May 2020 Update
COVID-19
During this time of unprecedented concern, as we collectively navigate the impact of COVID-19, Gleneagles Community Association (“GECA”) considers the safety and health of our members and community paramount. We will continue to support the initiatives and directives that have been set by the federal, provincial and municipal governments and to do what we can to reduce the spread of COVID-19. We encourage you to help slow the spread of this virus by washing your hands often, wearing a mask when in public, practicing social distancing and staying home when sick.
AGM Update
Due to COVID-19 we are postponing the GECA Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) originally scheduled for May 27, 2020 until further notice. In the interim, please feel free to contact us at info@geca.ca if you have any questions and/or concerns.
Landscaping Update
We have an annual maintenance contract with the Town of Cochrane (the “Town”) for the park spaces in Gleneagles. We supplement that service with our own contracted landscaping company to better showcase our community and to improve the landscaping for the enjoyment of all residents. Specifically, GECA’s contractor is responsible for the Highway 1A entrance and the medians at Gleneagles Gate, Gleneagles Boulevard and Gleneagles Landing. We will be planting annuals in June and will be upgrading with cedar mulch and edging. We will also be significantly upgrading the Gleneagles signage area at the Highway 1A entrance. Please note that our contractor has confirmed that they will be abiding by all Covid-19 regulations.
Cochrane Food Bank Drive
Neighbours helping Neighbours! GECA is partnering with the Cochrane Activettes and Helping Hands with a food drive on Saturday, June 13 from 10am to 1pm to help the Town kick-off Good Neighbour’s Week. We ask that you leave your donation in a bag at the end of your driveway by 10am on June 13. Volunteers from GECA and the community will then collect from a safe distance and will deliver to the local Activettes site where their volunteers will then unload the trucks. While all donations are welcome, we have included a “wish list” provided by the Cochrane Food Bank. If you would like to volunteer for this event please contact our Events coordinator, Margaret Blair, at mblaircochrane@gmail.com.
Canada Day Events
The Town is planning several virtual Canada Day events from 12pm – 6pm, followed by an online dance party from 6pm – 9pm. There are also rumors that an outdoor drive-in may be operational by then. Fingers Crossed! Look for updates on the Town’s website www.cochrane.ca or check inserts in the local newspapers closer to that time.
GECA Website
For those who are not aware – GECA does have a website – www.geca.ca
The current website is dated but we are working on the launch of our new website for late July 2020. The new website will allow us all to better connect with each other and with the greater community. Stay tuned!
Stay safe and take care of each other!
Kathy Estey,
President, Gleneagles Community Association
info@geca.ca
COCHRANE FOOD BANK WISHLIST
- Rice
- Oatmeal
- Crackers
- Granola Bars
- Pasta sauce
- Dry Pasta
- Cereal
- Canned Corn
- Canned Tomatoes
- Tuna
- Canned Meat
- Coffee
- Tea
- Canned Pasta
- Canned Salmon
- Broth
- 1L Juice
- Laundry soap
- Dish soap
- Hand soap
- Kleenex
- Paper Towel
- Toilet Paper
- Toothpaste
- Toothbrushes
- Feminine Hygiene Products
- Ketchup
- Mustard
- Cooking oil
- Snack items
THANK YOU, GLENEAGLES!
February 2020 Update
Dear Neighbour,
I would like to thank everyone for being so patient while Gleneagles Community Association (“GECA”) went through some growing pains over the past year.
I was appointed President of GECA in June 2019, and as of our last Board meeting in February, we now have a full Board of Directors engaged and committed to bettering our community as a whole. The Board of Directors of GECA – your neighbours – are as follows:
Kathy Estey – President
Darren Golec – Vice President
Margaret Blair – Secretary
Codyne Carson – Treasurer
Rodger Grant
Gary Kooistra
Norman Peterson
Stephen Simms
Chris Stang
A common thread that ties the Board and you together is that we have all decided to call Gleneagles home. We are extremely proud of our community and are committed to moving the community in a positive direction while maintaining the happiness of the homeowners and property values of each home.
