Cochrane residents fill out Councillor Jeff Toews' transit survey on May 11

The ongoing battle on how to best engage the public on transit continues to be a polarizing issue in Cochrane.

The recent move by councillor Jeff Toews to hit the streets and gather information from the public on what they would like to see in the future – a move Mayor Truper McBride is none too pleased with — underscores this friction.

Going as far as to call Toews’ actions ‘unethical,’ McBride has been quite vocal about the councillor’s effort, claiming that it undermines the current public engagement being facilitated by the Town of Cochrane and that ‘jumping to assumptions based on theoretical assumptions is hasty and out of line with statistically valid and transparent public engagement.’

Toews, on the other hand, feels that his approach — which involves garnering the opinions of residents by way of a survey with questions he himself formulated — is the best way to get the pulse of the people.

“This is the grass-roots of public engagement,” Toews said, perched outside Bentleys Books on May 11 with a stack of surveys, a collection box and some goodies. “I’m an elected official and this is part of my job.”

Toews affirmed that his actions are not an effort to kill the proposed transit system in Cochrane, but rather to understand exactly what residents want to see public transportation look like.

“People say to me, ‘why are you so anti-transit?’ I’m not against transit,” Toews said, adding that he simply does not want to see homeowners paying higher taxes for something they did not want in the first place.

Toews said there have been rumblings from several in the community who feel the town’s efforts to engage residents on the litigious issue has neglected to ask the ‘right’ questions.

McBride, however, sees thing differently.

“I can’t help but find it a little contradictory that the most ardent supporters of public consultation on transit,” he stated, “who also opposed council’s decision to move forward last fall are now the ones being critical of the process.”

Toews said that when it came to composing the questions he is asking on his survey, he had asked for assistance from town officials, but was met with a ‘very cold response.’

The mayor indicated to Toews that he was free to do a public survey if he so chose, but that any information gathered would not be given any formal consideration by the municipality.

Though he said councillors are permitted to take what actions they please, McBride did point to a ‘recent survey’ saying it was ‘masquerading on municipal letterhead’ and that it would ‘undermine and distract’ from opinions the town has already heard from residents during the course of its own engagement efforts.

“The survey was produced with obvious bias,” McBride added, “and is therefore statistically invalid.”

“I really don’t know what he’s afraid of,” Toews responded, saying the mayor has no authority to stop him from conducting the survey.

The battle has even bled into the Twitter world, with Toews tweeting, “Mayor not happy with my approach on transit engagement but all the positive feedback I have received shows I’m going in the right direction.”

McBride’s response did not muddy his feeling on the matter. “Jeff Toews survey? Don’t care. Passing internal communications to media? Yep, care. Putting corporate logo on personal projects? Yep, care.”

Toews stands by his contention that the objective of his survey is simple…to determine what Cochrane residents want when it comes to transit. He also expressed distress over what he felt was the town’s failure to solicit information on transit at the recent Trade Show.

Toews plans to collect as many surveys as possible over a multi-week period, and assess the information when complete.

According to Toews, only two councillors reacted to his plan when he informed them of it; Ross Watson, who like McBride, had reservations, and Ivan Brooker, who supported his effort.

Ryan Lane

The mystery over the disappearance of Ryan Lane continues, as an extensive search of an area west of Beiseker on May 13 revealed nothing.

Lane, 24, was last seen in the early morning of Feb. 7 near the 5200 block of Country Hills Blvd., N.W..

Originally from Cochrane, the Bow Valley High graduate continues to have friends and family in the community.

“We want to thank all the volunteers who came out on Mother’s Day — there were nearly 100,” said Staff Sergeant Grant Miller of the Calgary Homicide Unit, who have recently taken over the investigation, ruling it as most likely linked to foul play.

The search was conducted by Calgary Police Services (CPS), Calgary Search and Rescue, K-9, Helicopter Air Watch for Community Safety, the Calgary Fire Department and volunteers, who combed an area south of Highway 72, between Range Road 263 and Range Road 265.

