Bragg Creek Wild Interview Questions

South Springbank:

Completing the Springbank Area Structure Plan and ensuring policy is embedded for access to the Elbow River, alongside environmental protection. Working with Springbank Trails and Pathways Assoc (STAPA) and championing a non-statutory public hearing be convened to discuss Range Rd 31’s potential road allowance closure.

Elbow Valley - Highway 8

Guiding the Elbow Valley Residents Club's (EVRC) new staff organization in setting up close working relationships with County Staff. Advocating for Active Transportation Network (pathway) connectivity between Highway 8 communities, Springbank and Calgary. Attending many areas’ Home Owner Association AGMs for updates and Q&A.

Bragg Creek

Requesting a re-think of the whole Bragg Creek Area Structure Plan, not just expansion lands. Advocating for a Visioning Committee as a new first step of our ASP process to help build stakeholder consensus. Working closely with local groups to build a more unified community voice with Council and Administration. Facilitating a FireSmart Committee reboot.

Division 1 is very diverse. It includes a Growth Hamlet, traditional Country Residential, newer Cluster Developments, and mixed Ranching/Farming. Priorities for each area vary widely. Concerns include: Highway 8 construction. Fire Protection via hydrants. Wildland Fire risk. Secondary Egress for West-Bragg, Gateway development delays, Bragg Creek ASP completion, Wildlife protections, Natural and Environmental Asset Protection, River Access, Hamlet Infrastructure challenges, Tourism challenges, Solid Waste and Garbage, County Service Levels. 

My priorities are closely aligned with setting priority for local needs and wants. It is a balancing act and focusing on only 2 priorities will allow too many balls to drop for too many other residents of Division 1. That said, a single top priority is advocating for Division 1 amongst my Colleagues on the newly elected Council, and continue to build a strong reputation for our diverse communities. 

Rocky View County continues to grow and mature. We are home to almost 45,000 residents. We are currently Alberta’s 5thbiggest municipality, tax assessment-wise, thanks to our high-value residential properties, but also a very prosperous commercial and industrial base. Thanks to our proximity to Calgary this growth has happened very quickly, and our Administrative skills have had to adapt just as quickly. Governing this municipality, Council also has to have the skills to navigate the environment we are finding ourselves in. 

If Council does not have the experience and competency to govern at the “board level”, then Administration and land developers will fill that vacuum and default to running the County with minimal real elected oversight. 

I believe Council needs to be able to drive the direction of the County strategically, set high level priorities like Service Delivery, Asset Management, Economic Development, Agricultural Production, overall Fiscal Responsibility; and hold administration to deliver in a Transparent and Accountable manner. My technical and business experience and qualifications, my ability to deeply understand complex issues and synthesize solutions involving many points of view or potential angles will continue to be brought to the table. My moral compass is clear and progressive. Sustainability is as important a parameter as a the dollar signs. I believe my past 8 years on RVC Council shows I will continue to bring this high level of competency as representation for Division 1. 

The most important need of the Springbank community was mostly addressed with the adoption of an updated Area Structure Plan this past year by Council. By updating the plan a number of important policies related to density, environmental / watershed protection and recreation / active transportation / community connectivity were updated to modernize them.

With that in place there is still the need for detailed planning of the community core along Range Rd. 33. Instead of this planning happening in bits and pieces on a per-parcel basis, Council has directed this future work for a Springbank Core Plan to be led by the County planners. Defining the look and feel of this important corridor can be done comprehensively, and with extensive community engagement. I have fully supported this strategy, and will continue to support RVC preparing it as future work.

Elbow Valley and many of its close neighbouring developments are very mature built-out communities. Fire Protection by Hydrant is the biggest ongoing issue. 

The Ring Road has isolated the Highway 8 communities on an Island unless you are traveling in a vehicle. Active Transportation connectivity between these Elbow Valley communities and South Springbank and the City are needed. 

While Elbow Valley built out in 10-12 years, Harmony is taking a much longer time. Council needs to continue to support the developer in their efforts to adapt to current business and market realities. It is also Council's job to have the original concept in mind and listen to the current residents as they bought into the original look and feel. It is tough decision making, but nobody wants a half-built community sitting derelict with unfinished amenities.

Access to solid waste services (currently arranged by each Home Owner Association) can be more efficient and cost effective if provided by RVC - with a service charge to residents. RVC has access to Alberta's Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program, which shifts the financial burden of recycling single-use packaging,  paper products, batteries, and hazardous waste from municipalities to  the producers who created them. As we have already found out in our Langdon Hamlet, this grant stream significantly reduces the monthly garbage pickup fees there. Elbow Valley and Harmony (once it grows a bit larger) are potential next servicing areas that can have these costs transferred back to producers.

