JANUARY - The NEW Society (Nakoda Elders Wisdom) is a group of First Nations elders working together to make cultural programs available to everyone on the reserve.
To assist with the Morley band’s effort, it has received a $10,000 grant through the Banff Canmore Community Foundation designed to help the development of the programs with activities and for teachers from the three bands on the reserve – Bearspaw, Wesley and Chiniki.
Dale Mather, Bighorn’s flood recovery director, said the majority of short-term work is complete in MD affected areas and long-term flood mitigation is imminent.
In total, Mather said, $4.9 million has been spent to “get things back in order.”
The Disaster Recovery Program (DRP) still has a few other programs pending for its long-term flood mitigation for various reasons such as funding.
A funding application by the MD of Bighorn was issued to the province to request financial support for long-term mitigation on Exshaw and Jura creeks.
Bighorn requested $23.7 million to provide the maximized resiliency proposed by BGC Engineering to the Alberta Community Resiliency Program.
Approximately two kilometres of transmission line near Exshaw is on the table to be relocated to accommodate the multi-hundred dollar-million expansion at Lafarge.
The cement plant requested the relocation of a section of the 754L transmission line, which runs north of Lafarge’s operation and west towards Canmore, to allow for the planned expansion of its existing quarry site, which is located on Crown land and is leased from the province.
FEBRUARY
The soles of thousands of shoes for half a century left their mark on one of the remaining relics of a once booming energy and electric Municipal District of Bighorn community.
Reddy Kilowatt was restored and is displayed proudly in the MD office in Exshaw.
Reddy, an internationally recognized energy registered trademark to promote electrical appliances since 1926, laid snugly in place as the logo a piece of floor in a staff house for Calgary Power (now TransAlta) on the Seebe settlement from the late 1950’s to late 2000’s.
An Emergency Management Bylaw is in place after a tweak to previously proposed regulation.
It specifies during a state of emergency what actions need to be completed and by whom; whether it’s the municipality or government organizations.
“Without that communication you can’t organize in a focused way,” Cooper said. “In states of local emergency, effective communication always improved the outcome. I’m trying to focus on what is needed.”
A proposal for a Dead Man’s Flats fire station caught the eye of the MD of Bighorn.
Reeve Dene Cooper said the proposal “has to be explored” and could potentially serve approximately 600 residents in DMF and Lac Des Arcs with first response service.
Six-time Olympic medallist Clara Hughes spent a day at the Canmore Nordic Centre helping 26 Morley Community School students learn to ski as an ambassador with SkiFit North, an innovative program that teaches First Nations students across Alberta how to ski for free, inspiring them through sport.
“These kids are awesome. They can do anything. They have such resilience and they laugh a lot. We had a lot of fun, even when we were crashing,” Hughes said.
The Municipal District of Bighorn showed displeasure with an additional six-month extension application Lafarge requested for its expansion.
The application requests an amendment to when construction of the cement plant’s Kiln 6 and its associated equipment is to be completed by.
“Our intention is to finish this expansion as quickly and safely as possible,” Ron Braun, VP projects at Lafarge said.
The MD of Bighorn assessed options for potentially 29 hectares of developmental land within its Area Structure Plan (ASP) in Dead Man’s Flats.
The ASP is to provide a policy framework for land uses, subdivisions and general location of transportation routes and public utilities. Two development areas were a focus - a North (recreation) and East (light-commercial) area.
MARCH
Potentially disrupting an osprey nesting area is one of the issues Exshaw residents have brought forward over proposed power line construction.
The request for three-km of transmission line construction would enable Lafarge to discount existing power lines to expand upon existing quarry practices.
Provincial funds are on hold for multi-million dollar repairs to the flood-damaged Kananaskis Country golf course while a review is underway to ensure the money being spent is in the best public interest.
Provincial funding priorities were questioned; such as Albertans still offset by the floods still being in need of Disaster Recovery Plan funds.
The 36-hole Kananaskis golf course staffed approximately 150 employees during the season and has been shut down since the day of the 2013 flood.
“We’ve spoken to a number of the (Canmore) hotels who said they’re missing chunks of business (as a result) and then, of course, there are businesses themselves down in the Kananaskis valley,” Nickerson said.
APRIL
Through the Lens: A Stoney Perspective showcases images from Morley students who represent the Bearspaw, Chiniki and Wesley bands. The images have been selected from the Whyte Museum’s vast Through the Lens collection.
The exhibit is a small selection of 22 photographs from Morley students that have been taken over the last 18 years as part of Through the Lens.
The Municipal District of Bighorn received $2 million of its requested $23.7 million in the first round of provincial flood mitigation funds for 2015-16.