Gleneagles Community Association is a volunteer run organization in its 26th year. Our goals are to continue to make our community a beautiful and hospitable place to call home. With your membership fee, we maintain the entranceway from Highway 1A onto Gleneagles Drive, the medians located on Gleneagles Gate and Gleneagles Boulevard and the entrance median on Gleneagles Landing. We also are responsible for all irrigation systems within Gleneagles and water usage within those systems. We liaise with the Town of Cochrane regarding any landscaping issues for the park spaces (areas for which they are now responsible to maintain) and we provide a united public voice when issues arise that affect our community – ie. The Jones Estate. We are also anticipating incorporating some long- awaited community events. Stay tuned!
Since June of last year we have had 3 Board meetings and have created a strong committee structure by appointing a Landscaping Committee and an Events Committee. We have done/continue to do the following on behalf of the community:
- met with the Town of Cochrane to discuss landscape & maintenance requirements & standards
- signed the annual maintenance contract with the Town of Cochrane
- hired our own landscaping company (it was a rocky start last year due to many factors – this year should be better!) to supplement the Town of Cochrane contract (as our standards are above & beyond what the Town of Cochrane is willing to do)
- cut back/removed trees and bushes on the Gleneagles entrance from Highway 1A to create safer sight lines after hearing concern from homeowners
- liaised with the Town of Cochrane regarding the Colt Bus bus stop locations
- actively planning a community event
- actively working on a new website for better communication with homeowners
- continue to monitor (and get involved when required) the Jones Estate issue
Our Annual General Meeting is scheduled for May 27, 2020 at the Gleneagles Club House. If you plan to attend you will find out what is happening in the community, vote to elect a Board of Directors and have the opportunity to provide suggestions for programs/activities for 2020. We hope to see you there!
We are looking for volunteers for upcoming community events. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Margaret Blair at mblaircochrane@gmail.com.
Participation builds your community!
Kathy Estey
President, Gleneagles Community Association
Spring 2019 Update
2019 Landscaping Kickoff
Spring is here. FINALLY! With that being said our landscaping maintenance contractor is planning on starting during the first week of April cleaning up the gravel from the medians at the entrances to Gleneagles. Based on the costs savings achieved last year and the work performed, we’ve retained the same landscaping contractor – TJK Property Maintenance. We’ve changed to a local irrigation firm – Champagne Irrigation – after some hiccups last year with the previous irrigation contractor.
Gravel Pit
GECA received a heads-up from Town staff this past week that can be summarized as “after a relatively quiet winter, gravel pit operations are expected to ramp-up with increases in activity and noise. Green Drop is planning to begin full operations in May, but they will be working throughout April.” I would also suggest that its safe to assume that when there is a wind from the south we can expect some increased dust as well.
All concerns regarding the Gravel Pit should be directed to the Town – Drew Hyndman Senior Development Services via telephone at 403-851-2563 or email at Drew.Hyndman@cochrane.ca
Annual General Meeting
Our Annual General Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday May 22 at the Links of Gleneagles. We’re asking for volunteers to help sign people in and anyone wishing to help out should let myself or Shelly Wood know (info@geca.ca). Please mark the date on your calendar!
Board of Director Vacancies
As of today there are currently 2 vacancies on the Board of Directors. I am reaching out to a couple of individuals that offered to help last year when we had a full board, but anyone that is interested in serving on the Board of Directors – please feel free to send me an email! We especially need to have someone that is willing to take on the role of Secretary for 2019/20 .
As well I need to let everyone know that I will not be able to serve another term as President as we’re leaving Gleneagles this July (but we’re staying in Cochrane!). This is a great community and we will miss it!
If you’re interested in volunteering, please let myself know or email info@geca.ca.
Jones Estate
The developer of the Jones Estate has asked the court to review the handling of application & decision making process to determine if the town erred “legally” in following its processes and policies under the MGA Act. To summarize the current situation – there is no “formal opportunity” for the residents, the boards, or the GECA to participate. The first date for this review by the court is currently scheduled for early June. We’ll let people once more public information becomes available!
Happy New Year January 2019
After reading the update from January of last year, I was dismayed to see that the serving president & secretary at that time would be stepping down with no one “stepping up” to take on the reins. After several weeks of consideration and lots of discussion with my spouse, I put my name forward, and voila’ several months later here we are. And what an interesting few months it’s been!
