I hope you had a great Christmas and a happy New Year. I have been back at it steadily for the last three weeks with a lot on the go. I have had plenty of committee meetings and preparation is underway for the triennial budget deliberations, which will begin in February. This will be a process that takes a few months to complete and I am looking forward to diving in.
I had a conversation with a resident the other day and we were discussing the state of businesses in Crowsnest Pass. I asked her why, instead of talking about the woes of our community, nobody talks about the businesses that have opened recently, to which she responded, “what businesses?”. I think it is important for us to celebrate what we have and the businesses that are starting up here. In the last 18 months, just off the top of my head:
- Crowsnest Coffee Company – a home based coffee roasting business that sells across southern Alberta and BC
- Exhilarate! – Ladies wear and travel agent
- A new pet groomer in Bellevue (sorry – I forget the name)
- Timber and Tines – Sports shop and taxidermy
- Bamboo Bistro – great food
- Highwood Indian Restaurant (under new management with consistant hours) – more great food
- Chippers – moved from a truck in the Fas Gas parking lot to a permanent location in west Coleman with even more great food
- A&W reopened in the renovated Fas Gas
- The Old Crow – 2nd hand shop next to Sears
- Crowsnest Pass Property Management (unsure if they opened in the last 18 months but they are doing great things)
My apologies if I missed some but you get the idea. Notice one thing – these are all independently owned. This shows the important role of small business in our local economy. They may not be the 100 to 200 member companies but they do employ a number of individuals who are highly dedicated to making it work because it is their own business. Last year I took some economic development training and the instructor stated that around 80% of job growth would come from small business, not large companies. I have worked for large companies that would lay off several hundred people in one go when profits went down. It is harder do that in a small business because every staff member is integral to your success.
There is a misconception that products and services here are more expensive than elsewhere, or that the products are simply not available. Here are a couple of things to think about before ordering something online or running to the city. I was considering a trip to Denmark to visit my extended family so I immediately went on Expedia – I am a web savvy guy so that was just natural. I then stopped by Exhilarate! to see what they could offer. I was surprised to find that all of the flights they found were at least $100 less than they were online. Did you know that the local Sears has the same prices and the same sales as any other Sears, and they generally are the same as the online price? These are just two examples. My point is that we should remember to look at local options before taking our business out of town. It keeps money in our community. I joked with a friend of mine that “every time you shop out of town, the new rec centre is put off for another month”. I am only partially kidding. Many local businesses support initiatives from parades and festivals all the way up to the Food Bank and trail building. If these businesses do not do well it has an effect on how they can support the things happening in the community. If there is something that cannot be found here, or it is outrageously expensive, so be it. I will not tell anyone to spend more than they have to or get a product that is not what they need. All I am saying is to remember to check local options – at least give them a chance. There is a whole chapter dedicated this in the book 13 Ways to Kill Your Community.
It is not always a smooth road, and businesses come and go for a number of reasons, but good things are happening! It is easy to fall into the trap of doom and gloom so I am suggesting that we all be prepared to celebrate these little gems and support our local businesses.
Three quick questions, “yes” or “no” answers are fine:
1) Will notices of committee meetings (per Municipal Government Act 195 and 197) be posted on the website so that interested taxpayers may attend and observe the proceedings?
2) Will the Tax Rolls (small PDF document which exists on Municipal computers) be posted on the website like other towns have been doing for years?
3) Do you know how much this Council has spent on consultants and the Task Force?
Hello Keith -
These questions are really not on topic for this post but I do not want to dismiss your issues. Please remember that you can write me any time or send a letter to council, which is even better as it would be received as information. I do not see these as yes or no questions so I will answer appropriately.
We have not discussed any plan to change the way we promote our committee meetings. We are not required to post them on our website and they are generally put on the door of the municipal office, which meets the guidelines in the MGA. If the municipality has missed something, we need to correct it but to my knowledge it has always been done this way. That all said, I was commenting the other day that the municipal website should be updated to be a better communication tool and the meeting schedule could fit into that. Hopefully that will happen this year.
I agree that our tax rolls should be posted. I will ask our CAO about that. In the meantime, perhaps you can write a letter to council explaining the rationale for your request. Right now the only time a tax roll is posted on the door of the office is a list of properties that are in the second year of nonpayment of taxes and they are put on tax recovery notification.
I do not know offhand how much we spent on consultants. We need to hire professionals for specific projects from time to time and I suspect it’s no higher than any other year. I believe we paid approximately $5,000 to have the Task Force document written but I could be wrong since I do not have the information here. There was also a small gift given to the members of the task force of approximately $200 each, and they had travel expenses covered by the municipality. All of this information will be available in March when we receive our audited financial statements. If you want it earlier, please contact Finance at the municipal office.
You will be happy to know that one of our consultants is currently developing a Peace Officer Program, which will change the way we enforce community standards and other bylaws. I know that this has been of concern of yours for quite some time. As I mentioned before, we are in a time of change and it will take a while to get this ship turned around but we are doing our best.