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A dark day for county residents

Dear Editor, Sept. 25 was a dark day for Rocky View County residents. Council – led by Deputy Reeve Jerry Gautreau, with support from Reeve Greg Boehlke, Couns.

Dear Editor, Sept. 25 was a dark day for Rocky View County residents. Council – led by Deputy Reeve Jerry Gautreau, with support from Reeve Greg Boehlke, Couns. Kim McKylor, Al Schule and Daniel Henn – voted to kill the Aggregate Resource Plan (ARP). Coun. Samanntha Wright, supported by Couns. Kevin Hanson and Crystal Kissel, tried to impress upon their colleagues the importance of making at least one last effort to address residents’ concerns. But the rest of council decided there was no need. We were particularly surprised by Gautreau, who attended the March ARP open house. The large crowd there made it perfectly clear – they didn’t like the draft ARP, but they did not want it scrapped. They wanted a gravel policy that ensured residents most affected by the negative off-site impacts from gravel production were not sacrificed in exchange for its social benefits. At the open house, Gautreau, along with Wright, promised to bring forward for council’s consideration the establishment of a joint resident-industry steering committee to resolve the outstanding issues. Residents had been encouraged by this commitment, because the gap between the draft ARP and an acceptable version was not enormous. This is what Wright attempted to do at the Sept. 25 council meeting. Gautreau, on the other hand, betrayed his public commitment and voted against what he had earlier promised to champion. To add insult to injury, he then went on to propose an alternative that must have the gravel industry silently cheering. Not only does this decision disadvantage residents, it will favour big gravel over smaller, less problematic, gravel pit operators. It is almost incomprehensible how the majority on council – most of whom have little to no experience with gravel issues, since gravel is not an issue in their divisions – completely ignored their colleagues, who deal with gravel issues on an ongoing basis. Other than Boehlke, none of the others who voted to ignore residents’ concerns even attended any of the ARP open houses. In failing to support the councillors who deal with gravel issues on an ongoing basis, the majority on council has effectively slapped residents in the face. The ARP generated more public input than any other initiative the County has ever undertaken. The majority on council has just told its residents to go away and shut up. There will be no further opportunity for public input. The promised public hearing that would have given residents one last chance to express their concerns will not happen. As I said, this is a dark day for county residents. Janet Ballantyne Rocky View Gravel Watch

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