Wee Jackie weighs in
by Jack Tennant
A tip of the toque to organizers of a couple of events last weekend.
The annual Christmas Light-Up was a huge success and I think much better than previous years’. The attendance was great but keep in mind the old saying that despite all the wonderful things you might think you do in life, the size of the crowd at your funeral is totally dependent upon the weather.
And the weather for Light-Up on Nov. 24 was perfect.
But what made it even better was that many of the fire pots provided their own sausages and wieners which meant gourmet dogs all down the street.
One of my more brilliant decisions was to joint venture with the folks at IGA for the event, which meant our hotdogs were indeed gourmet — Spolumbos sausages, no less.
And we had onions, chili and even grated cheese. Now that’s special and I think it’s an omen of good things for future Light-Ups in that many fire pots offered great gourmet dogs with all the trimmings.
Plus, Iga the Eagle made his first public appearance and the kids loved him. So thanks to the folks at IGA for making the evening fun and thanks to all the folks who participated.
Another Saturday event was also great fun with great talent.
It was the second annual Nakoda-Cochrane Pickin’ Party at the RancheHouse and we have some amazing talent in the Cochrane and Morley communities.
It was music all day ranging from country and western to rock and Bolivian, which was a highlight for many.
It’s great to see both communities get together with music being the common thread.
Not only were there great musical riffs, there were great bannock burgers and you can’t beat that with a stick.
When one participates in and enjoys such events as Light-Up and the Pickin’ Party it brings priorities into reality.
Like who really cares about zoning bylaws or appeals or stuff like that?
What’s important is that we communicate, understand and respect each other and keep the competitive aspects of life in perspective.
And a great example of keeping things in perspective is the third annual Cochrane community Christmas dinner from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Dec. 25.
This is the brainchild of Mary Lou Davis and it certainly fills a need in our community.
It’s for folks who are on their own — anyone who doesn’t want to have Christmas dinner alone.
Now you don’t have to. Just visit Bentleys Books or call 932-6599 for an old-fashioned Christmas dinner with others.
Sparks from a passing train ignited a grass fire near North Springbank Road at about 2 p.m. Nov. 20.
David Hoff, the deputy chief with Rocky View Fire, said about 15 acres were burned.
“It set the hill on fire,” Hoff said.
Firefighters from Cochrane, Rocky View and Calgary responded to put the fire out.
By Brad Herron
The Eagle
Lessons not to listen to strangers may have saved a seven-year-old girl from harm.
At about 6:15 p.m. on Nov. 21, a mother left one daughter in a locked vehicle on Third Avenue West to pick up an older daughter from dance class.
In the time she was absent, a man attempted to get the seven-year-old to open the car door.
Even though he told her to do so, she refused. Unable to gain entry, the man ran down the street, turning onto Second Avenue West. When the mother returned, she could not see him.
The girl described the man as a tall Caucasian with a large build and aged him at about 40-years-old. He has blue eyes, a full beard, and thick eyebrows.
She said he was wearing a full-length cape with a hood, a plain ring, blue jeans, black shoes and he was carrying a black bag. She also pointed out the man had a deep voice.
Cochrane RCMP Sgt. Audrey Robinson said the “young girl’s recount is all we have right now,” and police are continuing to investigate the incident.
RCMP ask anyone with information, or who had a similar experience, to call the detachment at 932-2213 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
By Brad Herron
The Eagle
Only 10 residents showed up to discuss the 2008 town budget.
Chief Administrative Officer Julian deCocq stopped short of calling the turnout a disappointment, but he hoped to receive more feedback.
Although he didn’t have the dollar figures, deCocq said the open houses, held Nov. 14 and 15 at the RancheHouse, were “pretty expensive.”
“There is a cost to public consultation,” he said.
With better weather than last year, administrators had hoped for more people. Now they will have to go back to the drawing board on how to engage the public.
“Is there a better way?” deCocq asked. “I expect so.”
Even with the low number, he said “good feedback” was received and information passed on to council before the budget meeting.
By Brad Herron
The Eagle
Calling cochraneissues.com too “volatile,” Mayor Truper McBride and council decided to start their own web community at a cost of about $1,600.
McBride said council needs to portray a “continuous corporate message.”
Adding it could be used to “gauge public opinion through the Internet,” he said it will “open up a different venue.”
Council also decided to put an additional $58,000 into the site, money left over from the Wired West project.
McBride said the town needs to “really spruce that thing up to today’s standards.”
Users will also be able to watch council meetings through a video link.
The revamped website should be up by spring.
By Brad Herron
The Eagle
Cochrane’s taxes will be going up, but not as much as first proposed.
Once town council officially adopts the 2008 budget, property taxes will rise five per cent, lower than the originally suggested seven per cent.
