By Rachel Maclean
The Eagle
Subdivision authority is now back in the hands of the Cochrane Planning Commission (CPC).
After Cochrane town council met on Jan. 26, it was decided to give power back from council to members of the community with council representatives.
Coun. Tara McFadden felt it was a good step forward. Along with Coun. Ivan Davies, McFadden will be joined by Cochrane residents Dan Cunin, Doug Marter, Shelly Luckasavitch, Dr. Rob McCrossan and Ken Bech on the CPC.
“It’s been a three-year debate for me,” said McFadden. “I was on the planning commission when they first decided to move it the other way, so I have been having that debate for a long time and I am quite happy to see it turn around. It will be good to get meaningful public engagement in the process.”
McFadden said her goals are to ensure the land use bylaws and town council policies are enforced.
For Coun. Miles Chester, who was originally opposed to handing over subdivision authority from council, it was a decision of where he wanted to get involved.
In the end, Chester found himself on the Subdivision and Development Appeal Board (SDAB) along with Coun. Ross Watson and Cochrane residents Rick Gathier, Pat Furnival, Mary Lou Davis, Christopher Ebbinghoff and David Stables.
The SDAB is a place for appeals when developers oppose CPC subdivision decisions.
“I thought that with the passion that I have on the direction the town is going, and believing that it’s council’s responsibility ultimately to look after the (Municipal Development Plan) and our land use bylaws, that the subdivision appeal board would probably be the best fit for me,” said Chester.
The CPC will take control of subdivision authority on Feb. 1.
rachel.m@cochraneeagle.com

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By Cori Lee Miller
The Eagle
When Codie Prevost was denied loans through the big banks, he wasn’t sure how he would continue his fledgling country music career.
Ready to record his first album, Prevost was at a loss financially until he visited the Community Futures office in Tisdale, Sask.
Now four years and two albums later, Prevost has teamed up with Community Futures to get the word out about financial possibilities for other young entrepreneurs.
“It’s kinda hard to get a loan,” said Prevost of young people applying to the banks.
“Community Futures is a great option.”
Prevost said unlike a bank, Community Futures followed him though the loan process, even checking to see how his career was going.
“Community Futures is more like a friendship than a business,” he said.
The musician said that the company really works to make applicants a part of the process.
“It’s really comfortable. You feel safe and they really reassure you,” said Prevost.
“They’ll try to guide you so you make the right decisions.”
With offices across Canada, including one in Cochrane, the company has been offering loans for over 20 years.
Community Futures Centre West has been helping Cochrane entrepreneurs obtain the finances to start businesses for 12 years.
Executive Director Patti-Jay Callaghan said that Community Futures is different from most banks in several ways.
“What sets us aside from traditional sources of lending is that we are considered a developmental lender,” said Callaghan.
“We follow them all the way through the loan.”
Callaghan also said that Community Futures has an open mind when it comes to applicants.
“We think that there’s lots of different types of entrepreneurs” she said.
Offering programs for those with disabilities, as well as a number of different loan options, Callaghan said the company is flexible.
“We have a board of directors who are vested in entrepreneurial success,” said Callaghan.
“That’s what makes us different. We’re community driven.”
For more information on loan programs or how to apply, go to www.
cfcwest.com or www.
roadahead.biz.
For more information on spokesman Codie Prevost visit www.codieprevost.com.
cori@cochraneeagle.com

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By Cori Lee Miller
The Eagle
After a lengthy search Cochrane RCMP tracked down a break-and-enter suspect last week.
RCMP were called to the scene of an attempted break and enter at a home west of Cochrane on Highway 1A on Jan. 23.
When they arrived, police discovered footprints leading away from the scene,. They called in the RCMP Police Service Dog.
At the time of the incident temperatures were -15 C and there was also a high windchill in effect.
After several hours, police located the suspect two to three kilometres away from the scene.
Carl Ear, 23, is facing three charges of mischief under $5,000, and two charges of failing to comply with recognizance.
cori@
cochraneeagle.com

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By Rachel Maclean
The Eagle
The Iyarhre Nakoda Food Bank is holding a grand opening ceremony Feb. 4.
There will be a pipe ceremony performed by Rod Hunter and a few guest speakers. The event starts at 10 a.m., and lunch will be provided.
Please RSVP Belinda at 403-988-2440 or e-mail her at iyarhrefoodbank@stoney-nation.com.
The food bank is located across from the band offices in a brand new building in central Morley.

