Coun. Morgan Nagel saw motion seeking a temporary freeze on development struck down at the Sept. 12 council meeting.
Nagel was looking to receive more information from administration on the financial impacts if the town was to freeze development until confirmation on two major infrastructure projects could be given: the new bridge across the Bow River and the Highway 1A/22 intersection.
Following the surprised announcement that evening from Mayor Ivan Brooker that a (verbal) agreement had been reached earlier that day on road alignments to move the bridge project forward, town council would hear nothing of a development freeze and Nagel’s motion was met with firm opposition.
“I was hoping for more dialogue with council,” said Nagel, who remains firm that Cochrane’s infrastructure is too far behind to sustain more internal development and is concerned that Cochrane is too preoccupied with “keeping developers happy.”
Nagel is also confident that better fiscal municipal management, not increased taxes, would be able to pay for the revenue losses sustained from a temporary freeze.
Brooker, on the other hand, was able to breathe a sigh of relief following Monday’s council session.
“I’m happy to have dealt with this (Morgan’s motion),” said Brooker, adding that a temporary freeze would have a laundry list of unintended consequences and would “send the wrong message to the province” – possibly even delay getting the Highway 1A/22 intersection on the 2017 budget (if the province thought development would come to a halt in Cochrane).
Brooker said the town has been working hard to reach agreements on road alignments with the three landowners on the south side of the Bow River (communities of River Heights, Riviera and The Willows), adding that “a lot was hinging on these decisions”.
Other members of council echoed Brooker’s sentiments of relief upon learning the bridge project looks to be on track for 2019.
With respect to freezing growth, councillors provided comment that if Cochrane stopped its internal growth this would only benefit the growth in bordering county developments and would ultimately wind up increasing taxes.
“You can have everything if you’re willing to pay for it,” commented Coun. Mary Lou Eckmeier, with respect to the city-like amenities in Cochrane, largely paid for through growth.
“If we freeze development, people who want to move to Cochrane will just move to our borders…. in the big picture, it’s just not a simple solution to freeze development,” said Coun. Gaynor Levisky.
Now that an agreement has been met (still in need of finalization), work will soon begin on the design phase for road alignments. Roadwork on the north side of the river will commence this fall (phase one).
The second phase includes the work on the bridge itself and the third phase includes the road alignments on the south side, beginning with River Heights Drive and all the way to James Walker Trail.
