President Update – March 11th, 2017
Well, it took a little longer than we’d hoped but we’re excited to have our GECA website back up and running. Along with this new section for Resident Updates (which you can add comments or questions to at the bottom), we’ve beefed up our FAQ section and made it easy to pay your annual fees through Paypal by giving it a separate tab entirely. You’ll notice we’ve also included a tab for a “Photo Gallery” and we encourage you to e-mail us your best and favourite photos of GlenEagles scenery, wildlife or just relaxing or thrilling lifestyle shots and we will showcase them here!
Those of you who provided your e-mail addresses to GECA in response to my snail-mail letter of late 2016 will be notified by e-mail whenever there’s a new Resident Update to read. If you haven’t provided your e-mail address and would like to receive updates when warranted, please drop Shelley or myself a line at [email protected] or [email protected] and we will update our database to include you. In addition to the website being back up and running, here’s the latest on a few other issues that might interest you:
Landscaping Contract with Town of Cochrane
Effective April 1st, the Town is assuming control of the four parks in GlenEagles. Those of you who attended the last AGM may recall that while GECA and most of our residents did not want this, in the end we were not given a choice. Our only choice was to maintain responsibility for our boulevards, islands and other non-park green areas, which we have opted to do. Our current landscaping contractor is providing us a new estimate for the revised maintenance and we hope we can mostly offset the loss of the Town’s $40K annual reimbursement to maintain our boulevards and islands to the standards we have all come to expect in GlenEagles without a negative impact to the treasury.
Annual General Meeting & Call for Board Members
We are tentatively looking at the last week of May for this year’s AGM but will provide notice via this website as well as the usual signage along GlenEagles Drive. As I indicated in my previous letter, it would be wonderful if we had more of you willing to let your name stand for nomination to President, Secretary, or a member-at-large board position. Because GECA is solely a volunteer organization, we understand that lives outside of GECA need to take priority and as a result we rarely find ourselves with a full slate at any given BOD meeting, much less finding a mutually available time and date for a given BOD meeting. Putting a great community together is more of a “more the merrier” situation so if you have time to put your hat into the ring to either help run GECA from a Board perspective or assume a sub-committee role, we would love to hear from you!
Broken Fence at GlenEagles East Entrance
We know it looks pretty bad, that smashed hole in our fence just west of the GlenEagles East entrance. The Town has confirmed that repairs to the fence will occur when the ground has sufficiently thawed to allow crews to set the posts.
Golf Course Trespassing
We are still seeing people walking through the golf course on occasion, either alone or with dogs. Just a reminder that this is an act of trespassing and you could be charged. Please stay on the public paths in GlenEagles and don’t toboggan on the course. The Links of GlenEagles are a good neighbour to us but it is still their land. I’ve heard comments like “what’s the big deal as long as we’re being responsible”? Well for many reasons, not the least of which is the course’s liability should you get hurt even while being careful, or that your dog’s pee can still burn the links even passing through snow. The bottom line is this: private property is private property—we doubt you’d wander into a stranger’s back yard three houses down from you, just to “check it out in a responsible fashion”.
Facebook – Blockwatch Page
There is a closed group on Facebook for GlenEagles residents to share any concerns about safety and security, lost and found, and any general issues that contribute to keeping our community a safe and enjoyable place to live by looking out for each other. The page can be accessed here https://www.facebook.com/groups/GlenEagles.BlockWatch.Page/ and then simply click “Ask to Join”.
Jones Estate Rezoning Application
This continues to be a contentious issue for many GlenEagles residents. For those of you not aware, the “Jones Estate” (as its commonly referred) is the four acre parcel of open land at the top of GlenEagles, above the Villas and between one end of the Estates and one end of the Vistas. The land is currently zoned as Urban Reserve and in the opinion of many should remain so. The executor of the property is trying—so far unsuccessfully—to have it rezoned so that 16 or more new homes can be built on the parcel. This will maximize the market value of the land so that the various charities to which the land was bequeathed can enjoy their donations. It’s an admirable effort of the executor on behalf of the charities; however GECA believes there is a better way to work with various levels of government to ensure the charities get a reasonable value for the land while it remains a serene greenspace forever.
So, if you live in GlenEagles Landing or the Close, you might be asking…why should I care? Well there are a number of reasons why no resident of GlenEagles should be in favour of renewed development in our community that has already been deemed by previous Town administration and council as “complete”. For starters, a major new development will be a royal pain for our friends in the Vistas, who will be fighting to safely access their properties, park and mailboxes on a daily basis while contending with crews, dump trucks, cement trucks and the like for as long as the development takes. The dirt and debris of new construction won’t be just limited to the Jones Estate…it will be tracked all through Vistas and we all know how windy it gets in GlenEagles—one good gust and a backyard in the Close or GlenHaven might find itself with some unwanted insulation or roofing shingles! We know that geotechnical issues are a huge concern in GlenEagles, with so many properties over the last two decades experiencing internal groundwater issues and some kind of slumping either minor or major. To “poke the bear” so to speak, with a brand new round of heavy construction on a known unstable slope, seems like folly. And finally, what of all the wildlife we have come to enjoy in our community and often right in our own front yards and helping to make GlenEagles so unique? Closing off that current green space/safe-haven/corridor for wildlife moving from Glenbow Provincial Park through to acreages across Highway 1A might permanently alter the wildlife routes through GlenEagles that currently allow us to see foxes, deer and coyotes up close. GECA opposes any new development of the Jones Estate but is willing to work with all levels of government to find a win-win solution.
No public hearing date has yet been set for the current application before council, but when we get details on that we will provide it by way of another Resident Update on this website. The Cochrane Planning Commission is meeting this Wednesday, March 15th at the Cochrane Ranchehouse chambers at 6:30 to discuss the application. This is not a public hearing so no comments from the gallery will be accepted, but if you are interested in attending you are welcome.
Your Requests
Since my last letter, I’ve heard some great ideas from many of you and the GECA board will definitely be considering them. We’re just in a bit of a limbo state right now, not knowing exactly what our new landscaping and irrigation costs will be under the new arrangement with the Town—but assuming the money exists once we’ve been able to set a more concrete budget, we’d love to look at some of your requests such as:
- More community get togethers, BBQ’s, etc.
- Better lighting in places
- Christmas lighting (in season)
- More garbage cans and dog waste dispensers strategically placed around pathways
- Upgraded parks/playgrounds
As you continue to enjoy your GlenEagles home, please submit any ideas you have for community improvement to us and we will do our best to ensure the best bang for everyone’s buck and continue to make this a fantastic place to raise a family or retire.
Your comments and questions are welcome below, just click on the “Leave a Comment” box at the top right of this blog. Please note there will be a slight delay while they are moderator-approved—this is only required once after which you will be able to post freely from the same e-mail address.