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By Rachel Maclean
The Eagle
In the last subdivision authority meeting before handing the reigns over to the Cochrane Planning Commission, town council dealt with the dedication of municipal reserve for a project located in River Heights.
On May 26, council approved an application to subdivide 22.5 acres into parcels if the developer provided 2.25 acres to the town for a municipal reserve. The Municipal Government Act states municipalities can take 10 per cent of land during the subdivision process for open space for schools, parks and recreation.
The reserve was placed on that area, but did not impress Alex Baum of Cochrane Dodge who said in the May 26 Cochrane Eagle his Cochrane Auto Mall project in that area would be in jeopardy. Landowner John Robinson agreed, and appealed the decision through the Municipal Government Board.
On Aug. 11, council negotiated for a reserve settlement of 50 per cent dedicated as reserve and 50 per cent provided as cash-in-lieu. But after discovering a mistake in the value of cash-in-lieu the process went back to negotiations.
On Jan. 26, the final decision was back to the land reserve of 2.25 acres, but it would be moved to an adjacent piece of land owned by Robinson.
Baum said this is the “final nail” to go ahead with getting his project done. Currently, he is working on his building permits, and waiting for better weather to “get a spade in the ground.”

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By Rachel Maclean
The Eagle
Water treatment plant construction activity has once again picked up with the start of the new year.
“As far as the amount of construction time spent, it’s over half done,” said Steven Fritsch from Urban Systems. “We are expected to be finished this summer.”
Fritsch said concrete pours for the expansion and intake vault, which had been postponed due to cold weather, have started and the walls for the new storage tanks under the building addition were poured Jan. 13. The rebar for the roof slab of the intake vault was in place with a pour scheduled for Jan. 19.
Fritsch said aside from connecting pipelines, most of the remaining work on the intake will take place inside the vault and will be much more inconspicuous to neighbours than previous tasks.
Although, there will be temporary pathway closures when construction starts on a small weir wall and a wooden pedestrian bridge to replace the two large culverts under the pathway on the east side of the site.
Fritsch said the last phase of the upgrade project is currently in preparation, and a tender was to be released in early January to install piping and treatment equipment inside the plant.
The work is expected to continue through to the summer season. Aside from deliveries, it will be largely out of view of the plant’s neighbours.
Construction updates are posted on the Town of Cochrane’s website at www.cochrane.ca.
rachel.m@cochraneeagle.com