Here’s a brief review of 2018!
Jones Estate
First off out of the gate after AGM last spring was the Jones Estate (again). I have to extend my thanks & appreciation to all of the residents that volunteered their expertise and many hours of effort over 5-6 months which resulted in our current elected Town Council rejecting the Proponents proposal.
However, that being said Council on November 26 instructed Town Administration “to explore land use, density and regulatory options for the Jones Estates in order to address opportunities for future development that recognize the unique development constraints of this property.” Town staff has since contacted GECA requesting a meeting for staff to begin to understand what would to be “acceptable to Gleneagles”. These meetings should be happening in Q1 in 2019, and thankfully the same group of volunteers is amenable to stepping up again.
The feedback that I’ve been getting from residents during my open houses in Gleneagles is that they are happy that council ruled the way they did, and they are very thankful with many folks taking the extra time to express their gratitude for all of the volunteers and their many hours of efforts!
Gravel Pit
As everyone on the lower level of of Gleneagles View realized in the late summer, the Gravel pit operations on the south side of the river relocated from their previous location down to the bottom of the river valley. With the terrain acting like an auditorium this has led to increased noice levels for many homeowners. In some cases increased dust levels have also been noticed. The unfortunate reality is that this area was zoned for these operations before the Town annexed the lands. We urge residents to contact the town with noise and/or dust complaints, especially if the pit is operating outside of its approved hours of operations. Another option for those homeowners that are affected by increased noise and/or dust is to challenge your property taxes. This is coming up soon and the more homeowners that speak-up, the greater the chances are for a successful challenge.
2018 Budget vs Actuals
For the first time since 2015 it looks like we’ll finish the year above water, this is good news and is primarily a result of changing out our Landscaping & Irrigation contractor. The numbers are currently being finalized, and it will be good to not to have draw down on our reserves this year! GECA cannot continue to operate the way it has been and the changes made last year which drove these results are a positive first step.
Other encouraging signs include that it looks like there are only a few homes haven’t paid their 2018 fees. As well, there were a number of examples where we were also able to collect on past due accounts from previous years – which is great news! We have to thank our volunteers for their tenacity & diligence on this. Unfortunately if the last few homes don’t remit their 2018 fees, we may have to send these accounts for collection.
Speeding
An ongoing issue over the last several years has been speeding. With the warm weather speeding seems to be on the rise again. Your Board of Directors and myself are considering establishing a committee to work with the Town, Bylaw Enforcement, the RCMP as well as hopefully the traffic planners & the Roads division from the Town of Cochrane. While GECA cannot and will not take part in any type enforcement, we can help spread the word and educate ourselves, our residents as well as our guests.
GECA 2.0
Residents have asked for “more” from their community association. In discussion with the board, GECA is open to supporting any event, activity, etc as long as two basic criteria are fulfilled – 1) there must be volunteer leaders to drive/run the activity and 2) it must be self funding. Example – our landscape contractor last year mentioned that he’d be willing to sponsor either donate the hotdogs (or the funds) for some type of “kids in the park” or “meet your neighbours” day.
So far this year we had a number of volunteers stepped forward to organize a community wide garage sale in September, and now there’s a book club for Gleneagles residents as well. What would you like?
2019 GECA FEES & BUDGET
It’s that time again…GECA fees for 2019 are now due and we would appreciate payment by no later than April 30th. Reminder that you can pay on our website via the PayPal link. The good news is that we not proposing a fee increase for 2019, and the fees will remain the same at $125 (incl GST).
In other 2019 budget news
- Garbage Removal has been transferred to the town, which should result in a savings of several hundred of dollars per year.
- Our insurance policy is currently under review. Upon an initial review we immediately realized a savings of over $400/year. The review is ongoing and we will pick this up again in the new year to see if any additional savings could be realized
- GECA Scope Change 2019 – GECA is currently engaged in discussions with the Town Parks department to refine our scope to only the five common & key areas which highlight Gleneagles for visitors and prospective buyers. These areas are the highway entrance at Highway 1A and Gleneagles Drive, as well as the boulevard entrances to Gleneagles Landing, East & West. Initial indications suggest that we may able to reduce our landscaping costs by up to 2/3 once this is adopted.
