. A few tomatoes here, a handful of broccoli there. If they’re in season, they’re yours. Free.
So there are (or were) raspberries, apricots and apples on the canal towpath; blackcurrants, redcurrants and strawberries beside the doctor’s surgery; beans and peas outside the college; cherries in the supermarket car park; and mint, rosemary, thyme and fennel by the health centre.
The vegetable plots are the most visible sign of an amazing plan: to make Todmorden the first town in the country that is self-sufficient in food.
‘And we want to do it by 2018,’ says Mary Clear, 56, a grandmother of ten and co-founder of Incredible Edible, as the scheme is called.
It’s a very ambitious aim. But if you don’t aim high, you might as well stay in bed, mightn’t you?’
So what’s to stop me turning up with a huge carrier bag and grabbing all the rosemary in the town?
‘Nothing,’ says Mary.
What’s to stop me nabbing all the apples?
‘Nothing.’
All your raspberries?
‘Nothing.’
It just doesn’t happen like that, she says. ‘We trust people. We truly believe — we are witness to it — that people are decent.’
When she sees the Big Issue seller gathering fruit for his lunch, she feels only pleasure. What does it matter, argues Mary, if once in a while she turns up with her margarine tub to find that all the strawberries are gone?
‘This is a revolution,’ she says. ‘But we are gentle revolutionaries. Everything we do is underpinned by kindness.’
The idea came about after she and co-founder Pam Warhurst, the former owner of the town’s Bear Cafe, began fretting about the state of the world and wondered what they could do.
They reasoned that all they could do is start locally, so they got a group of people, mostly women, together in the cafe.
Incredible Edible is about more than plots of veg. It's about educating people about food, and stimulating the local economy (pictured Vincent Graff and Estelle)
‘Wars come about by men having drinks in bars, good things come about when women drink coffee together,’ says Mary.
‘Our thinking was: there’s so much blame in the world — blame local government, blame politicians, blame bankers, blame technology — we thought, let’s just do something positive instead.’
We’re standing by a car park in the town centre. Mary points to a housing estate up the hill. Her face lights up.
‘The children walk past here on the way to school. We’ve filled the flower beds with fennel and they’ve all been taught that if you bite fennel, it tastes like a liquorice gobstopper. When I see the children popping little bits of herb into their mouths, I just think it’s brilliant.’
She takes me over to the front garden of her own house, a few yards away.
Three years ago, when Incredible Edible was launched, she did a very unusual thing: she lowered her front wall, in order to encourage passers-by to walk into her garden and help themselves to whatever vegetables took their fancy.
There were signs asking people to take something but it took six months for folk to ‘get it’, she says.
They get it now. Obviously a few town-centre vegetable plants — even thousands of them — are not going to feed a community of 15,000 by themselves.
But the police station potatoes act as a recruiting sergeant — to encourage residents to grow their own food at home.
Today, hundreds of townspeople who began by helping themselves to the communal veg are now well on the way to self-sufficiency.
But out on the street, what gets planted where? There’s kindness even in that.
‘The ticket man at the railway station, who was very much loved, was unwell. Before he died, we asked him: “What’s your favourite vegetable, Reg?” It was broccoli. So we planted memorial beds with broccoli at the station. One stop up the line, at Hebden Bridge, they loved Reg, too — and they’ve also planted broccoli in his memory.’
Not that all the plots are — how does one put this delicately? — ‘official’.
Take the herb bushes by the canal. Owners British Waterways had no idea locals had been sowing plants there until an official inspected the area ahead of a visit by the Prince of Wales last year (Charles is a huge Incredible Edible fan).
Estelle Brown, a 67-year-old former interior designer who tended the plot, received an email from British Waterways.
‘I was a bit worried to open it,’ she says. ‘But it said: “How do you build a raised bed? Because my boss wants one outside his office window.”’
Incredible Edible is also about much more than plots of veg. It’s about educating people about food, and stimulating the local economy.
There are lessons in pickling and preserving fruits, courses on bread-making, and the local college is to offer a BTEC in horticulture. The thinking is that young people who have grown up among the street veg may make a career in food.
Crucially, the scheme is also about helping local businesses. The Bear, a wonderful shop and cafe with a magnificent original Victorian frontage, sources all its ingredients from farmers within a 30-mile radius.
There’s a brilliant daily market. People here can eat well on local produce, and thousands now do.
Meanwhile, the local school was recently awarded a £500,000 Lottery grant to set up a fish farm in order to provide food for the locals and to teach useful skills to young people.
Jenny Coleman, 62, who retired here from London, explains: ‘We need something for our young people to do. If you’re an 18-year-old, there’s got to be a good answer to the question: why would I want to stay in Todmorden?’
The day I visit, the town is battered by a bitterly-cold rain storm. Yet the place radiates warmth. People speak to each other in the street, wave as neighbours drive past, smile.
If the phrase hadn’t been hijacked, the words ‘we’re all in this together’ would spring to mind.
So what sort of place is Todmorden (known locally, without exception, as ‘Tod’)? If you’re assuming it’s largely peopled by middle-class grandmothers, think again. Nor is this place a mecca for the gin-and-Jag golf club set.
Set in a Pennine valley — once, the road through the town served as the border between Yorkshire and Lancashire — it is a vibrant mix of age, class and ethnicity.
A third of households do not own a car; a fifth do not have central heating.
You can snap up a terrace house for £50,000 — or spend close to £1 million on a handsome stone villa with seven bedrooms.
And the scheme has brought this varied community closer together, according to Pam Warhurst.
Take one example. ‘The police have told us that, year on year, there has been a reduction in vandalism since we started,’ she says. ‘We weren’t expecting this.’
So why has it happened?
Pam says: ‘If you take a grass verge that was used as a litter bin and a dog toilet and turn it into a place full of herbs and fruit trees, people won’t vandalise it. I think we are hard-wired not to damage food.’
Pam reckons a project like Incredible Edible could thrive in all sorts of places. ‘If the population is very transient, it’s difficult. But if you’ve got schools, shops, back gardens and verges, you can do it.’
Similar schemes are being piloted in 21 other towns in the UK, and there’s been interest shown from as far afield as Spain, Germany, Hong Kong and Canada. And, this week, Mary Clear gave a talk to an all-party group of MPs at Westminster.
Todmorden was visited by a planner from New Zealand, working on the rebuilding of his country after February’s earthquake.
Mary says: ‘He went back saying: “Why wouldn’t we rebuild the railway station with pick-your-own herbs? Why wouldn’t we rebuild the health centre with apple trees?”
‘What we’ve done is not clever. It just wasn’t being done.’
The final word goes to an outsider. Joe Strachan is a wealthy U.S. former sales director who decided to settle in Tod with his Scottish wife, after many years in California.
He is 61 but looks 41. He became active with Incredible Edible six months ago, and couldn’t be happier digging, sowing and juicing fruit.
I find myself next to him, sheltering from the driving rain. Why, I ask, would someone forsake the sunshine of California for all this?
His answer sums up what the people around here have achieved.
‘There’s a nobility to growing food and allowing people to share it. There’s a feeling we’re doing something significant rather than just moaning that the state can’t take care of us.
‘Maybe we all need to learn to take care of ourselves.’