“Things in our investigation have led us to this area,” said Miller, unable at this point to elaborate further.

“This will continue on, potentially for some time,” he said, adding that a further investigation of the expansive area is in the works.

Several suspects have been uncooperative in the investigation and Miller said that investigators have also found two suspect vehicles, a red pickup truck and a red Jeep, but are still determining their role in Lane’s disappearance.

Lane’s parents, Lorraine Jackson and Bruce Lane, made a public plea on May 11, prior to the search for their missing son, begging anyone with information to come forward.

Ryan Lane is caucasian, five-foot-nine-inches, 150 pounds with a slim build, brown eyes, brown hair and a tattoo on his upper right arm.

One of the rapidly growing concerns among Cochranites, based on the town’s recent discussions about open spaces, is the preservation of the 1.8 kilometre-long off-leash area, which runs along the Bow River, near the community of Riverview.

Recent visitors of the park may have taken notice as park user, Karen Falk and her fellow volunteers, have been passing out surveys for people to fill out in order to gain enough community input as to what they would like to see in their off-leash area. So far, the general consensus is to continue to maintain the area as a designated off-leash dog park, with improvements that include bulletin boards, better accessibility for persons living with disabilities, more garbage cans and more park benches.

“We have an absolute diamond in the middle of our town and its benefits have a ripple effect in our community,” said Falk, adding that she is receiving a lot of feedback from dog park users who are from elsewhere in Rocky View County and Calgary.

Falk will be putting the accumulated data together and presenting it to council on June 25.

Suzanne Gaida, spokesperson on open spaces for the Town of Cochrane, said this kind of passionate response is exactly the point of instigating the recent discussions on Cochrane’s open spaces — which includes surveys, open houses, message boards, focus groups and interactive mapping.

“As of right now, we’re doing the entire Open Spaces Master Plan,” explained Gaida, adding that the town has not yet determined whether or not they will look at shortening the off-leash area or making it partially on-leash.

“I’m excited about it,” added Gaida. “It’s not about taking away anything, it’s about how can we add to it?”

Municipal enforcement officer, Charlene Ruttle, said that she remembers helping to select the off-leash area more than 10 years ago and that it remains an ideal location for an off-leash park with its access to the Bow River and paved trail.

With 2,819 licensed dogs in Cochrane, according to 2011 statistics, Ruttle said it’s key that pet owners are always in control of their dogs and to always clean up after them.

“The biggest problem is always defecation within the off-leash area,” said Ruttle. “Even though it’s off-leash, all the pathways are open to everybody.”

Karen Falk is in search of volunteers to help her conduct surveys, which need to be in by May 30. Phone 403-932-5823 or email Falk at safetyinmotion@xplornet.com for more details.

Town of Cochrane

Death and taxes they say are the only two certainties in life, and Cochrane property owners will see the later of those two increase in the coming year.

During their May 14 meeting, council carried a motion that will see residential property taxes go up 5.51 per cent – just over $13/month – in 2012, while non-residential will swell by 11 per cent.

The two reasons for this increase stem from council’s approval of a 4.86 per cent municipal property tax increase in the 2012 budget and an increase in the education requisition.

Paige Milner, senior manager for corporate services with the town, said the recent property tax assessment comes with both good and bad news.

On the positive side, Cochrane saw much more residential growth than the town had anticipated, boasting a rate of 5.8 per cent as opposed to the estimated 4.5 per cent.

The flip side of the coin, however, is that there was not the same rate of growth for non-residential properties, resulting in a loss

“That’s problematic,” Milner said, pointing to the split between residential and non-residential properties. “We do have more growth expected on the non-residential side of course with the development of the Quarry site.” Milner added that it’s difficult to say how residential and non-residential will divide in the future with values of residential properties in town on the rise.

In 2011, residential made up 87 per cent of the assessment base, while at present that number has risen to 87.8. Non-residential makes up the remainder.

