Riverview’s hopes in this public engagement were that with comprehensive research and a focus on high-priority issues we could be a catalyst for real improvement in the Greystone ASP and NP. We gave it our best but have fallen well short of this goal. Unfortunately, Greystone, Riverview and Cochrane are all the worse off for it. The Riverview Community would like to thank Couns. Alex Reed, Morgan Nagel and Patrick Wilson for not only taking the concerns expressed by Riverview seriously but for standing by your election platforms and showing Riverview and Cochrane residents you meant what you said last October. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the mayor and some other councillors. Mayor Jeff Genung and Coun. Marni Fedeyko did an about face from their election promises and opted for more growth, more approved and unbuilt dwellings and more and prolonged traffic chaos. Along with Couns. Tara McFadden and Susan Flowers, they trivialized the lack of water supply to meet the population needs. I will be amazed if there is any substantial action taken to protect the health and safety of the Greystone residents sitting on the SLS property line. After all, the town has the rubber stamp approval of Alberta Health. It certainly won’t come at the expense of the developer. The passage of the Greystone ASP seems to confirm Cochrane residents will not see a Major Park that they can all share for generations to come. The town didn’t even see fit to mention the Open Spaces Master Plan of 2012 that recommended such a park. I assume they thought that would be confusing. Mayor Genung turned his back on Riverview in 2007 related to the townhouses approval and has done it again in 2018 with Greystone. This is unfortunate and I hope won’t be forgotten. While we are disappointed with the outcome of the ASP and see little change happening in the NP or Land Use, I think the most serious outcome of the Greystone experience is the loss of confidence by Riverview and Cochrane residents in the “Public Engagement “ process and in Council in general. I think it has confirmed that Public Engagement is a political catch phrase with no substance and that some council candidates will say whatever it takes to get elected, while having another agenda. In both cases, it discourages the public to engage in any meaningful town issue or to even vote. My experience over the last 23 months of battling the developer, the town and the mayor on Greystone related process issues has convinced me it was not worth it and I would hesitate to encourage anyone in Cochrane undertake this kind of engagement. Public Engagement for serious issues, like development, is flawed and needs major changes. If this issue ever comes to the table in a meaningful way, I would be happy to share my list of areas requiring improvement. In the meantime, public engagement, as currently structured, should be restricted to issues like naming bridges and that may be a stretch. This Greystone chapter is closed for Riverview. Time will tell whether of Greystone will be an asset or a liability to Cochrane. Gerry Ertel