Bighorn Reeve Dene Cooper said funds allocated are enough to keep “the system moving forward,” but not sufficient to provide any structures that will be protective of Exshaw and Jura creeks in the future.
The Municipal District of Bighorn is looking to improve its long-term flood mitigations in the hamlets of Harvie Heights and Lac Des Arcs, which would most likely come at a cost to ratepayers.
Proposed long-term mitigation measures at Harvie Heights and Lac Des Arcs would “beef up” the current short-term mitigation already in place in the hamlets, which felt the devastating power of the 2013 flood.
MAY
The MD of Bighorn’s Municipal Planning Commission approved an extension at Lafarge’s Exshaw plant to May 31, 2016.
Ron Braun, vice-president of projects, attributed some “unexpected events” that contributed to the extension application since spring of 2013 such as flooding and on-site incidents, as well as being unable to safely operate cranes in windy conditions, among others.
Morley Community School’s (MCS) unveiled $10,000 of new musical instruments during a private concert celebration.
The school’s School of Rock band, with a smile on their faces, tried out a variety of instruments after MusiCounts, in partnership with the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN), made the generous donation to the Stoney Nakoda First Nations school through its needs-based charity, the Band Aid Program.
The only landfill in the Bow Valley could have as many as 90 years left to accept dry waste material, or as little as 30, according to a new report on its life expectancy.
Bow Valley Waste Management Commission hired a consulted this year to calculate the airspace inventory at the Francis Cooke Class III landfill east of Exshaw.
JUNE
A collared black bear was found eating garbage out of an unsecured bin at Copperstone Resort in Dead Man’s Flats, putting yet another bear’s life at risk in the Bow Valley.
According to wildlife officials, the bear was eating garbage out of two bins and “Copperstone now realizes it was a ridiculous thing to do. They are aware of it now,” MD of Bighorn peace officer Joel Abrahamson said.
The MD of Bighorn unanimously passed first reading of the Dead Man’s Flats Area Structure Plan (ASP) for potential developable land in the booming hamlet.
The ASP takes a close look at 29 hectares of ripe municipal land and aims to create policies to suit best future growth practices (recreational areas, infrastructure development), and general polices for all areas, including wildfire and wildlife.
The Heart Mountain GoGetters (Exshaw Community Association) will receive $25,000 from the New Horizons for Seniors Program. The funding will allow the group to renovate its patio and outdoor meeting space, which was severely damaged during the flooding of 2013.
A stricter plan for air monitoring and fugitive dust was added to Lafarge’s expansion extension requirement by the province earlier this month.
Unease expressed by MD of Bighorn residents prompted the provincial government to address the situation in the permit that approved a six-month extension to Lafarge’s Exshaw cement plant’s expansion.
The fate of three osprey eggs near Exshaw this year ended when they were squished in a fight over a fish.
Locked in a food battle in the big nest, three adult osprey – the mating pair and what is thought to be a former offspring – trampled the little eggs, said Blair Debaar of FortisAlberta.
JULY
Homeowners on Pigeon Mountain Drive in Exshaw met with Banff-Cochrane MLA Cam Westhead about concerns over what they think is a lack of action by local government to mitigate overflowing storm water.
“I know there’s a lot of work done to date and I know there’s still a lot of work yet to be done to make people feel safe and secure and I’m committed to making sure I go to those residents and listen to their concerns, and the municipality’s, and see what their plans are and see how we can move forward and work together to accomplish that goal,” Westhead said.
A year after reopening in a familiar location across the dusty dirt road a stone’s throw from the old Rafter Six Ranch main lodge, Stan and Gloria Cowley have ‘cowboy’d up’ for a new era of the family business.
The term means perseverance in the face of adversity, and staff say the Cowleys have done just that.
The ranch work requires more sweat, more muscle and energy to operate, but there is still a glowing passion at Rafter Six to offer guests coming to visit an authentic, world-class ranching experience.
Just three trailers that comprise temporary flood housing in Exshaw remain occupied, but not all those living in them have been given notice to vacate.
Minister of Health and Seniors Sarah Hoffman was quoted in the Outlook as saying all residents that remain in temporary flood housing have been given notice to the end of the July to find other accommodations.
It turns out, according to government spokesperson Timothy Wilson, there are actually two landowners involved and one has chosen to renew its lease – Lafarge – and the other has not.
The public hearing on the Dead Man’s Flats Area Structure Plan was swarmed with opposition in an attempt to have the potential development re-examined.
Notable opposition came from the Town of Canmore, which had a stern warning for the MD of Bighorn at a public hearing that an appeal to a governing body would be imminent on the area structure plan (ASP) should it move forward.