Myself and the Board of Directors wish everyone the best in 2019! Slow down & enjoy it!
Thank You
Ron Douglas
587-586-7485
We welcome any and all of your suggestions or comments at president@geca.ca or info@geca.ca
Summer 2018 Update
Gleneagles Community Association – Update Summer 2018
GECA 2.0
Many Gleneagles Homeowners both at the AGM and via various forums have expressed a desire for “more” from GECA. We’d like to understand what the means. Please submit your ideas and thoughts to president@geca.ca where we’ll start to think about and consider options that would work for everyone in our community.
In the short term, GECA (without changing bylaws or increasing fees) can support community events in Gleneagles as long as two criteria are met. The first being that the event is self funding and the second being that there are volunteers to run it.
GARAGE SALE – The first example of this is that on Saturday September 8, 2018 – there will be a Gleneagles wide community Garage Sale. Clean out your storage rooms, closets and even your garages and come sit a spell. Don’t have anything to sell? Then why not take a wander and pick something up, or just say hi & introduce yourself to your neighbours!
Delinquent Accounts
As of July 25, 2018 – 77 (about 8%) of Gleneagles homeowners have yet to pay their 2018 HOA fees. GECA like everyone else these days is feeling the financial pressures and we encourage everyone to contact info@geca.ca if you haven’t yet paid your fees and to make arrangements to do so. GECA has alternatives to collect the fees, but these alternatives are time consuming, cumbersome and costly. Thank You.
Irrigation
GECA is taking a proactive stance in 2018 when it comes to water consumption (and its associated costs) for our green spaces. Leaks have been repaired, and reviews are ongoing with our new irrigation contractor to identify further leaks, and ensure that green spaces are getting an appropriate amount of water without over watering. Town Water bills are a significant portion of GECA’s annual budget and every liter saved translates to a direct savings for us.
If you see a park or green space getting too much or too little water, please let us know!
Proposed Jones Estate Development – Bylaw 25/2018
The proposed bylaw for the development of the Jones Estate lands passed 1st reading by Town Council on Monday July 9. Councillor Alex Reed was the only Councillor that voted against the First Reading.
Since this time it has been confirmed by Town staff have confirmed that previous submissions on this matter will not be accepted or considered for the second and third reading, and that only new submissions will be considered.
Accordingly, all old submissions must be re-submitted by Sep 6th as well as any new submissions as the public debate is currently scheduled for Monday September 10.
ASK: We’re asking all residents living in Gleneagles the area to send comments on to our Town Councillors before Sep 6. If you submit written comments, you may also have the opportunity to speak-up publicly during the council meeting on Sep 10, 2018.
Submissions should be balanced between emotional, technical as well as social (i.e. comparing the proposal to Cochrane’s Strategic/Sustainability Plan).
An informal working group is ensuring that all of the condominium board’s as well the GECA submission is coordinated, collaborative and aligned.
Happy New Year! GECA Update 2018
NEW PRESIDENT & SECRETARY NEEDED
If you attended the last AGM, you heard me say that I could not carry on as GECA President forever and this was always intended to be an interim position to help bridge a gap to a more permanent individual. Quite simply, my “real job” and my family obligations keep my wife and I swamped on a regular basis and it’s not fair to you as a resident, or GECA and our Board as an organization, that we can only run this post off the corner of our desks. The community deserves someone who can devote more time and attention to the needs of our neighbourhood, our website updates and properly scheduled and run Board meetings.
Given that moral suasion hasn’t had the effect I’d hoped,I need to announce firmly now that Roxanne will be stepping down as Secretary and I will be stepping down as President no later than the next AGM in May. I strongly encourage you, if you have any time or interest in giving back to your community, to contact us before then to put your name forward for one of those posts. Between now and May we would be happy to run through the role with the new individual(s) and train you on the use of our website, where to access files in Dropbox, key Town contacts, and the like. I don’t want to simply leave GECA in a vacuum after the May AGM, but that is what will happen if nobody steps up. I sincerely hope we have a caring resident in our midst who has both the time and desire to help impact our community in a positive way.
