MAY 2014 WARD 1 NEWSLETTER BOWNESS PARK UPDATE By late spring or early summer of this year, the west friendly park experience, is close to completion. As half of Bowness Park and its main parking lot will well, the tree removal and replant project are be open to the public. The City of Calgary is almost finished. The riverbank restoration was waiting for new sod and seeding to establish, in complete prior to the 2013 flood, thought it still order to withstand future impact from visitors. The requires some repairs. east half of the park will remain closed and is under construction until late fall or early winter. The entire park will be open and fully functioning for The lagoon’s new water control structures, which skating by the end of 2014. aim to increase water management efficiencies, are scheduled for this spring. The new wading pool and The new park entrance bridge, the relocation of the spray park is in phase three of the design. Once provincial approval is in place and the budget is THE ENTIRE PARK WILL BE OPEN secured, the pool and spray park will be complete. AND FULLY FUNCTIONING FOR The miniature train in the east end of the park is SKATING BY THE END OF 2014. expected to be running by the summer of 2015. park depot to Baker Park, and the construction of a For the most up-to-date information, please visit new parking lot at the west end are complete. Councillor Sutherland’s website at: Centralized parking, which aims to improve traffic http://bit.ly/1dYtE2K flow and to encourage a pedestrian and cycle VALLEY RIDGE The final study for the Valley Ridge Blvd &Trans-Canada Interchange is complete. The open house date and location will be announced by Alberta Transportation future. Check Councillor Sutherland’s website for the latest updates at: http://bit.ly/1dYtE2K CHANGES TO SPRING CLEANING Each road will only be swept once. sweep coincides with garbage and No service requests for roadway re-sweeps recycling day, place your cart on the curb. will be accepted. Vehicles will be towed. Cars that remain parked on roadways during scheduled Check to see when your street is scheduled cleaning will be towed. for spring clean up. Enter your address here: Extension of spring clean-up activities through summer months. Due to http://www.calgary.ca//Transportation/R changes in resources this season, and a oads/Pages/Road-Maintenance/Spring- later start date due to snow fall in April, Clean-up-street-cleaning/Spring-Clean-up- crews will continue sweeping activities after Stampede and into the summer street-cleaning.aspx?redirect=/sweep months. Blue & Black Bins – Move Waste and Recycling Carts. Please note that if your SHAGANAPPI TRAIL On May 1, 2014, The City of Calgary hosted the final phase of public engagement for the Shaganappi Trail Corridor Study. An open house was scheduled to invite input from stakeholders, community members and the general public. The session was designed to share information about the recommended option for the corridor, to show how homeowner, external stakeholder and public feedback have help to create the design. As well, the open house was an opportunity to gather feedback prior to finalizing the recommended option. For more information, please visit: calgary.ca/shaganappicorridor TUSCANY AND ROCKY RIDGE LRT STATION Council has approved controlled parking bylaws for the Tuscany and Rocky Ridge LRT stations. If residents choose to file an application for a traffic zone, please go through 311 or speak to your community association. The LRT is currently ahead of schedule and it is estimated to open at the end of August of 2014. For the most up to date information, visit: http://www.calgary.ca/Councillors/Ward-1/Pages/Ward-1.aspx TUSCANY FIREHALL OPEN HOUSE An open house for the new fire hall in Tuscany is scheduled for Tuesday, June 20, 2014. Drop by between 6:30 to 9:00 pm at St. Basil School, located on 919 Tuscany Drive NW. For the most up-to-date information, visit http://bit.ly/1dYtE2K OPEN HOUSE FOR BOWMONT PARK The City of Calgary has reviewed feedback received from the March 2014 Bowmont Park open house. The Parks department is scheduling a second open house to reengage the public on improvements and changes to the park. Due to 2013 flood, the open house was delayed as The City needed to reassess how the river moved and effected the banks. Information on the date and location will be announced in the summer. For further updates, visit: http://www.calgary.ca/bowmontparkimprovements RIVER VALLEY SCHOOL IN BOWNESS Councillor Sutherland is pleased to announce that after much facilitation, The City of Calgary is leasing the building on the R.B. Bennett site to River Valley School. Previously, the building sat vacant. Now, over the next three years, River Valley will upgrade and invest in the building and maintain the grounds. This is a big win for the community of Bowness and River Valley students. Councillor Sutherland would like to thank Erin Corbett, the head of River Valley School, for all her hard work and accommodation. NORTH ROAD CORRIDOR STUDY Hard copies of the North Corridor/199R Silverview Way Survey are available at the Silver Springs and Varsity community associations. If residents wish, they can call (403) 268-2430 to complete the survey. The survey will be closed on June 30th, 2014. Councillor Sutherland will announce the results on his website as well as community newsletters. If you haven’t participated yet, click here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CNQRXVL SCENIC ACRES On February, 2014, Premier Alison Redford and Alberta Minister of Infrastructure, Ric McIver, announced that a francophone school would be built at 220 Scenic Acres Drive NW. Since the announcement, residents have expressed to Ward 1’s office that they are very concerned that a new school was proposed in Scenic Acres without consultation. Our office has received feedback that residents would like to keep the space as a park. Councillor Sutherland gives his full support to the residents of Scenic Acres. He has asked the francophone board to engage with Scenic Acres Community Association Board of Directors. If residents would like to discuss this matter further with the francophone board, please email [email protected] or call (403) 771-6677. Although the Province maintains they respect the autonomy of school boards, you may contact the Minister of Education, Jeff Johnson (780) 427-5010, or local MLA Sandra Jansen (403) 297-7104 to relay your concerns. VALLEY RIDGE – EAST BUS LOOP Councillor Sutherland has expedited the pavement and drainage of the East Bus Loop turn around. The project will be completed by a private contractor retained by The City of Calgary. Cleaning of the area was completed and paving will occur shortly, weather permitting. Councillor Sutherland will stay on the project until it is completed, which is estimated by the summer of 2014. FLOOD PREPARATION QUESTIONS Based on 311 inquiries, public open houses and calls to the councillor’s office, commonly asked questions regarding flooding recovery in Calgary are answered in the attached Flood Preparation brochure. https://spprd-authoring.calgary.ca:47443/councillors/ward 1/Documents/2014%20CEMA%20Flooding%20FAQs_Brochure%20web.pdf For more information about flood recovery for residents and property owners, go to: https://spprd- authoring.calgary.ca:47443/general/flood-recovery/Pages/ContactUs.aspx VALLEY RIDGE TRAIL TO BOWNESS PARK The Valley Ridge trail is open by the pedestrian bridge at Stoney Trail. Residents can cross the river and walk to Baker Park. The trail can also be travelled east to the entrance of Bowness Park, which is still closed until late spring or early summer. FOLLOW COUNCILLOR SUTHERLAND ON TWITTER AND FACEBOOK! https://www.facebook.com/Ward4Ward1 https://twitter.com/Ward4Ward1 .