Springbank was identified in the 2021 Recreation Master Plan as one of the two priority areas in the County for investment. Namely for a Community Event Centre and an Indoor Field recreation amenities - "depending on local sports organization involvement / requirements".

Given recognized shortcomings of the 2021 Rec Plan in regard to both Post-COVID resident behaviour, and a problematic framework suggested for projects greater than $1 million, Council has directed Administration to produce an updated 2026 Recreation Master Plan.

To date for the Springbank initiative, we have executed on the 2021 plan with a land purchase and capital spend on engineering studies for Geo-technical site survey and site Servicing Strategies which have been completed.

Some capital budget was then set aside late last term for preliminary high level design work and cost estimates, but there was no commitment past that feasibility stage. The business case associated with that decision was the original 3-phase plan:

1. Community Event Centre
2. Indoor Field House
3. Outdoor Park Space

but with substitution of an updated Phase 2 concept by the Park for All Seasons that was a more economical and flexible solution.

Although well-facilitated, I feel that the open-house attendance was not broadly representative of the community as a whole, and the engagement was very much rushed to meet the expiring term of the sitting Council. According to the post-engagement "What We Heard" report, 24% favoured building both facilities at the same time, 23% favoured building nothing, and 20% favoured building phase 2 first. I do not see this a clear and statistically valid message from the broader community.

I also believe that the fiscal side of the equation has not been adequately addressed without the 2026 Rec Master Plan in place. For example the operating framework (RVC vs SCCA) for the Community Event Centre piece depends on the revised 2026 Recreation Master Plan, and its lifecycle facility operations, maintenance, and capital frameworks. Building it is one part, operating it for 30-40 years is a bigger part.

I agree with the direction on where we are headed. I believe the number one priority is the Community Event Centre. The updated Phase 2 concept was good work.

I have serious concerns with successfully pulling off team sports and pickle ball courts with multi-function event space and quieter community activities like yoga, club meetings, and a satellite library. I would like to see a broader community engagement and buy-in and my fiscal prudence says that this is needed before embarking on a capital project costing north of 20 million dollars, with ongoing operating expenses.

This is a key part of my platform. 

This past term,  one of the most important objectives of  Council's Strategic Plan prioritized improving the delivery of services to our residents and businesses. Part of the objective was to have Council have a direct line of sight into setting service levels as part of the annual budget exercise.

We directed a large investment in the development of a new service-centric approach to managing service delivery. This was a complex undertaking that involved not only changing the culture of Rocky View Administration and Staff, but also the approach to how we budgeted.

As a result, Rocky View was fast becoming a municipal leader amongst our peers in leading-edge service delivery management framework implementation.  

Council stumbled with the complexity and enormity of the transition the last half of the term. Council needs to get back behind what it started. I will champion and promote that council picks up the ball and finishes the job. I was fully behind the strategy from day-one and will fully support bringing this one back into the spotlight.

I write a monthly update in the High Country news which most folks in Division 1 have access to, though it may not be top of mind for some. For two-way communication I prefer to have folks jot a quick email to me, but before writing multiple pages, include a number so I can call them to chat - old school, but more efficient in my mind.

Our Council code of conduct strongly discourages personal Councillor social media pages - as dis-information too often results. I strongly agree with this and will always steer residents to RVC's website and socials to get their information. I know the website is a work in-progress. Establishing a communication relationship between residents and RVC directly is better in the long run as Councillors come and go.

Historical RVC practices did not provide adequate community engagement. This past term one of Council's 9 strategic initiatives was to improve communication outward from RVC and to increase the amount of survey, in-person and online engagement we were conducting in order to increase the inbound feedback. The County also reinstated newspaper advertising in the Rocky View Weekly with a full page spread of latest information of resident interest. Advertising RVC information in the smaller local papers was also performed.

This past Council also changed its policy to expand the notification radius on many items. This policy C-327 covers the circulation of:

   (a) statutory plan amendments;

   (b) planning applications;

   (c) license of occupation of County lands applications; and

   (d) road allowance closure/opening applications;

and notification of:

   (a) Council public hearings;

   (b) Subdivision and Development Appeal Board (SDAB) hearings; and

   (c) development permit notices of approval.

This required a budget increase of approximately $600K, so to "push" more out to folks does come at a cost.  

Historically I also supported the corporate reorganization resulting in a new internal staff structure and removal of the district recreation boards because I believe having staff liaison positions will provide better connections with the various community groups involved in providing recreation services. 

Part of the overall solution is to make the website / safe & sound notification system more effective so that folks can be engaged and "pull" information themselves as opposed to us pushing what we think you might be interested in.