Cochrane Town council voted to stop a plebiscite regarding transit, scheduled for June 18.
The reason for the unanimous decision, made March 12 during a regular council meeting, was threefold and included the difficulty of framing the plebiscite question, the need for more public input and the fact that transit may not be high on residentsí priority list.
ìIt doesnít mean transit is off the table,î said Cochrane Mayor Truper McBride. ìIt means we are going to have a more robust conversation. It is a really positive step forward, which will promote community winning as opposed to making winners and losers.î
That conversation will centre on what the community envisions a future transit system would look like and when it should be rolled out.
Last August, Cochrane received $6.1 million in Alberta GreenTRIP funding to purchase four double-deck transit buses and four community shuttle buses, build a terminal and design a bus storage and maintenance facility.
The money will have to be spent within 10 years, something McBride said is in the Townís plans.
ìGreenTRIP will take us out to 2018,î said McBride. ìThere is no rush. There is lots of time so we are going to take that time. Transit has not been stopped, we are just re-jigging it so we have a longer engagement period.î
ìCouncil has said that within some point in the next 10 years we will have transit.î
Residentsí concerns about the issue centred around potential costs and need, said McBride.
There was also a concern that other projects, such as a new aquatic centre and arts facility, would be moved off the priority list.
ìThere is a great desire in the community to see those projects move forward,î said McBride. ìThey will be prioritized to move ahead as soon as possible.î
Despite the decision, the Town will be going ahead with the Letís Talk Cochrane public engagement process, which officially launched on March 14 at the Cochrane RancheHouse.
The campaign will continue until June.
ìAt the end of that engagement period, we should have an idea what transit will look like,î said McBride.
