Council candidates Q & A

The following are a couple of the questions presented to the candidates running for Sundre's council during the recent election forum at the local legion.

Question from the chamber of commerce: Other communities in Mountain View County are experiencing growth in both business and housing at a much faster rate than Sundre. With more businesses and homeowners struggling with their tax load, what are some realistic steps that can be taken to build a more viable tax base and community growth?

Sean Davis: "Annex more land into the Town of Sundre corporate limits to attract developers investing within town limits instead of the county of Mountain View limits. Work with the county politely, patiently and amicably on a fair balance of funding for parks and recreation development."

Chris Vardas: "Realistically, we already have land annexed. We should service the lands that we have. That would give developers the opportunity to come and build there. We can't bring them into town if we don't have those services to those lands."

Cheri Funke: "Other than Cremona, the other communities have the Highway 2 corridor that assist them in the ability to attract businesses…I'm a true believer in the need to diversify the tax base…one thing council can do is approve changes with the municipal bylaws that would help streamline the process that is involved in developing within the town."

Pat Toone: "Addressing infrastructure in the short run I think for very visible things would be an improvement, especially when people come into our community and want to see what we have. We have to invest in economic development and tourism, which I think we are right now, but I think that should be encouraged."

Charlene Preston: "Let's focus on the strengths we do have. We have great facilities in this town — an excellent community centre, the arena, the curling rink, the indoor pool and a very well utilized hospital as well as the new seniors' facility. We have some great industry around us with the sawmill and the agricultural sector, and we have one of the best backyards in the province anyone can ask for...two realistic steps to help build a viable tax base would be to expand tourism and support development of reasonably priced homes for new homeowners."

Todd Dalke: "We need an increase in business, but we have nowhere to put them. We want an increase in population, but we have nowhere to put them…I don't think anyone on council or in the town thinks there's a magic wand. We've seen a lot of small towns start shrinking over the years and we've been lucky enough to see a slight increase…Right now all of our businesses are currently viable, and we need to diversify and grow that…it's going to take a lot of hard work between the county and the town, and consultation within the public to make sure that we go the right direction and make sure we do it responsibly."

Richard Warnock: "It's time to make some ideas — let's not be afraid of stepping out of the box and putting a little risk involved to get Sundre to move forward. Communication and cooperation between the public, council, administration and the business community can be beneficial. If we don't work together, the job's a lot harder…to come forward with a more viable tax base, we require an entire review of the infrastructure, the services and the community needs of you the citizens and the businesses in Sundre."

Terry Leslie: "We need to streamline all the application processes…Mountain View County potentially may look at cost sharing and revenue sharing as opposed to annexation, because annexation is costly for both parties…annexation is antiquated. If we could come to an agreement where we revenue share…then that could increase the tax base for us. (Additionally), secondary suites need to be put in place…to allow for those young families who want to come into the community to support the new businesses we hope to bring."

Rob Wolfe: "Sounds like it's a consensus that we're all looking for development and business attraction, and working with Mountain View County a lot more closely, and as Sean said, amicably."

Paul Isaac: "We have to look really closely at what does Highway 22 need, because that's closer to our town…sometimes annexing is not necessarily a benefit. We really, really need to research what our municipality can offer business, we need to research what businesses are doing, and we need to go after some businesses to say, 'here's how you can benefit more in our town'."

Question from the public: If elected, what position will you take with respect to gravel extraction on our western boundary?

Pat Toone: "Unfortunately what the county does in the county's areas, we have very little control over. (Efforts to lobby) could maybe stall that, or halt it…there is absolutely no support that I know of in this town for more gravel pits."

Charlene Preston: "It's key to have a relationship between the council and the county…it's up to us to try to help that relationship along...we have really, really good gravel in this area…we need to keep communication open and try to figure out what is going to work best for everyone."

Todd Dalke: "I definitely haven't heard any support for it. Can we stop it by simply saying 'no'? Maybe not…if we have no choice in the matter, which we may not, then it's in our best interest to make sure that relationship (with the county) stays positive and at least that we put in restrictions (to minimize the impact on waterways and the community)."

Richard Warnock: "The Town of Sundre has to deal with the dust, the noise and the traffic. We have to control that somehow…But unfortunately, these gravel pits are not in the town limits, and without good terms and negotiating skills with the county of Mountain View, we got a tough road ahead."

Terry Leslie: "We have serious reservations as a municipal council about water quality and the accumulative effects of aggregate extraction on the water table in that area and how it affects our residents, and the quality of that water for 300,000 downstream residents that take their water from the Red Deer River…if this is going to go ahead, the negotiation with Mountain View County is critical…We need guarantees, science guarantees, that source water protection won't be affected."

Rob Wolfe: "Can we stop it? Probably not. But I heard that there is a (county) meeting in the coming weeks that I encourage Sundre residents to go…How is this going to affect our water? We should go out and voice our concerns."

Paul Isaac: "There's not much more to say. You can't control which trees your neighbour puts up on their yard, or which trees they take off, which takes shade away from your yard. So there's that complication…the county is having another meeting, you need to be informed, you need to go and you need to speak. The only way that that can be stopped is if it's in volumes by a lot of people."

Sean Davis: "Reclamation is key, if and when it happens…we really have to be concerned about the environment and the river, our tourism…we really have to put some pressure on the county. I mean pressure in a good way…I think we can negotiate with the county of Mountain View to a reasonable solution, maybe even possibly a secondary bridge and road to alleviate the truck traffic through our town."

Chris Vardas: "Council of the day doesn't want it, and neither do the residents…but at the end of the day, it's the county doing whatever they want to do in their own backyard. The only thing we can do is stand up, voice our opinions, insist they have all of their surveys done before they actually go ahead…We don't want it near our home…But if they're going to have it there, we got to find some way to benefit the Town of Sundre as well."

Cheri Funke: "There's flaws in their redesign…They'll only crush when there's a westerly wind, so that they don't disturb the McDougal Flats people. Instead, they'll blow right into our seniors' housing…I'm not willing to play nice. We need to take every opportunity possible to stand in the way and stand up for our community."

The second and final election forum before the Oct. 16 election takes place at the Sundre Legion on Wednesday, Oct. 11 from 6-9 p.m.