Holiday Train 2011 with Valdy and Tracey Brown

2011-12-11T22:54:00.003-07:00

She rolled into Cranbrook a little late but a warm crowd welcomed the Holiday Train and it was worth the wait for Valdy, Tracey Brown and the band soon had the crowd singing and swaying to the music.

As well as the food donations from the public, a cheque for $4000.00 was presented to the Food Bank from CP Rail.

Forest Elves at Work

2011-12-11T08:10:00.004-07:00

Hikers delight in their find

A delightful new Christmas tradition has been happening around Cranbrook in the last few years - that of decorating living trees in their natural environment. The surprise of rounding a corner on a well-loved trail and finding one of these lovingly decorated trees is a real treat. The unknown decorator (or decorators) is a mystery, the pleasure of finding one, simple but this thoughtful gesture highlights the true gift of the incredible environment we have around around us.

These beautiful trees glistening with a few strings of tinsel, set against all that the natural world gives us, really are all that is necessary to symbolise a season of appreciation.

We hope our readers find one of these trees soon but you will need to be quick because after Christmas the decorations magically disappear as suddenly as they appeared.

Thank You Elves

Councillor Goals/Priorities for the Upcoming Term

2011-12-10T08:38:00.003-07:00

Many Thanks to Jason Beauchane of Audiotomic for recording the Inaugural meeting of this Council on December 5th 2011. The complete meeting can now be viewed by clicking on the tab at the top of this page. Mayor Stetski as part of his platform, stated that accountability to residents of Cranbrook was a high priority for him. Following through, Mayor Stetski asked each Councillor at this inaugural meeting to talk about two or three of their goals for this upcoming term. Councillors and Mayor Stetski gave their inaugural speeches at the end of the meeting.

