Dear editor:
Heads up Rocky View County (RVC) residents.
No doubt you have read some of the vast coverage on the Cochrane Lake flooding, the negligence involved for this man-made disaster and the open-ended Local Improvement Tax that the county is trying to impose on taxpayers surrounding this public lake.
I quote from Jerry Arshinoff, Div. 2 councillor, in his Cochrane Eagle Aug. 7 letter to the editor: “We have had nine consecutive months of council ‘highlights’ including drainage and road issues neglected so we can incur more debt for a new municipal palace, a variety of soon-to-flood-the-neighborhoods developments approved, a fourth successive year of Band-Aid solutions and passing the buck on Cochrane Lake, a developer’s delight draft of the Conrich ASP (Area Structure Plan), approval of not yet written engineering reports for a shopping centre...here is an interesting occurrence. Various council members have received election campaign contributions from developers that don’t live in RVC and have been benefactors to councillors in divisions other than the division in which their project is proposed. Those same councillors consistently claim they are not in conflict of interest situations...it just so happens that 100 per cent of the time the councillor who received the funds has voted in favour of his benefactor’s project.”
Thank you Mr. Arshinoff for your honesty and integrity!
I quote from Letter to Editor in the Rocky View Weekly Aug. 6 from Matthew & Nancy McElroy: "County's process for Conrich ASP doesn't make sense...I cannot believe RVC would consider moving forward without a concrete water management plan...height of irresponsibility...RVC is both unwise and reckless...it has cost RVC and homeowners tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair the damage. The developers should be providing guaranteed surface water infrastructure and held liable for any breeches...This provisional acceptance of plans with no follow up or enforcement has to end now...the water problem becomes the neighbouring properties' problem. It is long past time when common sense should reign instead of the almighty dollar.”
Sounds very similar to our Cochrane Lake situation.
Please be sure to read “Report to Bearspaw July/14, by Al Sacuta, councillor, Div. 8 in the Rocky View Weekly Aug. 5, especially under “Conflict of interest – again.”
Thank you Mr. Sacuta for calling a spade a spade.
Houston, we have a problem! I detect a bad odour, other than from the Cochrane Lake green, slimy, smelly algae!
Caution all county residents; be very vigilant of any new developments going in near you. Cochrane Lake is a prime example of just how little attention is paid to conditions of development and the negative effects suffered by residents.
I have no intention of being gouged for a tax over and above ever-increasing property taxes to pay for all the remedial infrastructure required to bring Cochrane Lake and our properties back to the way they were before a now-defunct developer was approved to start the process of destroying our beautiful, serene surroundings.
They say “the squeaky wheel gets the grease”...well, I will continue to “squeak” along with other affected taxpayers until the negligent parties involved with this disaster are made accountable.
Gloria Wilson, long-time Cochrane Lake resident