Also having an adverse effect on the tax assessment is the education requisition.

“Our requisition actually resulted in a 12 per cent increase on the residential education side,” explained Milner, “and a 9.4 per cent on the non-residential side.”

Milner said the education increase will only be partially covered by growth, leaving the remainder on the backs of existing property owners to the tune of 6.6 per cent.

Another matter council had to tackle with regards to municipal taxes was to amend the 2012 operating budget to include an additional $195,000 to be put toward the town’s contract with the RCMP.

The total shortfall for the policing contract was much larger, at $429,575, which occurred because of the assumption the town would only have to finance 70 per cent of the contract, but due to a speedily and higher-than-expected population growth, surpassing the 15,000 mark, they became responsible for 90 per cent effective April 1, 2012.

The total tax rate is made up from 2012 municipal rate, Rocky View Foundation (seniors housing) and education.

To calculate one’s tax bill, property owners can multiply their assessments by the total tax rate, which is .00710 per cent for residential and .01073 for non-residential.

The average residential property tax bill for 2012 will be $3,000, while non-residential will vary depending on use.

Eleasha Wesley

Calgary Police Services (CPS) and the family of 10-year-old Eleasha Evangeline Wesley, continue to appeal to the public for witnesses or information about the fatal hit-and-run that claimed the life of the young Morley girl on May 3.

Eleasha Wesley was killed as a vehicle crashed into into her family’s 1998 Pontiac Grand Am, late on May 3, heading westbound on Highway 1.

The unrestrained child was thrown from the rolling car to her death; she was the only fatality in the collision.

The driver of the alleged minivan sped off, heading westbound.

Evan Wesley, father of Eleasha, came forward following the young girl’s funeral in Morley on May 10, pleading for closure. More than 1,000 people filled the Morley Gymnasium to pay their respects to the Wesley family.

The grieving father has stated publically that he is not seeking revenge for what happened to his daughter, only that he and his family need closure.

Police have several suspects, all of whom have been uncooperative. The investigation will remain open, with hopes that someone will come forward and confess to driving the vehicle.

The CPS Traffic Unit, assisted by the RCMP, located and seized a red 2002 Kia Sedona minivan near Morley on May 4, believed to be the vehicle involved in the fatal hit-and-run.

Police continue to investigate whether alcohol and speed were

factors.

Eleasha Evangeline Wesley attended Grade 4 at Exshaw School. She enjoyed art, animals and bike riding.

Investigators are still determining whether or not wearing a seatbelt would have saved the young girl’s life.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the CPS at 403-266-1234 or Crimestoppers.

Daniel Tschetter

Daniel Tschetter, the Cochrane cement truck driver convicted of killing five family members when his cement truck crashed into their car in December 2007, has applied to the Parole Board of Canada for both day parole and full parole and will learn in a September hearing if either will be granted.

Tschetter was convicted in 2009 and is currently serving a five-and-a-half-year sentence for five counts of manslaughter for the fatal December, 2007 collision that claimed the lives of Christopher Gautreau, 41, his daughters Alexia, 9, and Kiarra, 6, and Melaina Hovdebo, 33, and Zachary Morrison, 16 months.

Tschetter’s last parole board hearing was in October, 2011, where he was denied day parole but granted unescorted temporary passes.

These passes have enabled Tschetter to visit his family for 24 hours in the first month, 48 hours in the second month and 72 hours between months three-six.

Should he be granted day parole, he would move into a halfway house and would have to continue to abide by his release conditions.

If granted full parole, he would serve the remainder of his sentence, with restrictions, in the community.

Zoe Richardson

Things are evolving for the Cochrane High School (CHS) Sustainable Development Committee, as the group anxiously awaits the news this fall of whether or not their Sustainable Development Project Phase VII will be the recipient of a $25,000 grant from the Shell Fuelling Challenge competition.