Two Places to Shop Locally, Trees and Gifts

2011-12-10T08:09:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Laurie Goodlad on the opening of her lovely new store at 17, Tenth Avenue South. Named 'Muriel and Jane's,' after her two grandmothers, the shop sells unique furniture and home decor items as well as gourmet food items. The recessed doorway of the shop and attractive window displays are a fabulous addition to this heart of the downtown.

Laurie unpacking a new shipment

Muriel and Jane's Interior

If you have not purchased you tree yet, the Tottens have a great selection of local trees on Little Van Horne St. South

Heather Totten will assist you in choosing your tree.

CP Holiday Train, Cranbrook Stop, Sunday Dec. 11 9:15pm

2011-12-09T07:43:00.003-07:00

CP Holiday Train in Cranbrook

The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train hit the rails again in November and will visit over 140 communities across the CP network.

Scheduled time of arrival for Cranbrook is 9:15pm at 1400 block of Theatre Road – opposite Kal Tire. To confirm this time go to this link on the actual day.

http://www.cpr.ca/en/our-network-and-facilities/Pages/SpecialTrain.aspx?SpecialTrainType=Holiday+Train.

The train in Fernie

The entertainers this year are billed as Valdy and Tracey Brown.

The goal of the Holiday Train is to collect food and money for local food banks and to raise awareness in the fight against hunger. At each event, the Holiday Train provides a box car stage, a line up of great musical talents and a corporate contribution to the local food bank. The community, in turn, is encouraged to donate food and funds, all of which stays in the community.

Since the program's inception back in 1999, more than $5.6 million and over 2.45 million pounds of food has been collected in Canada and the United States.

If you have never been to see the Holiday Train, it is well worth the trip on a cold winter evening - wrap up warmly and be prepared to enjoy some great entertainment as well as the very pretty lit up train and stage. Don't forget your donations for the Food Bank.

City Committees

2011-12-09T07:17:00.001-07:00

Advisory Planning Committee
Cranbrook in Motion Committee
Cranbrook Public Library Board
Economic Development Committee
Environment and Utilities Committee
Family and Community Services Committee
Wellness and Heritage Committee
Urban Deer Advisory Management Committee
Railway Museum Development Committee
Committee of the Whole
Cranbrook Archives, Museum and Landmark Committee
Cranbrook and District Community Foundation
Cranbrook and District Chamber of Commerce
Key City Theatre Society
Treaty Advisory Committee
Regional District of East Kootenay Board
Kootenay East Regional Hospital Board
East Kootenay Hospital District Board
Integrated Community Sustainability Plan Committee
Athletic Commission

As you can see from the list, Cranbrook has a great number of committees but how do they work and what do they do for us?
Committees are generally comprised of several volunteer citizens and several City Councillors. Councillors are appointed to committees by the Mayor. Mayor Stetski recently made Councillor committee appointments at the Dec. 5th Council Meeting. Go here for a list of the appointments. https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=1839

In Cranbrook, committees are most frequently used by Council when a request comes from the public and it is referred to one of the committees for its recommendation. For example, the desire for a new handicapped parking spot will be referred to Cranbrook in Motion Committee who will make a recommendation to Council about its feasibility. Council can then make a decision based on the recommendation although they do not have to follow it. Committees can also provide ideas or suggestions to the City regarding policies such as the Urban Deer Advisory Committee which advised the City on solutions to the Urban Deer issue.

If you have a particular interest in one of the commitees or an expertise that would be useful to a committee then why not think about volunteering. Committee positions are posted frequently and applications are available at the City of Cranbrook website or at City Hall. Committees help shape the future of our city.

Cranbrook's Elementary School Christmas Mass Choir Concert

2011-12-08T08:52:00.002-07:00

Last evening the Elementary Mass Choir performed once again at the College of the Rockies. This beautiful start to the Christmas season has been happening for over thirty years since the late Roy Barnett introduced the tradition. As always Elsie Barnett, Roy's wife was at the door collecting donations for the Salvation Army and several retired teachers come out to help with the organisation. Cranbrook's music teachers take turns in conducting the children from all Elementary Schools in Cranbrook.

