Some highly charged councillors with strong feelings about buses escalated transit talks in council chambers on Monday night, resulting in council waiting to vote on putting cost estimates out to tender until a full report is delivered on Sept. 10.
Some highly charged councillors with strong feelings about buses escalated transit talks in council chambers on Monday night, resulting in council waiting to vote on putting cost estimates out to tender until a full report is delivered on Sept. 10.
The animated council meeting coincided with the start-up of live streaming of council sessions, which council approved $40,000 for in this year’s budget.
“We could see there was a great deal of passion around the topic of transit in Cochrane, and it seems all councillors want to utilize the GreenTRIP funding on a transit solution that is appropriate for Cochrane and its residents,” said Devin LaFleche, transit analyst for the town.
LaFleche explained that because the transit task force only received new, early cost estimates last Thursday, at its final meeting, there was not enough time to include everything in a comprehensive report – which will be available to the public two weeks ahead of the Sept. 10 meeting; visit letstalkcochrane.ca to view the report.
Included in this will be a comprehensive analysis to comparable communities and the range of options considered over the last five months since the task force began their work.
Following a presentation delivered by LaFleche and town CAO Dave Devana summarizing the public engagement work of the task force – comprised of Mayor Jeff Genung, Couns. Tara McFadden and Marni Fedeyko and members of the public – some councillors felt compelled to share their two cents on whether buses belong in Cochrane and how.
“I recognize and I’m sympathetic to the needs in the community. I guess my biggest serious concerns about the cumulative effect of the burden we’re placing on the taxpayers of Cochrane,” said Coun. Alex Reed, expressing his disappointment of the report delivered that evening, which he felt failed to deliver realistic costs and was reflective of a rushed process. He said that he was “shocked” at how quickly Genung and McFadden seemed to be pressing to put buses on the roads – adding that he felt they were treating the decision like “purchasing a car” and that he felt the matter should be brought to the public via a plebiscite.
Reed also tied in his general concerns over town transparency issues, such as annual staff salary and benefit hikes, unsettled union contracts and “ballooning” costs such as the Jayman BUILT Aquatic Centre – which all add up to a big picture of the town spending beyond its means.
Discussions set to return to council
McFadden and Genung retorted, taking offense to Reed’s criticisms with each of them noting that they felt Reed was not setting his personal biases over transit aside for the good of the decision-making process.
“Cochrane has been asking for transit for 15 years ... if we don’t have (the grant monies) spent by the (end of) 2020, we lose it,” said Genung, adding he felt Reed’s criticisms were “misplaced and harsh.”
The $6 million in secured GreenTRIP dollars must be used for capital infrastructure costs relating to transit and the additional $3 million in Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) funding set aside for transit totalling $9 million would cover all capital infrastructure costs, including buses, benches and a hub.
The user/taxpayer would be on the hook for operations, with rough estimates indicating a cost of around $5 per month per household on an average tax bill.
McFadden also bit back at Reed’s criticisms. The four-time councillor campaigned last fall on achieving an affordable transit solution that would service the entire community for a fraction of the cost of a traditional, fixed-route system.
Early indications are an on-demand system in Cochrane would cost roughly one-third of a fixed-route system – under $500,000 compared to $1.5 million as a fixed-route. There is also potential to tie into and beef up a regional system, serve all of Cochrane with wait times not exceeding 20 to 30 minutes and an adjust the on-demand system according to community use. McFadden said those factors mean the town is poised to create a strong solution to the transit needs of the community.
Coun. Susan Flowers, who unabashedly campaigned last fall on a platform seeking social infrastructure improvements in town, including improving quality of life and connectivity for seniors, was reduced to tears as she spoke.
Flowers maintains that Cochranites have spoken loud and clear that they want a transit service, and that leaving the decision on pause any longer is unfair to the community.
“I do not understand how anyone can deny Cochrane residents of this basic need. All the pieces we need are clearly in place.”
Fedeyko said she is concerned over the potential costs and the apparent confusion floating around that transit talks are regional. She spoke to a need for more public engagement to ensure that all of the identified needs of the community are met.
Coun. Pat Wilson remained silent throughout the transit discussion, although he did not excuse himself for a potential conflict of interest, given that he is the owner/operator of Taxi4U - Cochrane’s biggest cab company.
“As the proud owner of Taxi4U for the last 11 years, I am very confident that if transit operates in Cochrane, there will be no financial gain or loss to our business,” explained Wilson.
“I ran for council to ensure that Cochrane remains a wonderful place to live and I weigh all of my decisions with that objective. If council proceeds with approving transit, my opinions will be based on the best interests of Cochrane residents.”
Coun. Morgan Nagel remains skeptical about the affordability of transit in Cochrane and is more keen on bolstering a regional system. He would like to ensure all options – including extended taxi subsidies – or creative solutions on how to best utilize the transit tax dollars are explored.
Reed conceded that he is “open and hopeful for results of the full report.”