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By Cori Lee Miller
The Eagle
Unions representing Alberta’s paramedics are guessing what the province will decide when it comes to creating a fifth, functioning bargaining unit specifically representing emergency responders.
Currently, Emergency Medical Service (EMS) providers are represented under the Paramedic Professional and Technical bargaining unit. Direct Nursing, General Support Services and Auxiliary Nursing are the other three bargaining units.
The province will be taking over ground ambulance services April 1, part of transitioning all of Alberta’s former health care regions into Alberta Health Services (AHS).
In 2005, the province also pledged to take over the service, but then decided against it when the plan became too expensive.
Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 3421 Calgary Paramedics President Rick Fraser is spearheading the call for a new EMS bargaining unit.
Fraser said he feels that because of the unique challenges faced by paramedics they should not be lumped in with other health care workers.
“Our situation is unique. We’re not protected by hospital walls,” said Fraser.
“We’re expected to do things of a critical nature and held to a different standard.”
Fraser said unlike many health care professionals, paramedics are often in dangerous situations while they deliver patient care.
“We’re the only ones who wear bullet-proof vests,” Fraser said, adding that paramedics on the job “not only worry about our own safety, but the patients’ safety as well.”
Fraser said the public would be better served if emergency responders speak with their own voice at the bargaining table.
“We feel the public is best served when we represent ourselves in every aspect,” Fraser said.
“I prefer that people put people first and not the political agenda.”
Fraser also went on to say that the issue wasn’t a turf war between CUPE and Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA), a union which also represents EMS personnel in Alberta.
“Our issue is not who the union will be. It’s if paramedics in the province will choose who their union will be.”
HSAA President Elizabeth Ballermann said she disagreed that paramedics would need a separate bargaining unit, and as far as she knew there wasn’t any plans for a unit to be created.
“Probably not. It ain’t over till it’s over, but to the best of my understanding that would add another level of complexity,” she said.
Ballermann also said if CUPE EMS employees did become a part of HSAA she felt confident they would be well represented.
“In fact, in our structure our paramedics and our EMT’s are part of our bargaining unit,” she said.
“Having represented EMS workers for at least three decades, I have no concerns we could reasonably do so.”
Ballermann said some parts of how AHS will operate the service “are unclear.”
Ballermann said she didn’t know how joint services, where paramedics are also trained firefighters like in Cochrane, would operate.
“If in fact Cochrane says, ‘Nope, we are not going to provide that service any longer’ it becomes teasing out who will stay with EMS and who will go to fire services,” she said.
“That one remains unclear at this point.”
Cochrane EMS, a sub-local of CUPE Local 3421, is also in the process of working out the kinks before April 1.
Local Station Officer Jory Jenson said that the town is in talks with AHS to negotiate a contract until 2011, but nothing has been signed yet.
“The discussions are ongoing,” said Jenson, who said that most of the changes will be seen internally, and will not change the service for the public.
“They’ll still see a Cochrane ambulance show up to their house.”
Jenson said Cochrane Fire and EMS employs 12 full-time, cross-trained staff members, and that it wasn’t clear who would go where.
“There are more unknowns then there are knowns,” he said.
Jenson said that the current question is who is going to be running the service.
“Really, the issue right now that’s going to change on April 1 is governance.”
Both the CUPE and HSAA representatives did agree that AHS should provide some reassurance for paramedics as the April 1 deadline approaches.
“All of those EMS workers deserve some certainty,” said Ballermann, who didn’t believe there would be layoffs due to the provincial shortage of paramedics.
Fraser said that many members of CUPE Local 3421 have questions about the consequences of the changes.
“I have no answers for them,” he said.
“They want to know what their future means.”
Fraser said if the province doesn’t handle the transition correctly it could create more problems than it fixes.
“If done improperly, they could create the perfect storm where people decide to leave,” he said.
“If we start losing experienced people it’s going to create a firestorm and it’s a public health issue.”
Alberta has approximately 500 ambulances, 3,000 EMS personal and 80 service providers.
Ambulances across the province make approximately 260,000 trips annually.
cori@cochraneeagle.com

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By Sarah Junkin
The Eagle
Representatives from Alberta Education were scheduled to meet parents of Bow Valley High students Jan. 27 to learn their views about challenges the school is facing, and how opportunities could be enhanced in the future.
This is actually the second part of a so-called Value Added School Review (VASR) project. Bow Valley High applied to participate in the voluntary project which hears from students, parents and staff and to “help identify instructional strategies towards continuous improvement.”
Principal Susan Poole said she applied to be part of the project, and Bow Valley was one of two Rocky View Schools to be picked to participate. Last December, John Burger and Kim Palsat of Alberta Education hosted a student VASR, gathering input from all grades which principal Susan Poole said was invaluable.
One of the main concerns is the declining enrolment at the school. Currently, 479 students attend classes at Bow Valley compared with 790 at Cochrane High.
Bow Valley school council chair Karen Kingsmith fears that if numbers continue to fall, it could affect programs at the school.
“We are bound to lose staff and programs,” she said. “This could mean courses not being offered in the future.”
Poole explained that when boundary changes came into effect five years ago, students who lived in GlenEagles or the east end of the town were moved from Bow Valley to Cochrane High.
“We lost 150 students and we never got them back,” said Poole, adding 40 of the current students are hockey players from overseas who have actually boosted the numbers but aren’t necessarily permanent.
Rocky View Schools Superintendent Greg Bass explained that though school trustees did shift the boundaries in 2002, it was based on the situation at that time.
“The development at Riversong was in good shape and the economy was strong,” he said, referring to the residential project by the school. “But then we ran into the water issue that lasted five years.”
Bass was referring to a dispute between the original developer and Cochrane after the town determined the developer would have to pay for a $6.5 million bridge, through a levy, over the Bow River to the north side of town.
The development subsequently stalled while both sides wrestled their way through the court system, leaving the school without permanent water and sewer for years.
Bass said the board is reluctant to switch boundary lines again as some families were quite upset at the time, and it’s possible the decision would have to be reversed again in five years.
“Cochrane is going through a bit of a lag, a bit of a dip,” he said. “There’s a market slowdown and not many high school-aged kids are moving to the area. But it’s not a mass exodus.”
Both Poole and Bass say there are some exciting solutions being explored.
“We’re looking at students taking dual credit courses, such as online secondary courses,” said Poole, adding though Bow Valley is one of the three smallest high schools in the province, it generates the highest number of per capita credits.
“It’s a great school and we need to get behind it. We need to thrive as a school,” she said.
Bass said the board is also looking at the sharing of facilities between the two schools.
sarah@cochraneeagle.com