This extremely popular event always overflows with children, their parents , friends and grandparents. It is a major feat of organisation for all the choirs learn their parts individually and only come together for a single rehearsal.

Thank you to all those who continue to coordinate and volunteer for this Cranbrook tradition.

What's Happening...

2011-12-08T06:56:00.004-07:00

Friday, December 9

Christmas Open House
Cranbrook Public Library
10:00am - 6:00pm
carols, readings, refreshments

Little Munsch on the Prairie
Fort Steele Heritage Town - Wildhorse Theatre
Today, Tomorrow, and Sunday
Between 1 - 7pm
Tickets are Adults $15
Srs. and Youth $12
Children 3-12 years $10

Saturday, December 10

Social Dance at the Seniors Centre
Live music provided by Country Roundup and guest artists
7pm-11pm
Please call Flo for more information 250-489-2720

Sunday, December 11

Jazz Vespers
The Jazz Council will be performing jazz interpretations of
Advent Hymns
7pm Christ Anglican Church
Admission by donation

Sleigh rides and Christmas Crafts at Fort Steele
From 10am - 4pm
If there is not enough snow sleigh rides will be
substituted.
Also enjoy skating and cross country skiing

CP Holiday Train
8:15pm Opposite Kal Tire
Valdy and Tracey Brown
Donations please for the Food Bank

Monday, December 12

Friends of the Cranbrook Public Library
Present a travelogue on The Everest Trail
Gerry Warner will show slides and talk about his
Katmandu and Everest Trip
Admission by donation

Wednesday, December 14

Mount Baker High School presents
its Winter Concert
Key City Theatre

Books for Christmas Hampers
Please donate new and gently used books
for children and teens for inclusion in the
Salvation Army hampers.
Drop off books at the Cranbrook Public Library, Key City Theatre,
Christ Church Anglican.
Please contact Katherine Hough, Cranbrook Literacy Coordinator
for more information 250-417-2896

Slaterville Neighbouhood Plan
Open House
7:00pm - 9:00pm
Manual Training Building, Cranbrook Library

Naheed Nenshi Speaking about the Challenges of Growth

2011-12-07T07:45:00.000-07:00

We are not as big but we can still learn from Calgary:

An Exciting Beginning to a New Three Years of Local Government

2011-12-06T11:02:00.003-07:00

The Alexandra Hall, Canadian Museum of Rail Travel December 5, 2011

It was exciting (and amusing) that Mayor Stetski had to interrupt the applause to tell Gerry Warner ‘not to be so popular’ while he (Gerry Warner)gave his inaugural speech about goals he wishes to accomplish while on council! Last night’s first meeting for the newly elected Mayor Stetski and Councillors was both a serious and uplifting occasion. The extra work that must have been involved in setting up the splendid Alexandra Hall at the Canadian Museum of Rail Travel was well worth the effort for the two hundred seats set out for the occasion were all but filled. Mayor Stetski’s idea to invite the public to this location for this first meeting for this new council was definitely a hit and there were many comments afterwards about how this should happen more often.

The final part of any council meeting consists of Councillors giving their individual reports and Mayor Stetski had asked Councillors to speak about two or three of their goals for the upcoming term during this special first meeting.

Councillor Cross spoke of her main focus being a region wide marketing strategy in the spirit of both the Economic Development Strategy and the Cranbrook Connected Document, secondly forging a stronger link with our social service agencies and thirdly a review of City Committees and their terms of reference.

Councillor Davis said he would stray from that request and thanked the people who supported him and elected him.

Councillor Pallesen listed the comments and questions that the public had brought to her during the lead up to the election.

Councillor Scott spoke of attaining Monday openings for the library, continuing relationship building with the Ktunaxa and thirdly economic development.

Councillor Warner drew loud applause when he stated that the Spray Irrigation Program was a priority for him and that he would really like to solve the issue of leaking lagoons as well as prevent the disposal of effluent into the Kootenay River. His second priority is to accomplish the building of an overpass to the west side of our city. Councillor Warner also wishes to see the engagement of the community continue to increase so that the percentage of voters increases substantially at the next election.

Councillor Whetham listed his priorities as procedural, including a review of the Alternative Approval Process, better use of committees allowing for citizen input and getting Trans Canada Trail status for the North Star Trail as a continuing goal for a project that he and Al Skucas conceived several years ago.

