Council calls on public to name bridge

Couns. Morgan Nagel and Alex Reed's joint motion to name Cochrane's major bridge project Veteran's Bridge was voted down by council in a 5-2 vote on Monday night.

Council has opted in favour of seeking public feedback on naming suggestions for the south Bow River bridge project - one that comes with a $48 million price tag, including the adjacent road alignments, and is slated for completion by the end of 2019.

“We can't just deflect all the important or tough decisions to some vague community engagement process, ” said Nagel, who suggested either a public plebiscite or non-statutory public hearing as two possibilities to engage citizens - neither of which was well-received by council.

Nagel emphasized concern that special interest voices could be heard above the crowd through a vague public engagement process.

“I don't understand why we're holding this up, ” said Coun. Alex Reed, who voted in favour of the naming.

Mayor Jeff Genung, who had previously expressed support for the naming, determined a project of this scope should have community input.

“We don't have these legacy projects very often … I really want this bridge to be something special, ” said Genung, adding that the scenario is vastly different than his successful motion earlier this year to name the Riverview multi-use park area in honour of late park advocate Jim Uffelmann.

Genung said that he likes the idea of naming the bridge in honour of veterans and is looking forward to community feedback.

Couns. Marni Fedeyko and Tara McFadden felt the project was too big in scope to not allow the community voice, but were unable to settle on the best method to engage with Cochranites.

Coun. Susan Flowers suggested an essay-writing contest.

Coun. Pat Wilson was admittedly “on the fence ” but settled on community feedback as the preferred route.

The Cochrane Historical Archival and Preservation Society (CHAPS) are to be consulted prior to naming of public sites.