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By Rachel Maclean
The Eagle
Spray Lake Sawmills has been given the go-ahead to clear cut areas near Crowsnest Mountain in southwestern Alberta.
The controversial project started Jan. 19 after the Cochrane-based logging company, Alberta Sustainable Resource Development (SRD) and a Crowsnest-based trail riding business reached an agreement that worked for all sides on Jan. 12.
The trail business, Western Adventures, located in the heart of the proposed clearcut block, had been in a five-year process of setting up a permanent business through SRD for a lodge and cabins to accommodate trail riders.
Co-owner Leslie Huber had said if the clearcut would have gone forward as it was originally planned they would have been put out of business. But now, they have arranged with SRD and Spray Lake to not intersect any of their trails by cutting different blocks of trees that will not affect them.
“I think we have learned to negotiate, and that negotiating is possible,” she said.
But Huber said while it solves her business’ immediate problem, it was “too bad” it had to go as far as it did because it was an expensive process. Huber, along with her husband Glen, said they will decide whether a permanent business is still possible after they travel to the area in spring.
Huber is concerned after a 2007 project in the Crowsnest valley on Kananaskis Road — above the new project — was looked into after not initially passing an inspection.
She said it was an “eyesore.”
“SRD has assured us they won’t leave a mess like in Kananaskis . . . and they will be watched closely,” she said.
For that project, Spray Lake had hired a contractor that didn’t do the work properly and the company was to properly clean up everything, which woodlands manager Gord Lehn said they have and are now in the final inspection stage.
Huber said it does not solve any of the issues of the town. The plan is facing a large public backlash from residents in Crowsnest Pass because they say it will be devastating for tourism in the area, the community’s fastest growing industry.
One thing Huber is against — as is the majority of Blairmore in the Crowsnest Pass, she claimed — is that there are no proposed buffer zones left on Atlas Road that leads back into the much visited areas surrounding Crowsnest mountain.
When Spray Lake bought the Atlas Logging Company it not only picked up granted rights to the trees, but also the road.
Lehn said people have to remember that road was made by the forest industry for the forest industry.
SRD representative Rick Blackwood said they have targeted this area in its forest management plan because there are 7,645 confirmed pine beetle infested trees located there.
Huber hopes Spray Lake can get the infested trees out of the area as soon as possible.
“If they don’t get them out of there they’ll be dropping beetles from here to Cochrane,” she said.
Lehn said Spray Lake is well practiced in dealing with pine beetle kill and when they are logging they immediately separate the infested from the clean trees.
He said the infested trees are then trucked to Cochrane separately. If they can’t get them all out of the area before early June, prior to the pine beetles emerging, the infested trees will stay in the area until the beetles’ summer flight has finished.
Lehn said the problem is the approval process has taken so long it’s hard to guarantee they will be able to get all the beetle kill out.
“We could probably do it if we used all resources,” said Lehn. “But we have to balance it out with other areas.”

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