A Sundre resident recently inquired during a council meeting why the Town of Sundre's portion of landscaping at the new seniors' facility remains incomplete.
“When you take those responsibilities on to buy the land — service the land, develop the pathway, develop the sidewalks — you have an obligation because you are now the developer,” said Gerald Moore, whose property backs onto the new Mountain View Seniors' Housing complex in Sundre's southwest, in his public address to town officials at the Sept. 19 meeting.
Moore said he had begun a conversation with town administration and staff as well as MVSH's chief administrative officer last June, in regards to the landscaping at the new seniors' campus of care on the now town-owned part of the property. At the time, Moore said he was advised it was an issue to be resolved by the developer.
He also pointed out that during the construction of the new facility, the installation of a new service line required having to dig up roughly half of a landscape feature with trees and rock that was never returned to its original state, he said.
“It looks rather crappy. You cannot drive down that pathway on a scooter or on a wheelchair as many of the Mountain View housing people are trying to do. I know that everybody is aware how bad it really is in a newer, developed area. I don't understand how it got to the point that it is.”
Moore went on to call MVSH “excellent neighbours” and that representatives had been good to deal with when some of his neighbours had experienced issues that were resolved.
“They have also done an excellent job of landscaping their portion of the land, and I cannot understand for the life of me why that extra 20 feet along that property line could not have been done at the same time.”
Mayor Terry Leslie expressed appreciation for the concerns raised by Moore and that council would direct administrative staff to respond to his issues.
However, Angie Lucas, acting administrative officer, was able to respond during the meeting that all the planning for the landscaping and the pathway's design is anticipated to be completed this fall.
“We still don't own all that right-of-way,” she said.
“That's the holdup. Once we have that in place then we'll be able to move forward. But we won't be doing the landscaping until next spring because we have a drainage issue.”
