Trash Talk: A Tale of Two Counties and One Very Popular Dump
When people think of attractions, they generally picture parks, restaurants and museums. You probably never thought of a dump as a community attraction before, but anything that brings people to a place they wouldn’t otherwise go is “an attraction”. Lately our transfer site has been drawing a lot of attention.
You may have noticed the staff at the Bragg Creek Transfer Site now ask not only if you are a resident of Bragg Creek, but confirm from your address that you pay taxes to Rockyview County.
Residents of Foothills County are being charged an additional $25 fee per visit on top of the usual bag rate. This additional charge for a few bags of garbage and some recycling understandably causes most to turn around and drive to Priddis or Okotoks instead.
This bureaucratic bonanza affects roughly 160 households living on Highway 762 and nearby 22 – folks who have 949 phone numbers, Bragg Creek postal addresses, and participate in community life. In modern jargon, they identify as “Creekers,” though their property tax bills suggest otherwise.
Rockyview County subsidizes the transfer site and sees providing services to non-residents as irresponsible financial management. On the other hand, charging significant fees to neighbours will cause them to take their garbage, and their business, elsewhere. Until recently my Wednesday routine involved a trip to Bragg Creek where I stopped at a coffee shop, the bottle depot, the dump, the grocery store, a liquor store and maybe picked up some hardware and gas while checking the mail. Now instead I load the truck and head to the Okotoks landfill. En route I do all the same shopping, but spend my money there instead of in Bragg Creek. I would have rather not driven 120 kms and wasted an extra hour, but once that is required, I’ll combine it with all the other tasks.
If other households are behaving similarly, that could easily amount to over $1 million per year in spending being driven out of town. Knowing how much money and effort is required to attract $1 million in new revenue into our businesses, this is the epitome of being penny wise and pound foolish.
As president of the Bragg Creek and Area Chamber of Commerce, I have brought this up with both Rockyview and Foothills counties. A reciprocal services agreement for use of the transfer site could be worked out between the two counties, but that will require effort. The counties need to know this issue is important to their residents before investing significant staff time and energy in solving it. To this end, the Chamber of Commerce has voted to cover the mailing costs of Foothills County doing a survey of county residents who are registered with a Bragg Creek address to quantify the importance of accessing the Bragg Creek Transfer site. Please respond if this matters to you.
I’m optimistic that we’ll have a solution soon, but it will take time.
In other political news, we have written to the county and other levels of government stressing the importance of commissioning a feasibility study for a secondary emergency egress from West Bragg Creek. The importance of this comes up every few years, alternatives get discussed and nothing more happens. No solution will please everyone, and thus far disagreements have allowed decision makers to kick the problem down the field. We have been lucky so far, but eventually our luck will run out and people will rightfully complain that the problem was known for decades and no one made the hard choices to address it. Again, if this issue is important to you, you need to ensure the elected officials know.
Lastly we responded to Rockyview’s business license proposal indicating we do not support the initiative. This was clearly demonstrated at our monthly member’s meeting in April.
Please mark 18 June in your calendar for our next Members Meeting, at 7:00pm at the Post House. Even if you think you have nothing to contribute, all chamber members are welcome to socialize with other business owners and enjoy some wine and snacks. It will be the last meeting before we break for summer.
Now get outside and enjoy yourselves!
Neil MacLaine – President
W: visitbraggcreek.com/bragg-creek-chamber
E: Office@braggcreekchamber.com