Councillors spent most of Nov. 23 and 24 hammering out the budget’s details.
Coun. Brenda Sine was glad to see the dollar figures finally posted, but said “some people won’t be happy.”
“We are in tight times where money is not easy to come by,” Sine said.
To limit tax increases, councillors made budget cuts including reducing the Library Board grant by $20,000, not hiring an additional part-time animal officer and giving the Humane Society only $15,000 instead of a $30,000 increase.
Council did find space for additional programs, including a $30,000 remote network access program for employees, $58,000 for improving the town’s website, a $38,000 corporate audit and $40,000 into reserves for the east-end pathway.
In order to back the final numbers, council pulled $110,000 out of the tax stabilization reserve, leaving $75,000.
With water being a primary concern, council decided to go along with the water treatment plant expansion that the previous council approved. With a $12.17 million price tag, it was the largest capital project approved.
With very little debate on the issue, councillors received a tentative timeline from Jim Anderson, director of operations. He said the intake structure should be completed by next summer, with construction starting in the fall.
Anderson said the plant could be operational by 2009, although he cautioned the timeline was “optimistic.”
Council will have to pay about $8 million for the project this year.
The water treatment plant wasn’t the only big-ticket item the previous council passed that this council approved — they also allocated $3.6 million towards the expansion of the Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre.
Council also approved a $60,000 water metre replacement initiative. About 200 of the original water metres will be replaced this year at a cost of about $300 per unit. New radio-emitting metres will be put in place.
When the topic of water rate increases was raised — water and sewer fees will rise 7.5 per cent — Mayor Truper McBride wanted to see the rates jump by 10 per cent as a way of reducing the tax increase and encouraging water conservation.
Anderson questioned McBride’s adjustment, saying a study needed to be completed before action was taken.
“If we arbitrarily raise rates on water and sewer, we don’t have the base understanding to deal with water and sewer,” Anderson said.
Coun. Ross Watson questioned the hike on a different basis, saying no actual taxpayers’ money would be saved.
“I don’t see the reason,” Watson said. “It’s taking money out of the same pocket.”
Council decided not to discuss the issue any further.
They did however raise fees for a special meeting with the Cochrane Planning Commission, which went from $350 to $1,000 on a request from Coun. Tara McFadden.
McBride proposed increasing development rates, saying he was “not certain Cochrane needs to be competitive in the development industry.”
He believes Cochrane offers a better development opportunity than other communities and developers “should absorb some costs of growth through large corporate development.”
Watson again countered the mayor, saying council doesn’t “want to be seen as deterring (development).”
Completing one of his campaign promises, McBride encouraged council to include a corporate audit in the budget, something his colleagues were receptive to.
McBride said this exercise, which he calls a “health check,” is needed for Cochrane to “move from a smaller community to a larger one.”
“It’s designed to improve the existing organization not change it,” he said.
While Couns. Sine and Joann Churchill supported the initiative, Coun. Ivan Davies questioned its necessity.
“What actually instigated this health check?” Davies asked. “If we were fine and hunky-dory we wouldn’t be doing this.”
McBride answered by saying there is “a perception in the public, and I have heard it again and again, that we have a problem with administration” and he wants to show people that administration is “doing an excellent job.”
The audit will cost $38,000 this year in additional funding, with the overall process costing taxpayers about $150,000 over three years. The first report to council should be in late spring.
Director of Finance Lori Craig told council it will cost $273,000 to do property assessments this year, a $100,000 increase from last year. Administration will attempt to find a cheaper service next year.
Ian Smith, director of community and protective services, told council “there is no immediate plans in place” for a new pool.
Continuing to work through the budget one page at a time, McFadden requested money towards completion of the east-end pathway, saying the project “has been in the works for 10 years or more.”
Anderson told council it would cost about $40,000 for the pre-engineering work.
When approached with additional funding for the Humane Society, councillors questioned the need. The society asked for a $30,000 increase.
“I’m sympathetic to its cause, but I’m more comfortable with $15,000,” McFadden said.
Unwilling to budge off his stance, Davies believed $55,000 was enough, especially with other programs being cut and hirings axed.
“I don’t support any increase at all,” he said.
Sine wavered on her support of the funds, but conceded to the $15,000 increase.
“We put more emphasis on animals than we do on people,” Sine said.
Council decreased spending by just over $200,000.
The tax increase won’t be finalized until February.
Coffee with Warren
by Warren Harbeck
One of the unexpected rewards for writing this column is bringing strangers together into close friendships. Sometimes this happens locally over coffee; other times, by e-mail across country and oceans. (I have a growing file of thank you notes from coffee companions who have become best of friends this way.)
