The Nan Boothby Memorial Library has ‘become a victim of Cochrane's success,' according to library board chair Chris Murray. Murray outlined to council Sept.
The Nan Boothby Memorial Library has ‘become a victim of Cochrane's success,' according to library board chair Chris Murray.
Murray outlined to council Sept. 22 several areas where the library board foresees challenges moving forward, including high operational costs and managing the continued rapid growth that Cochrane has seen over the past years.
Since 2007, Murray said the library has seen 377 per cent growth in its number of card holders.
Murray said they have been able to manage the growth up until this point, but that the library was now at a ‘breaking point' and that a survey had revealed growing dissatisfaction with the services the library was providing.
Murray said some of the ideas the board had conceived on how to lower costs for the library was to potentially close one day a week (Sunday being the most likely day) or to increase its fees. Other suggestions were to minimize the library's inventory, which Murray said would save costs.
Kathryn Foley, head librarian for the Nan Boothby Library, said her biggest challenge was finding enough staff, with Foley being the lone fulltime manager employed.
Foley said many who work at the library simply do not make enough money to sustain the cost of living in Cochrane, and have to either have a second job or rely on a partner to help out.
The library is currently raising funds for capital projects, called Project Facelift, which is aimed at updating the building's interior and exterior. So far, over $100,000 has been raised.
The library did receive just over $34,000 from the town, as during council's original budget process a mistake had been made, cutting the library's funding short. The library's total operating grant request amounts to $359,000.
Many on council voiced support for the library, with councillor Jeff Toews praising the board for not coming to the town for funds to support Project Facelift.
Councillor Tara McFadden said she was uncomfortable with the library cutting services considering how fast Cochrane was growing.
Murray said Cochrane ‘would not look very good' without a library, as it provides much-needed services to area residents that make their lives better.
The Cochrane Light-Up committee got a welcome surprise following the Sept. 22 council meeting - $4,500 to purchase a Christmas tree for this year's Light-Up event.
The surprise, however, came from an unlikely source.
Following council approval to grant the funds for the purchase of the tree, Cochrane mayor Ivan Brooker announced at the conclusion of Monday's meeting that Trevor Shouldice, project manager for Melcor Developments, had sent him an email indicating that his company would provide the $4,500 to the Light-Up committee for the tree.
Light-Up committee chair Marni Fedeyko told council that they had raised over $11,000 for the tree, needed an additional $4,500 for the purchase and that they were ‘at the last moment and needed to know' where they stood financially.
The tree will be placed on the roof of Rexall Drugs for the event, which will also feature fireworks, firepots, Santa Claus, food and hot beverages.
This year's event will mark the 30th anniversary for Light-Up and will take place downtown Nov. 29.
Kim Krawec and Nola Smith of Cochrane's Parent Link presented the finding of the province's Early Child Development Mapping Project to council…and in summary, there is room to improve.
The project focused on kindergarten-aged children and collected data on the development of young kids.
The findings indicated that around 25 per cent of youth in and around Cochrane are experiencing difficulty in all five areas tested - physical health and wellbeing, social competence, emotional maturity, language and thinking skills and communication skills and general knowledge.
“Investing in families and kids really pays off, ” Krawec said of how to improve upon these findings.
The category with the highest score in Cochrane was physical health and wellbeing at 76 per cent; the lowest was communication skills and general knowledge at 69.5 per cent.
Parent Link continues to work on helping families wherever it can, including with social and emotional development in children as well as increasing community education.
Approximately 360 Cochrane area youth were tested.
Mayor Brooker said he found the results ‘surprising.'
East End resident Kevin Shier gave council (and residents) the good news that progress has been made on reducing the ‘annoying' sound of backup beepers, or tonal backup alarms.
Shier said East End and area residents have been living with the sound of these backup alarms for several years, but that now, with the help of Spray Lake Sawmills (SLS) and All Span Building Systems, that ‘annoyance' has been greatly improved.
Each company has agreed to make the switch over to a broadband backup alarm, which Shier said was developed in the U.K. and has a sound that does not carry like the typical backup alarm does.
“There's no law that said that these guys had to (make the switch), ” said Shier of SLS and All Span. “We're extremely grateful to them. ”
Each company said they had tested the broadband alarm three years prior, but that it was not sufficient at that time. Now, the product has been greatly improved and there were not safety issues either company could anticipate.
Neither company had fully completed the changeover, but much of their nightshift outdoor fleet was not equipped with the new broadband alarm.
Shier said he was working with a local supplier to have the broadband alarm available in Cochrane.
Shier and council's hope was that future businesses would follow suit.