Phase VII involves fundraising, purchasing, installing and maintaining a five-kilowatt Evance R9000 at 60 feet high wind turbine, which would be situated behind the west end of the school and increasing CHS’s total electrical energy production from renewable sources to 11 kilowatts — a huge step in the direction of sustainability.

“It’s almost going to double our energy production (under ideal conditions),” explained science teacher and project facilitator, Stephanie Bennett.

Sixteen-year-old Grade 11 CHS student and committee member, Zoe Richardson, said that being involved with the committee makes her feel like she is making a positive impact on the environment.

“I think it’s really important to help with living sustainably and to power our school sustainably,” said Richardson, adding that the committee’s current projects include maintaining a flower, herb and vegetable garden through their school composting program (which has cut the school’s waste by 30 per cent), monitoring their extensive recycling program and managing their current wind turbine and accompanying solar panels, located on the roof of CHS.

“Next year, we are planning on putting in LED lights throughout the school — they cut down on cost and energy, as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” she explained, adding that her plans post-high school include pursuing a degree in environmental sciences, focusing on water conservation.

In order to receive the grant money, CHS must stay within the top eight applicants.

Those who wish to support the program and help CHS receive this grant (of which they are already guaranteed $10,000), they must visit fuellingchange.com, register (free), purchase Shell products (fuel) and redeem receipt codes in order to vote.

The Shell Fuelling Challenge is committed to donating $2 million annually to projects that “improve and restore Canada’s environment”.

For questions, email Stephanie Bennett at sbennett@rockyview.ab.ca or phone the school at 403-932-2542.

Spray Lake Sawmills plans to begin harvesting in West Bragg Creek this season

Spray Lake Sawmills (SLS) held their annual open house in Cochrane on May 9 so residents could take a look at the forestry company’s harvest plans in the coming years.

Remaining near the top of the list was SLS’s plans to log the West Bragg Creek area this coming season and the ongoing negotiations the company is having with various groups in the affected area, in particular the aspects of the plan the two sides cannot agree upon.

Gord Lehn, woodlands manager for SLS, said the nature of the issues revolves around timber harvesting and how that may potentially impact the existing trail system.

“We worked with the West Bragg Creek Land Users Group and made changes to the harvesting plan to accommodate as many of their requests as possible,” said Lehn. “There were, however, some changes which couldn’t be accommodated and still meet other resource management objectives.”

Lehn said the plan has been submitted to Alberta Sustainable Resource Development and that the decision ultimately lies with them.

Lehn also addressed the matter of whether there was previously a signed-off agreement on SLS’s harvesting plan.

“There was a signed-off agreement between SLS and the West Bragg Creek Land Users Group, but this was an agreement on how the two organizations would work together…it is not an agreement on the actual harvest plan.”

Lehn said that following the harvesting process, all trails in the West Bragg Creek area will be open for continued use.

Several other planned logging areas were on display at the SLS open house, including Coal Camp Creek, Jumping Pound Creek and Highwood River.

Details regarding what SLS and Bragg Creek organizations disagreed on were not released, with Lehn indicating that doing so would ‘undermine the entire process.’

For more information on SLS harvesting plans and Bragg Creek trails, visit spraylake-sawmills.com and braggcreektrails.org.

Mike Carter

It could be any other hockey game: guys in red sweaters on one team, white on the other, skating, passing and shooting pucks on goal.

But, upon closer investigation, things like the torpid pace of play, the team bench littered with power bars and other food items, and the scoreboard – Team Cure (red) leading Team Hope (white) 2,489-2,214 – indicate this is no ordinary hockey game.

Rather, it is a hockey marathon, on Day 7.

Cochrane’s Mike Carter, sporting a five-o-clock shadow and the look of a guy who hasn’t slept for more than a few hours at a time over the last week, explains.

“This is where it’s going to get evasive,” he jokes on the players’ bench, watching his Team Cure teammates challenge Team Hope on May 12 during the Oilympics Hockey Marathon for the Kids at Chestermere Regional Recreation Centre. “We’ve broken it down into sessions, and I can’t remember how many sessions I’ve played and how many I have to go.”