Never in my wildest dreams, however, could I have imagined my weekly meanderings would help inspire a book of pen pal letters between a hippopotamus and a unicorn.
With the help of their human amanuenses (Cochrane coffee companions Elaine Phillips and Lindsie Haxton), Hroshi (pronounced ROSH-ee), a hippo, and Evangeline, a unicorn, have just released their much-anticipated anthology, The Hippo and the Unicorn: A Rainbow of Words.
While correspondence between an earthy hippo and an ethereal unicorn could be considered atypical, Elaine and Lindsie believe their message is universal. Hroshi and Evangeline pay attention to the daily details of life, and their letters are a reminder to the reader that joy can be found in small things and in everyday moments — that we can grow in the glow of each other.
As Hroshi explained to me through Elaine at the beginning of the project, “Evangeline is passionate, inquisitive, winsome and creative. She inspires me to reach my potential as a hippo, a friend, a writer.”
Both Elaine and Lindsie are educators, writers and creative communicators. In addition to co-authoring the book with Elaine, Lindsie can take a bow for its delightful illustrations.
“This is a book for readers who are young at heart,” Lindsie says. “It’s about joy and happiness, about the magic of a hippo and a unicorn corresponding with each other. We want to share the journey of their friendship.”
After Elaine first introduced me to Hroshi some years ago, Hroshi reportedly said, “Mom, he looks like Father Christmas!” (You really have to love a cuddly critter like that!)
Oh yes, returning to the matter of how this column helped inspire the creation of this book, the answer is really quite simple. Shortly after Hroshi and Evangeline became friends, their humans interacted with a series of columns I ran on the most beautiful words in the English language. Lovers of beautiful words themselves, Hroshi and Evangeline realized that, between them, they had a whole rainbow of words to share — beautiful words, such as these from Evangeline to Hroshi: (more…)
By Brad Herron
The Eagle
Teachers will vote on an agreement with the province.
Alberta Teacher’s Association (ATA) delegates unanimously moved forward with a ratification vote.
Diane Sellars, president of the Rocky View Teachers Local #35, said Nov. 27 it was decided the “deal was worth taking back to their membership,”
The deal between the provincial government and the ATA calls for government funding of the $2.4 billion in unfunded pension liability in a trade for labour peace. As part of the agreement, collective bargaining will be required for all 62 local agreements until 2012.
While many local agreements expire in the near future, teachers in the Rocky View School Division have a collective agreement in place that expires Aug. 31, 2009. Sellars said the current deal will have to be re-opened, with a longer agreement in place by Jan. 31, 2008.
“My optimism is both sides will want to talk,” Sellars said. “The sooner we can get it done the better.”
Serafino Scarpino, Calgary Catholic School District trustee for Wards 1, 2 and Cochrane, said labour peace with teachers will “help students.”
The Catholic bargaining agreement with its teachers runs out Aug. 31, 2008.
Serafino is approaching the deal with caution, hoping new money for teachers won’t come from schools’ budgets.
Although he has been told it won’t, Serafino hopes the government won’t “fail us” by cutting education funding.
By Shannon Craig
The Eagle
Cochrane has played host to two German exchange students for close to a year.
Through AgriVenture, an international agricultural exchange program, Manuela Gess and Stefen Karcher have worked with M.D. Landscaping and Construction to learn more about the industry and Canada along the way.
“Everybody adores the two of them,” said Cathy Reeves of M.D.
The program has been great for the company, said Reeves, as both Gess and Karcher have been a wonderful addition.
“I’m really going to miss them,” Reeves said.
Gess and Karcher both chose the program because AgriVenture is economical.
The program provides a great, easy way to see the world as well as learn about the culture of the country that students choose to visit.
For Karcher, he is able to apply what he has learned in Canada to schooling he had started in Germany.
Karcher will be completing his landscaping course once he returns to Germany after the nine-month work term in Canada.
AgriVenture was a very easy program to get into, said Karcher. He paid his money, wrote about himself then picked a country to work in.
By coming to Canada with AgriVenture, Karcher was provided with the job placement, work visa, a place to live and other things necessary for successful travel.
Although Cochrane wasn’t Karcher’s first choice, he still said, “I love it.”
Compared to Europe, everything is so spread out, Karcher said.
“I want to come back.”
Gess noticed the incredible space in Alberta too.
In Germany everything is close together, while here you drive forever, Gess said.
“But I like it.”
Gess heard about AgriVenture through a magazine advertisement. She applied and chose Canada because she had “never been (here) before.”
Both Karcher and Gess learned English before coming to Canada but they have picked up a lot more since being immersed in the culture.
Karcher and Gess were also able to travel around the province.
The two were part of weekly wing nights in Water Valley where other exchange students from AgriVenture working near town congregated.
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