Dear Editor,
Involving oneself with local issues can be both rewarding and frustrating. First of all, define local: town, city, province or even country?
I was present, and presented, at the Okotoks public hearing on Oct. 23 for the bylaw that would authorize the Town to offer a Clean Energy Improvement Program (CEIP) to its residents.
Yes, I had a wholeheartedly positive bias towards this program even before that night but still, I found the information presented by the Town’s environment and sustainability coordinator very clear and concise. I’m glad there was another resident who peppered her and the chief administrative officer about the funding mechanisms behind CEIP and any risks of defaults/liabilities to the Town.
CEIP, as Mayor Tanya Thorn told me after the meeting, is based upon a similar program called PACE which has been deployed successfully all over the U.S. for years. In Alberta, there are already at least 17 other municipalities signed up for CEIP.
Needless to say, it has been fine-tuned along the way to provide maximum benefits for the funds provided and to minimize any financial risks to taxpayers. Only those who sign up will see any impact to their property tax (re)payments.
The Town’s experts described how residents will be able to use the loans to improve the energy efficiency of their homes, thereby reducing both the ongoing operational costs and carbon footprints. CEIP directly supports many of the Town’s published goals in its Climate Action Plan.
I stated for the record how the Town needs to be more proactive where new homes are concerned, which will be around for decades to come. They must be built better upfront to reduce the long-term energy costs and associated carbon footprint for each successive owner. We should not have to retrofit them as well and, in fact, I believe new owners are adamant about achieving both objectives.
Town administration read aloud all the online submissions and answered any remaining questions. Council then voted unanimously to approve CEIP. Hooray!
The best part of local action in a small town like Okotoks is that council is still non-partisan and very approachable. Programs are debated one by one based upon their merit, and politics and ideology are not, and must never be, a contributing factor. This is not the case at the provincial level, in my opinion.
After numerous emails back and forth over several weeks, I finally secured a 30-minute face-to-face meeting with our local MLA on Oct. 20. My son even booked time off work to join me. We had a long agenda list, including the CPP/APP debacle, the hypocritical Renewable Energy Moratorium, protecting the Eastern Slopes (again!), the local petition against the proposed Rimrock biodigester, etc.
Unfortunately, the MLA’s office had to cancel our meeting with less than 24 hours notice. Something about a joint federal/provincial announcement. I just call it poor planning on the part of both parties. My son is now jaded and will not attend. I remain hopeful for a productive meeting. Someday.
Gordon Petersen
Okotoks