For the record, the world-record attempt for continuous ice-hockey play started May 6 and winds up today (May 16) in Chestermere. The event’s goal is to raise $1.5 million for the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation. As of 10 p.m.May 14, they’d raised $822,000.

“Everything is broken down into four-hour sessions on the ice, and you have one eight-hour session,” Carter, a right-winger on the ice and an oilfield-service executive off the ice, explains. “The way I’m going with it is I just look at the next session, play it, try to eat, try to sleep and play the next session. Because when I looked at the whole list, it scared me.”

And when a monumental physical and mental endeavour like this is undertaken, you’re going to have guys blow tires along the way. Particularly when there is a nasty virus running through the dressing rooms.

“We’ve got a cold that’s going through, and fatigue and dehydration,” Carter, who hasn’t tracked how much weight he’s lost so far, relates. “We just had a guy just before he was supposed to come out not feeling right, so they’re checking him out.”

As for Carter’s level of wear: “On a scale of 1-10, probably about a seven right now.”

But Carter isn’t letting the fatigue mask his enthusiasm for the event. He speaks highly of how organizers are looking after the players. He’s laughing all through his interview with the Eagle and is buoyed by the support he gets from spectators and players like former Flames star Theoren Fleury, who was at the rink taking time to pose for photographs with kids and parents, and making the rounds at the team bench.

“With guys like Theo coming out and people in the stands, all of a sudden you get more energy,” Carter says, adding the Children’s Hospital Foundation cause is the main reason for everyone’s participation. The hockey-marathon world record is just icing on the cake.

But it’s not easy. By the time he’s done, Carter, and the rest of the players at the Hockey Marathon for the Kids, will have skated for about 100 hours each. They will have spent more than a week playing hockey, eating and sleeping at the Chestermere Regional Rec Centre. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event.

“The first thing is, Alex Halat organized it. I’ve seen him in a number of charity tournaments, so when it came out and he felt we could raise over a million bucks for the Children’s Hospital by playing hockey, I said ‘I’m into that. How tough could that be?’”

How tough, indeed.

RCMP

Cochranites are packing up their dirt bikes and all terrain vehicles (ATVs).

Campers are also making plans to enjoy the May long weekend in the Cochrane area — including the Waiparous and McLean Creek areas.

As they get ready, they are being reminded by Cochrane RCMP to conduct themselves in a safe and responsible manner this coming weekend.

“From May 17 to May 21, Cochrane RCMP will be partnering with Alberta Forestry, Cochrane Traffic Services, Rocky View County and other policing and protective services as they endeavour to keep the public safe this holiday May long weekend,” said Cochrane RCMP Const. Mike Warman, in a press release issued May 15.

“There will be increased patrols and Alberta Check Stops in and around the Cochrane area, including the Waiparous and McLean Creek recreation areas. Please enjoy the long weekend and be safe.”

Const. Warman said that while there is no public liquor ban this year, a province-wide fire ban issued May 15 due to ‘windy and dry conditions’ is geared towards preventing the spread of wildfires.

It is still permitted to have a fire for warming or cooking purposes, as long as it is within a designated recreation or camping area, in an existing firepit that is covered by a metal ring.

The fire bans prohibit fires in back country areas, or in portable or built-on-site fire pits; phone 1-866-FYI-FIRE for more.

Const. Warman also wishes to remind those with off-road and ATVs, as well as dirt bikes, to respect the trails and not to get any ideas about creating new tracks.

“Respect the trails and try to stay on the existing ones,” said Const. Warman, adding that 99 per cent of the damage caused during long weekends in such areas as Waiparous and McLean Creek are caused by off-road vehicles and ATVs; helmets are encouraged.

Cochrane RCMP will be out patrolling Ghost Lake and the river on Saturday during the day to ensure that people are having fun responsibly.