On May 22, 2023, fire damaged part of the common lands. Neighbours pulled together to help put out the fire, which seemed to start along the pathway and jumped to an additional area. The fire department also attended. Had the fire not been discovered and fought by homeowners, it could have spread quickly to neighbouring properties. Please exercise caution and common sense during these dry spring conditions. Open fires are not permitted anywhere on the common lands.

A fire ban is currently in effect for West Rocky View County. This means that recreational camp fires, burning barrels, chimeneas and fires contained within facilities and appliances in designated camping and recreation areas are prohibited. The exceptions: indoor household fireplaces, properly attended camp stoves, propane/natural gas barbeques, propane/natural gas fire pits, solid fuel barbeques (charcoal briquettes) and wood pellet grills. 

We had a great turnout for the annual spring cleanup on Saturday, May 6. Thank you to everyone who showed up and got out and busy cleaning up the perimeter of our community! Participants received Tim Hortons gift cards for their efforts, as well as satisfaction with a job well done. 

Rocky View County Council gave the County budget final approval. This budget includes a 3% increase in property taxes. In December, it was estimated that a 6% increase would be needed to cover the county's 2023 operations and capital investments. Because of growth in the County's assessment base, Council was able to meet its budgetary goals with the smaller property tax increase.

Rocky View County Administration brought forward terms of reference for a Stakeholder Advisory Committee that will be the first stage of developing a county-wide gravel policy. An independent third party will chair the Stakeholder Advisory Committee. The Committee will include four resident representatives and two industry representatives. Council will appoint committee members after advertisement for volunteers.

Spring is in the air, which means coyote pups may soon be in the area. Breeding season for coyotes is in January and February, with pups being born in April and May. With denning season upon us, this is a time for greater caution, especially for dog owners. Please see our website "Living Alongside Wildlife" page for more information on coyote behaviour and safety or click here.

The house move for 47 Church Ranches Boulevard was completed on Tuesday, March 28, 2023. Thank you to all Church Ranches Boulevard travellers for your patience during this engineering feat!

The house at 47 Church Ranches Boulevard will be moved between March 13 and March 15, 2023. Please be aware that there may be some delays on Church Ranches Boulevard on these days and plan accordingly. Thank you!

At our AGM on Tuesday, February 28, 2023, Dr. Shelley Alexander, University of Calgary, will be giving a presentation on Living with Wildlife. 

"Dr. Alexander is an international canid specialist and conducts field-based analysis of carnivore ecology, specializing in coyotes and wolves. She has studied human-wildlife relationships in the southern Alberta region since 1990. ... In 2005, she launched the Calgary Coyote Project, studying urban and rural coyote ecology and human-coyote conflicts across Canada. During that time she spearheaded Living With Coyotes, which was the first on-line educational and citizen-science monitoring tool developed for coyotes in Canada. In 2015, she founded the Foothills Coyote Initiative...which encompasses Calgary and the surrounding foothills parklands...." (University of Calgary website)

Given how often we encounter these four-legged neighbours in our community, this promises to be an informative talk. Welcome to Dr. Alexander!

The CRHA Board has installed plaques on the four new benches in the park. Thank you to the Elliott and Mann families, to the Pendlebury family (in memory of Merv Fleming) and to Susan Brown (in memory of Terry Brown) for their generous gifts. The community will enjoy these benches for years to come. 

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