Letter | Opinion

Following is an open letter to Pincher Creek town council.

Opposition to the Pincher Creek Curling Rink Project Location is a group of concerned citizens that wish to be heard by council.

On Jan. 22, 2025, we asked to delegate at the Jan. 27 council meeting and were told we missed the deadline.

We looked this up in the town minutes and it seems the delegation application to council days to deadline bylaw changed last June. We of course had no idea of this; such important change to community involvement with our elected council.

Today [Feb. 3, 2025] we send another request to appear before you. According to the new Bylaw 1596-24, Delegations 103a, such communication shall be in the hands of the CAO not later than 4 p.m. one week prior to the Thursday agenda posting.

We missed as a delegation on Jan. 27 because it had to be in the CAO’s hands by Jan. 16?

We now have to figure out the agenda posting for the nearest available meeting. We missed the deadline for the Feb. 5 meeting and the deadline for the Feb. 10 meeting.

The previous bylaw or policy stated that the request had to be in by 4 p.m. the Wednesday before the agenda is made. That gave our community the opportunity to appear in a timely manner and worked for years.

The new bylaw is restrictive and I fear will discourage engagement with council face to face.

Can you amend this bylaw to make in-person presentations easier like it used to be last year?

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