Councillor Update

Farewell to Rick Butler

I am both saddened and honoured to write this tribute to our friend and colleague, Rick Butler.

Rick brought an endearing enthusiasm to the community of Bragg Creek, and he dedicated his astute mind, experience and heart to the needs of the people within his constituency.

He helped us see beyond our differences and inspired us to realize our potential. Rick poured his heart and soul into everything he did and, as a result, made many significant contributions to the betterment of our community.

You were a great man, Rick. Thank you for your commitment, leadership and friendship.

We miss you.
Dwayne Zaba

Rick’s family has established a foundation to honour his
passion for community leadership. For details please visit
www.rickbutler.ca
 

Here is a quick update of what's new for Rocky View County and Division 1 from Councillor Rick Butler...  

 In this Christmas edition...Regional land use plan awaits your input... Spray Lake Harvesting Plan - Open House January 26th... Any thoughts on Hwy 8 Development?...Carpooling info...Proposed Cell Phone Tower...FireSmart update... and more...

Province extends input deadline for our regional land-use plan until property rights concerns heard...
We now have until April 30, 2012, to fill out an online workbook on our region's South Saskatchewan Regional land-use plan for southern Alberta. Originally, as reported in my earlier e-mail, the deadline was December 19. The extended deadline recognizes that the government’s task force on property rights is meeting with stakeholders this month and will conduct open houses in January to listen to Albertan’s property rights concerns. More information on all of this and the workbook is available at https://www.landuse.alberta.ca

 You may want to go to my new website where the bigger land use picture is discussed http://www.rockyview.ca/Default.aspx?tabid=1099&EntryId=351

Spray Lakes Harvesting Plans - Open House Planned for Jan 26th
I started to advise residents of the above plans in my e-mail update of last week as this is a matter of utmost concern to Bragg Creekers and other residents. A number of clarifications have since been issued and many further questions have been asked. Although this is provincial jurisdiction, I will be working to do whatever I can to make sure there is full consultation of area residents and other affected residents with respect to Spray Lakes Harvesting Plans.

Spray Lakes Harvesting advises that there open house in Bragg Creek will take place on Thursday, January 26th (3:00 pm to 7:00 pm) at the Bragg Creek Community Center (23 White Ave, Bragg Creek). The open house will allow residents to view the proposed logging plan. Maps will be on display to show where the cutblocks are located. Spray Lake Sawmills staff will be on site to answer questions and gather feedback. For those interested in getting on the SLS update and deal with them direct, contact: Jordan Dyck, Spray Lake Sawmills, (403) 851-3339 jordan.dyck@spraylakesawmills.com. An open house is also planned for Cochrane in May.

The Greater Bragg Creek Trails Association (GBCTA) has recently clarified in a letter to Spray Lakes Sawmills the following: (GBCTA has) not, in fact, participated in the harvest plan for West Bragg Creek. The GBCTA has provided feedback to SLS and others on the harvest plan as have other groups. Furthermore the GBCTA does not accept any responsibility to communicate the subject proposed logging. The GBCTA has requested that SLS uses the following statement on these matters: The GBCTA currently has numerous concerns with the proposed harvest plan for West Bragg Creek. (GBCTA) are currently in discussions with SLS and other parties to document these concerns and to reach mutual agreement on mitigative actions to address each concern. (GBCTA) are hopeful that a written agreement on these matters will eventually be reached. These discussions are being conducted under the auspices of the recently signed West Bragg Creek Land Users Agreement. Any questions should be forwarded to Robert Sadee, President of GBCTA.

For more information from the Province's regulatory perspective, please contact: Morgan Kehr, Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, Morgan.Kehr@gov.ab.ca 403-297-8838.

 You may want to go to my new website where the bigger harvesting picture is preliminarily discussed http://www.rockyview.ca/Default.aspx?tabid=1099&EntryId=353

Any thoughts on Hwy 8 Development?
Some of you have asked me about the Gardner Club. I answered this question several months ago in a few of my updates (#16/July and #12 April 2011 to be exact); but let me repeat the Q & A...
Q: Rick, Can you comment about this concept of the "Gardner Club", which is proposed along Hwy 8? In their plans, they refer to housing developments and a variety of other "possible " uses. I was under a different impression.
A: The County has not yet received a formal application from the Gardner Club; but here is an update: After hearing comments from developers and residents, County Council unanimously adopted the Highway 8 Corridor Feasibility Statement and rescinded terms of reference for the Highway 8 Community Development Strategy. This would indefinitely postpone County's policy planning for the area. The report concluded that there are servicing, transportation, and economic challenges noting that development of a growth node within the Highway-8 corridor is unlikely to result in any long-term economic benefits to the County, and may result in net costs to the County.

So, as far as Council is concerned, we had made a decision. We do not wish to expend any more tax-payers dollars to plan for this and other - what we are assuming uneconomic - Hwy 8 development proposals. As I understand it, the Gardner Club would only be feasible, from the developer's perspective, if there is a major residential development as part of the project which is something that residents have told us they do not want. Having said that, we cannot control what developers propose to us' and they believe that most of the residents in or near the Highway 8 corridor will favour the development and they are prepared to take their chances at a Public Hearing. I would appreciate any comments you have in this regard because Council may be asked to consider such a proposal at first reading fairly soon.

CarPooling
The City of Calgary has partnered with Trans Canada Carpool.ca (TCC) since 2001 to provide a free online carpool matching service to Calgary commuters through www.carpool.ca. These services are extended to communities outside of Calgary. Through the use of www.carpool.ca, commuters enter information and receive a match list of potential carpool partners. The site is free to commuters, easy to use and secure. Currently, there are 3,000+ Calgary and area registrants. Parking plays a large role in commuters’ choice to use alternatives to driving alone and providing designated places for commuters to leave their vehicles is an important step towards supporting and encouraging those choices.

 You may want to go to my new website where the Hwy 1 & 22 parking plans are discussed more fully: http://www.rockyview.ca/Default.aspx?tabid=1099&EntryId=350

Proposed Cell Tower in Bragg Creek
As reported in my earlier updates, Rogers will soon be presenting a development permit application to erect a cell tower at Transfer Station site in Bragg Creek. This will improve wireless service; but the County and I will want to make sure there is good public consultation regarding the tower's erection. We will have details to you over the next few weeks.

Fire Smart
As for Bragg Creek Fire Smart, the following link provides a host of information including the latest draft of the proposed mitigation strategy and responses to various questions and suggestions to date: http://www.rockyview.ca/firesmart . The Committee is still in the process of responding to your recent suggestions and questions from last month's community meeting. These will be posted and e-mailed to enquiring residents as soon as possible.

West Bragg Creek Road
The tender call for next spring's road improvement program is out and I expect to have further information on concrete plans soon.

In case you didn't yet gather, I now have a new County Councillor web site for more detailed stories, news and other information. Please go to: http://www.rockyview.ca/rickbutler

If you know someone who would like to stay in touch with me on an every-few weeks basis through these e-mail updates, or if you have any comments or suggestions please e-mail me at rbutler@rockyview.ca.

Merry Christmas everyone!
 

If you or someone you know would like to stay in touch with me on the above issues and many others on a more regular basis, please e-mail me at rbutler@rockyview.ca  if you have any comments or suggestions.

 Rick

Rick Butler
Councillor Div 1 & Deputy Reeve
Rocky View County
403.863.7425
rbutler@rockyview.ca
http://www.rockyview.ca/rickbutler