GECA FEES & BUDGET
It’s that time again…GECA fees for 2018 are now due and we would appreciate payment by no later than April 30th. Reminder that you can pay on our website via the PayPal link. Once again they have remained static at $125 and we have some hard decisions to make as a community going forward. 2017 was the first year in a long time that we had to tap into our reserve funds to balance the budget…owing to much higher irrigation costs for our islands and boulevards (Town of Cochrane water charges) along with higher than expected landscaping costs. While we all chose to live here for its views, topography, natural beauty and much-more-prolific greenspace versus other communities… the reality is that costs money to maintain and beautify and we cannot simply continue charging the same fee that existed 15 years ago and expect to remain sustainable. Nor can we realistically or fairly expect our separate condo associations to pay any more towards GECA, or expect less in current fee rebates, when the lion’s share of boulevards and islands are being maintained in Gleneagles East and West.
Your GECA volunteers have been diligently looking into options with the Town and with our landscaping options, trying to determine how to make our dollars go further. We would consider all options including a separate fee hike only for residents of Gleneagles East and West, or simply returning responsibility of all Gleneagles greenspace back to the Town, knowing that the quality and abundance of our beauty would likely not come close to the standards we have come to enjoy. Either way, the well is only a few years away from running dry and hard decisions will need to be made sooner than later—we welcome any and all of your suggestions or comments at president@geca.ca or secretary@gec.ca.
JONES ESTATE
The parcel (for those who aren’t familiar, it’s that large patch of vacant land between the Estates and the Vistas, near Highway 1A) has been sold and is once again up for development consideration. GECA and several passionate stakeholders from the various condo associations have successfully argued twice against development of this property (currently zoned Urban Reserve) and are prepared to do so again. Previous developers had been looking to purchase the land only conditional upon rezoning approval; however the current owner has purchased it with no such approval in place and is essentially rolling the dice with our current council, in spite of it being largely elected or re-elected on a “slow down growth” mandate. We believe that the current developer’s argument of “no development is NOT an option!” can be refuted quite simply with the fact that “no development is ABSOLUTELY an option”.
Quite frankly, Cochrane has tons of existing and future-approved developments already on the books and if a home builder is that keen on putting their stamp on our town, there are plenty of other places to ply one’s trade without tearing up an existing 20+ year community where families have grown roots, wildlife have come to appreciate and seek shelter in the existing open spaces, and Mother Nature (touch wood) appears to have left our sleeping dragon of a mountain to rest peacefully for a decade or more. Why scratch its back and anger it?
The developer has contracted Quantum Place Developments (“QPD”) to engage with our community in advance of making a formal application for rezoning and we expect to know more soon, as GECA and your condo associations are meeting regularly with QPD and the Town of Cochrane to obtain updates. In the meantime, we encourage you to visit www.qpdengage.ca/jonesestateland to join their mailing list and learn more about their plans as they become available. We also encourage you to actively remind your Mayor and Councillors about the platform on which they were elected and that they are under no obligation to approve any development on this land that does not appear to reflect the wishes or best interest of either our community or the Town at large. GECA and its Board will remain vigilant at all future engagements with both the developer and the Town in an effort to preserve our status quo.
VEHICLE BREAK-INS
Hopefully you have not been victim to a break-in recently but many have. The serenity of Gleneagles and the friendliness of our neighbours makes it easy to let our guards down and leave our vehicles and homes unlocked…but sadly this is not 1960 Mayfield, it’s 2018 Cochrane and no community is immune to thieves and scoundrels anymore. Many homeowners have reported recent theft from vehicles and garages in our community, particularly over the Christmas season when out of town guests were visiting and when presents and valuables tended to appear in back seats more often than normal.
You are strongly encouraged to keep your vehicles locked at all times, leave no valuables visible, keep the entry door from your garage to your home locked and, where possible, do not leave your garage door link from your vehicle in plain view. Once a thief is in your car, it’s just a push-button away from the inside of your garage and all those valuables, if you make it easy for them.
