Thank you

Thank you to all those who voted for me. I am pleased to represent you once again. Please feel free to e-mail or call me to discuss any issues. The new council is becoming familiar with their new assignments. Progress is being made on the housing study which is our first step in working on this issue. Two committees, Athabasca Regional Development and the new Ad Hoc Housing Committee are communicating with each other and investigating different ideas. The momentum is there - and I will do my best to maintain it.

Election Time

A quick update is in order. The suggestion for solar technology did not get accepted. One can only keep trying. However, the great news is that AU got provincial money for a new building!! PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY DOES WORK! We should keep that lesson in mind. Also, the first tentative steps towards beginning to solve some housing issues was made at an ARDC meeting last week. That is all for now - I'm busy campaigning.

Fall Update

I attended an information meeting with a provincial government official who explained the newest guidelines for grants for affordable housing. the grants are generous - 70% of the capital costs would be covered by the province. It is a great disappointment to me that we have not had the will to be ready to take advantage of this opportunity. There have been several other issues that have concerned me greatly since my last post, but I'm letting my calmer persona prevail, and will not comment here.

There is a still a great deal to communicate. Councillors toured the multiplex, which, though unfinished, appears much grander inside than it looks from the outside. The views are fine! I certainly hope an innovative and capable person can be found to run it. Hiring and keeping municipal employees is a problem we have in common with many businesses in Alberta. I am hopeful we can add the kitchen and the floor in the field house. Putting back the walking track in the field house is a personal wish. Of course, I do not want this building to take the spotlight completely away from many other areas of community life.

The three councils now have a community economic development officer who is starting work soon. This took less time than I expected, and I'm please to be wrong. In addition, the Regional Water Commission has been approved by the province and the project is moving ahead. I hope this level of cooperation can be continued with the new councils.

The skateboard and spray parks were finished early enough to show how much they will be used. It was a pleasure to see so many families at the riverfront spray park on a sunny day. This makes finishing the riverfront even more of a priority. Having walked the whole riverfront quite a bit lately, I conclude that the whole area needs to be planned well, including west of the stage, and east of the Twatinaw.

Some great library news from the recent NLLS meeting is that the system has now made it possible for library patrons to obtain VHS, CDs and DVDs on interlibrary loan.

A Nothern Alberta Recycling Conference was held in Athabasca last week. The theme was sustainability, a concept that I have always been deeply committed to. So, I'm going to suggest that the three councils use the Municipal Sponsorship Grant to apply for a small grant to install solar technology on some public buildings. Wish me luck!

To Everything There is a Season

The website committee has commented that the councillor's blogs are not up-to-date. I plead guilty.

The past months have been a slow time, but spring is coming with all its new energy. This is best seen by the wonderful work being done to lobby for the AU expansion. HAVE YOU SENT YOUR LETTER TO PREMIER STELMACH YET? I've been hatching some plots of my own to help with this initiative. I'm really curious to see if grass-roots democracy will work with this provinical government.

Other good things:
1. First reading of the water-saving appliances by-law for new construction has passed.
2. I'm working as a volunteer with the Athabasca Fringe and many enthusiastic members working hard to continue producing this great event.
3. The sewer break is fixed, snow is removed, our facilities are cared for, and town employees continue to see that the whole operation runs smoothly. I have to remember that the basics are important, and not to be taken for granted. Thank you to the staff.

Some frustrations:
Our enthusiasm for a Community Development Officer has been dampened by a decision to work jointly with the County and Boyle. It is not that there is much inherently wrong with a regional approach, but the 6 reps have not met yet, so the whole process will proceed with molasses speed. Some progress has been made on multiplex governance, in that research will be done to see if we really choose to govern it as a society. It is important to have a facilities operator in place to market the building well before it is open. The campground location open house is still awaiting information which for unavoidable reasons has taken about 6 months.

Many of the requests that we have received lately have been tabled to budget. That is necessary, because we don't want to make choices unless they are based on final financial figures. However, it removes the immediacy of the issues, and some debate will not be public.

I am concerned about social deficit. Our daycare lost the after-school program, and is still under capacity for this community. Also, no progress has been made on affordable housing. I'm hoping that the province's affordable housing study will produce some initiatives that will move this issue forward.

Please feel free to contact me at evans866@telus.net