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Calgary's River Access Strategy Go To City Council Approval In February


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The stakeholder engagement process with Calgary Parks will see the River Access Strategy proposal being presented to Community & Protective Services committee meeting on February 1, 2017. A 5-year capital budget proposal of $7.66 M to add or improve 12 city boat or hand launch sites is being presented.

 

If approved, we can expect to see dirt turned on new boat launch sites before the end of the year. Go the the following link for complete details:

 

https://bowrivertrout.org/2017/01/24/calgarys-river-access-strategy-released-to-the-public/

 

The Community & Protective Services committee meeting is open to the public input. Your support is needed.

 

Time and place: 9:30 AM February 1, 2017, City Council Chambers. Ground floor , City Hall

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If approved, we can expect to see dirt turned on new boat launch sites before the end of the year. Go the the following link for complete details:

Don't oversell it. Regulatory (Water Act) would be quite the achievement to get these in before the end of the Restricted Activity Period in September, considering zero design has been completed to date.

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Take this point for what it's worth -

 

Don't assume that Council support for a $7.66M dedication of funds over 5 years is a slam dunk, it likely won't be. It's an election year and every bit of spending approved by Council is going to come under intense scrutiny. It's up to the river access community at large to make the case loud and clear that this capital spend is both necessary and appropriate. There are lots of competing projects out there that are looking for funding. The access community needs to demonstrate that this investment has a clear return and should be made a priority.

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Isn't there some alternate way of sending feedback? 9:30 on a Wednesday morning isn't exactly convenient for everyone...

 

I get your point, though I'm not sure it is realistic for all Council/Committee meetings to be outside of normal working hours. You are able to send written feedback in to City Clerks, although the submission window may be closed.

 

Anyone interested in watching the proceedings can tune in here: http://www.calgary.ca/General/Pages/Council-and-Committee-webcasts.aspx

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Take this point for what it's worth -

 

Don't assume that Council support for a $7.66M dedication of funds over 5 years is a slam dunk, it likely won't be. It's an election year and every bit of spending approved by Council is going to come under intense scrutiny. It's up to the river access community at large to make the case loud and clear that this capital spend is both necessary and appropriate. There are lots of competing projects out there that are looking for funding. The access community needs to demonstrate that this investment has a clear return and should be made a priority.

Jordan, I trust you will do your best to lobby for this instead of more bike lanes!

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All I ask is that everyone make an effort to support the River Access Strategy by being ath the presentation to Community & Protectiver Services Meeting on February 1, 2017 in City Council Chambers.

 

A lot of work has been put into this project - I would hate to see it die on the books.

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Full details of the Calgary River Access Strategy have been posted on the City of Calgary's Website

 

http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/Parks/Pages/River-Access.aspx?redirect=/riveraccess

 

The report will be presented to Community & Protective Services Committee Meeting tomorrow, February 1, 2017, 9:30 AM in Council Chambers at City Hall. We are hoping for approval before being presented to the City Council later in the month.

 

Hope to see you there

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New article up this morning that gives some info on what transpired yesterday - http://www.calgarysun.com/2017/02/01/calgarys-new-river-access-strategy-aims-to-redraw-how-we-access-and-enjoy-them

 

First and foremost, a big thank you to everyone who came out and presented yesterday. I think the members of committee and the media were really surprised at just how many people came out to share their passionate stories about why river access matters. You folks made a clear case that this was absolutely something The City should be prioritizing.

 

I want to explain a little bit about what happens next. Navigating the tangled web of bureaucratic process cam be complicated, so I'll do my best to explain this in as plain of terms as possible:

 

- Committee unanimously approved the administration recommendations. The recommendations asked Council to do two things: 1) Receive the Calgary River Access Strategy for information; and 2) Direct Administration to forward a business case for the high priority river access sites for consideration as part of the Investment Plan being brought forward by Infrastructure Calgary in Q1 or Q2 of 2017.

- When an item gets unanimous approval from committee it gets sent to Council on something called the "consent agenda". Consent agenda is where you find items that were unanimously approved at committee. Typically the entire batch of consent agenda items are all approved at once. If a member of Council feels compelled, they can ask that an item be pulled from the consent agenda to allow for further debate and discussion. River Access should be on the consent agenda at a Council meeting later this month.

- This item being approved at Council DOES NOT mean the River Access Strategy is funded. Approval at Council will initiate recommendation #2 that directs administration to send the business case to Infrastructure Calgary. Infrastructure Calgary is branch of The City that coordinates our capital projects and brings the budgetary requests before Council. If the business case is satisfactory it will be included in the capital project budget that will be brought before Council this spring. The immediate spend would be the $1.69 million to address immediate access projects.

- The full program comes with a cost of $7.66 million. The balance of funding will be brought forward with the 2019-2022 Action Plan. The Action Plan is voted on by the new Council after the municipal election in the fall. The River Access Strategy would be one of the capital requests in the Action Plan that would considered for funding.

 

We are not at the end of this process by any means, but we have made some very real progress. There may be an opportunity for more public input when the capital budget is brought before Council later this spring.

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to let me know. I'm happy to shine some light on what can often be a confusing process.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Calgary City Council approved the River Access Strategy on Monday February 13, 2017 with a $7.77 million budget of which $1.69 million will be spend on 2 new boat ramps and upgrades to other in 2017-8.

 

Go to the following link for details and a map of all existing and proposed boat ramps in the lower Bow River. Within 6 years we should see a total of 17 boat ramps between Stoney Trail in the north-west of Calgary and Carsland Weir.

 

 

https://bowrivertrout.org/2017/02/15/calgarys-river-access-strategy-approved-by-city-council/

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  • 4 weeks later...

The current plans call for West Baker Park and Shouldice Park to be closed to trailered boat access until the new Inglewood boat ramp is completed in 2018.

Shouldice may be closed longer depending on the timing for an additional "public" boat ramp.

 

Depending on how the redesigned Harvie Passage turns out where the low flow channel should give safe passage for drift boats, West Baker Park may be opened earlier.

 

It is expected that the HP Low Flow Channel will not have enough water in it to allow for safe passage during times of the year when the Bow River flows are low. and the WID water diversion gates are open. Only time will tell what the final outcome will be!

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The design of Harvie Passage, especially the low flow channel was to meet normal water management operations during the spring and summer months when the sleuth gates are closed for water diversion into the WID. That usually takes place from late April to early October. When the Sleuth gates are closed the river backs up pushing water down the low flow channel provided there is a minimum river flow of 62 CMS. What is being asked for is to open the sleuth gate earlier and close later to extend the back up of water to push it down the low flow channel.

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  • 11 months later...

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