Bridge land finalized
The land agreements are finally in place for the Bow River bridge project connecting the south side of Cochrane to the rest of town.
The town issued a press release Tuesday, following a Monday night council session that saw council move forward with the largest development approved to date – Southbow – as well as the third and final chapter of Riversong, Precedence.
“We appreciate the effort that members of town administration and the local businesses – Green Drop Rock Products, Tamani Communities and Philco Farms – put into this process,” stated Mayor Ivan Brooker in a press release.
“Now we can move forward on this major piece of community infrastructure.”
Coun. Tara McFadden was the singular vote of opposition in moving forward with Southbow – a development that would take upwards of 15 to 20 years for full build-out and would accommodate around 10,000 people.
While McFadden agreed with her fellow councillors that the development provides an employment centre and much-needed commercial component for the communities south of the river – it’s a matter of principle.
“The Southbow development itself I think is a great addition to the community … but to give it land use in one shot – I don’t agree with that,” said McFadden, adding that land use is the last phase where the town has ultimate control and she would have been in favour of the development if it was broken into phases.
Council mainly agreed they did not want to cause any further project delays to the Bow River bridge project, which would have occurred if land use was not given – as the land on the south side is required to connect the bridge and extend James Walker Trail for the additional artery connection through town.
The project can now move to the detailed design phase and the bridge in anticipated to open in 2020.
Precedence
Couns. Tara McFadden and Mary Lou Eckmeier voted against moving ahead with Precedence – the final land use required for the Bow River bridge project – on the basis that the development is moving ahead with one entry/exit to the community.
Coun. Morgan Nagel “begrudgingly supported the application” in order to move forward with the bridge, but stated he “does not want to see any more developments approved in Cochrane” and that “this plan and Southbow are absolutely critical to getting the bridge project done.”
“I want to stop building communities with one way in and one way out,” said Eckmeier, who did not feel that just because the 379 units included in Precedence was below the 600-unit threshold recommendation for a second entry/exit was a good enough reason not to move forward with one.
McFadden, who has strong feelings on building on areas with slope stability concerns, commended the Precedence developer for respecting slope setbacks.
Police parking
Council unanimously approved the purchase of an additional acre of land, adjacent to the future location of the new police station in Heartland.
The $700,000 required to purchase the land – which will be used for parking and storage – will come from the debt servicing reserve for the police station; funds in that account would be depleted to $140,000. Municipal enforcement will also be housed in that building.
Pool Subsidy
Council approved a subsidy payment to the Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre (SLSFSC) for $354,167 to cover five months of its budgeted operating deficit – from Aug. 1 to Dec. 31, 2017.
The fiscal year for SLSFSC runs Aug. 1, 2017 to July 31, 2018. The board includes a projected subsidy requirement of $850,000 for the first year of operations for the aquatic/curling centre; this figure is anticipated to reduce in subsequent years.
Since opening in 2000, the SLSFSC has broken even for operations.
The final startup costs for the new facility have yet to come in and will be included in the quarter three report to council.
The former Big Hill Leisure Pool has run an average $500,000/year deficit.
Coun. Jeff Toews stressed that the SLSFSC board is confident it will be breaking even before their five years of operations.
“The board thinks that with the growth and the upcoming projects on numbers that we should be able to break even well before the five-year timeline that we set out,” said Toews.
According to the quarter two financial report, a surplus of $287,000 is projected for the year-end.
More meetings
Council has directed administration to recommend that the next council meet three times monthly.
The resolution stems from a motion put forward by Coun. Morgan Nagel earlier this summer and will be voted on by the next council.