Mayor Stetski’s speech can be listened to by clicking on this link. The file may take a few minutes to download.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/39034343/Mayor%20Stetski%20Inaugural%20Speech%20Dec%202011.mp3

or a written copy can be read at:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/39034343/Mayor%20Stetski%20Inaugural%20Speech%201.doc

Post Notes for the Council Meeting of December 5, 2011

2011-12-06T09:18:00.002-07:00

Mayor Wayne Stetski takes his oath of office

Councillors Bob Whetham, Gerry Warner, Denise Pallesen, Angus Davis, Sharon Cross and Diana J. Scott take their oaths of office

Chief Electoral Officer Leanne Jensen officiated the swearing in ceremony for Mayor Stetski and Councillors

Chief Casimer, David Walker and Nevada Joseph gave a Ktunaxa blessing.

Dr. Ron Foubister gave the invocation.

Administration Update

As reported in the Advance Notes.
The complete update can be read at:
https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=1828

Correspondence
Permissive Tax Exemption for the Cranbrook Golf Club – referred to administration for review and report to the first regular meeting in January 2012
It was mentioned that the membership in the club has dropped from well over 1000 to around 500 and the club has some challenges financially.

New Business

All Committee appointments of Councillors were adopted and can be viewed at:
https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=1839

Bylaws
First Second and Third readings were given to Waterworks Amendment Bylaw 3734, Sewer Rates Amendment Bylaw 3735 and Sewer Frontage Tax Amendment Bylaw 3736.
https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=1846
All these bylaws determine an increase in rates for these services. To view the new rates go the link above.
Councillor Cross asked whether residents who are not hooked up to city services must pay these rates. Response from administration stated that frontage tax must be paid if services run in front of the property even if they are not hooked up. Utility fees are not paid if the services are not hooked up.
Councillor Warner commented he did not realise some water metering exists in the city.

Mayor and Councillor Inaugural Reports followed.

Old or Young?

2011-12-05T08:58:00.001-07:00

In one of the comments recently someone made mention of the fact that we at CLC referred to Cranbrook as being adolescent. If you have lived in parts of the world where cities take on the patina of a thousand years, Cranbrook does appear to be very young but whether referring to cities or people - it is all relative. Bill Tapia at over 100 hundred years old died yesterday and as CBC played this piece of his today, we could not resist either - and remember Cranbrook is only a very few years older than Bill Tapia. Is that young or old? Age is also somewhat a matter of opinion!

Here he is at close to 100 playing 'Young at Heart'

Advance City Council Meeting Notes- Dec. 5

2011-12-05T06:47:00.001-07:00

The location of this Council meeting is the Alexandra Hall at the Railway Museum 6:00pm The Public is invited both to the inaugural meeting of this new council and to the following reception.

7.1 Administration Updates

Slaterville Community Plan will be presented on Dec 14 at an Open House at the Manual Training Centre between 7pm-9pm. A questionnaire will be handed out to get feedback on the proposal.

Johnny Reid is coming to Cranbrook. He will be playing at the Rec Plex. Reid has won several Junos and Canadian Country Music Awards.

The library will be holding a Christmas Open House on Dec 9 between 10am to 6pm. Readings, poetry, carols along with refreshments will be served. The event is open to the public. Please drop by.

Correspondence

9.1 Highlights of the RDEK board meeting of Nov 4
9.2 Proposed operations of the Rocky Mountain Trench Society in the vicinity of the City of Cranbrook
9..4 A letter from the RDEK advising the City of Cranbrook of its appointments of Directors to the Regional District (the City of Cranbrook is allowed 2 Directors)
9.5 A letter from the RDEK re: Ktunaxa Kinbasket Treaty Advisory Committee appointments
9.6 Cranbrook Golf Course asking permissive property tax exception for 2 years. As the City of Cranbrook has allowed 2 golf courses to be build in the city limits within the last few years this has created increased competition for the Cranbrook Golf Course. Their membership has fallen steadily since the 1980's.
9.8 Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada requesting a Proclamation

New Business

12.1-12.3 Council Meeting Dates, Acting Mayor Appointments, and Appointment of Councillors to City Committees.

12.5 Approving construction permit to expand the PlayPen Dog and Cat boarding facility.

13.1 Recommendation to increase the water and sewer rates from $17 to $18 and $16 to $17 respectively