If you are not already a member of our Facebook community, please join us at “GlenEagles Cochrane Block Watch Community Page”. It’s a closed group but just send moderator Mark Smith a quick FB message to let him know you live here and would like to join.
DOG POOP
“I’m dreaming of a white Christmas…” were the immortal words of Bing Crosby but if he’d walked through Gleneagles towards the end of December his dreams may have been shattered by the overwhelming presence of brown! Please dog owners, it’s not rocket science — be a responsible and respectful neighbour and dog owner and pick up after your pooch! Nobody’s suggesting you follow them 20-feet into the ravine to scoop the poop, if that’s where Fido decides to relieve himself (although that’s technically still the appropriate action) but at a bare minimum can we please remove it if it’s on the sidewalk, pathway or visible from those places?
TOWN SEEKS VOLUNTEERS
If you are looking for a way to give back to your community (but only after you agree to be GECA President or Secretary!), Cochrane is seeking volunteers for “Public At Large” members for a selection of various committees. You can obtain more information by clicking here https://www.cochrane.ca/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=410 and then selecting the relevant hyperlink to the committees page or phoning/e-mailing Lori McLain.
Upcoming AGM and Assorted Bits & Bytes
GECA Annual General Meeting – May 24th, Links of Gleneagles Clubhouse, 7pm
By now you have all likely seen the coloured road signs announcing our upcoming AGM and would have received your combination “notice of meeting/voting proxy” delivered to your doorstep in early May. We hope to see as many of you there in person as possible, or at least represented by your voting proxy. The AGM is important because not only is it one of the few times per year we get to meet our neighbours in a social setting…it also allows you to discuss common issues and concerns and hear from your Board about how your $125 annual HOA fee is being spent.
This year in addition to the usual Powerpoint on landscaping and financials, we will provide an update on the ongoing Jones Estate saga and be getting a visit from Fabrizio Bertolo of the Town of Cochrane, who will address your questions/comments about those giant green organic bins now sitting in all of our driveways and garages! Hopefully we all come away as experts in organics recycling.
We would also love to hear from potential new blood! If you would like to let your name stand for President, Secretary, Board Director or simply offer to volunteer for any community/social events we may look to organize over the balance of 2017…please e-mail me back and let me know. We’ll also do an open call on the floor of the AGM. In my fall letter asking for your e-mail addresses, we got some great feedback on things that you’d like to see in the community. I will share some of those ideas at the AGM but as you will see, everything needs money and volunteers. I’d like to have an open discussion about community engagement and the reality of our existing annual fee which has not changed in a decade, effectively reducing our purchasing power by a significant amount over the same amount collected in 2008.
Annual Fees – Reminder
As of May 5th we still had 190 households that had not yet remitted their annual HOA fee for 2017. That’s a relatively unsettling 20% delinquency rate, especially given our website is back up and running and it is now simple for snowbirds and other absentee owners to pay via Paypal. Please do your community a favour and make your payment as soon as possible—your timely contribution actually serves two purposes as it keeps our kitty where it needs to be to finance our spring/summer beautification costs, and saves us money in that there is less time spent chasing delinquent accounts. You can click on the “Pay Your Fees” tab on this website to go directly to the secure Paypal site to pay by credit card, or of course do things old school and send a cheque in the mail.
Street Sweeping – Reminder
Please take note of the signs posted in your subdivision for dates and times of upcoming TOC street sweeping efforts! If everyone can have their cars/RVs off the street for the periods indicated, we can rid our community of as much gravel as possible. Asthmatics, motorcyclists and your windshields thank you!!
Public Open House – Detached Garage Regulations Changes – Thursday, May 25th, 4-7pm, Cochrane RancheHouse
This is not really applicable to Gleneagles but some of you may have additional property elsewhere in Cochrane so passing this notice along as a courtesy to the TOC. The Town is holding a public open house to provide information about proposed changes to the accessory building (detached garage) regulations in the Land Use Bylaw and to get feedback/comments from residents. At the open house you will have the opportunity to review the proposed changes, ask questions of staff, and provide comments. For more information you may contact Riley Welden at 403-851-2577 or riley.welden@cochrane.ca