“It is our intent to file an appeal to the Municipal Government Board if the MD goes forward with the ASP,” said Canmore Mayor John Borrowman.
The hot topic ASP has come under scrutiny as opponents say it will adversely affect the east wildlife underpass and wildlife corridor in the hamlet – recognized as a Bow Valley habitat patch.
AUGUST
Jim Bachmann will oversee operations at Lafarge that is currently undergoing a multi-hundred million-dollar expansion, scheduled to be finished May 2016.
A historic peace treaty signed in Banff by chiefs from northern U.S. tribes and Canadian First Nations marks a new era of unification while honouring the restoration of plains bison (buffalo) to Banff National Park.
The treaty recognizes cooperation and a political alliance between 10 tribes and First Nations, including Stoney Nakoda, between the bordering countries.
In 2017, a small herd of 30-50 bison will be reintroduced to Banff National Park.
SEPTEMBER
A Calgary man hunting without a licence was slapped with a $7,000 fine.
Fang Shao Xie, 44, pleaded guilty to one count of hunting without a licence on Friday (Aug, 28). Along with the hefty fine, Xie received a one-year hunting suspension.
The story of the Stoney Nakoda First Nations’ near 100-year history in movies is being brought to life.
Three Stoney Nakoda cast members are believed to be featured in Alberta’s very first movie filmed in the province in 1917 and is called Until They Get Me. Directed by Frank Borzage, the film is a black and white cowboy drama that heavily focuses on body language for the plot.
A proposed Area Structure Plan is inching closer to reality following MD of Bighorn acceptance of a Development Impact Assessment report (DIA) on the subject areas.
Council accepted the DIA for Dead Man’s Flats ASP for planning purposes as amended following a delegation brought forward by a consultant for Golder Associates Martin Jalkotzy.
Jalkotzky saw “no issues” with the MD going ahead with the development, and said that the MD of Bighorn has the ability to mitigate any issue of wildlife movement identified in the north and east areas, which includes a wildlife underpass.
OCTOBER
After taking most of spring and summer to review the contract to rebuild Kananaskis Golf Course following the 2013 floods, the provincial government announced it will proceed with the project as it is in the best interests of Alberta taxpayers.
The MD of Bighorn refutes a spending report that indicates it was the second least fiscally sustainable municipality in Alberta for the 2003-13 period.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) released a recent report entitled Alberta Municipal Spending Report, 2015, which analyzes Alberta’s municipal operating spending for populations of 1,000 or more.
NOVEMBER
Experts are proposing placing an air quality monitor inside Exshaw as part of Lafarge’s Fugitive Dust Control Best Management Practice Program.
After looking at three potential areas, consultant WSP suggested a site off Windridge Road would be the best location for the monitor as part of the Ambient Air Monitoring Program.
Morley’s Joe Poucette, who served with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, was killed in action on Aug. 15, 1944 in France while serving in the Second World War at the age of 21.
Poucette’s official records with the Canadian Army listed him as just shy of five-foot-four-inches in height, and weighing 125 pounds, but the young man from Morley’s physical prowess isn’t what makes history; it’s what he represented that defines what it means to be “Stoney warrior.”
“It’s a sadness that his body could not be brought back here for burials,” said Tina Fox, Poucette’s niece.
With a famous relative, Fox grew up listening to stories about her uncle from her father, Poucette’s older brother, about how he represented what a Stoney warrior ought to be.
Third reading was approved for the Dead Man’s Flats Area Structure Plan (ASP) following the MD of Bighorn declining to go into mediation with the Town of Canmore.
A Kananaskis conservation officer is being recognized for a selfless act of courage that helped save a man’s life.
Amit Dutta was awarded the Chief’s Commendation Aware after responding to an emergency call at Barrier Lake just off Highway 40 on July 28 and used unconventional actions and quick thinking to get the job done.
A fire at the Francis Cooke Regional Landfill is believed to be suspicious, according to Canmore RCMP. The main administration office, scale house and one vehicle, along with equipment at the class 3 facility were destroyed in the blaze. It forced operations to be shut down for 48 hours.
DECEMBER
An aging giant was shut down at the Lafarge Exshaw cement plant as part of a provincial environmental requirement as the company prepares to go online with its expansion.
Sitting in a familiar chair inside the control room, 84-year-old retired Lafarge employee Tony Levstik watched the flame flicker out at Kiln 4. As an original operator, Levstik was invited to decommission the oldest of the plant’s two kilns.
The installation of a second cemetery plaque is a fitting acknowledgment to Exshaw’s pioneers.
Twenty-four names, including one marked as ‘Unknown’ were added along the borders on the snow-covered cemetery.
Approximately 70 were buried in its grounds from 1906 to 1925 (two after it officially closed) with 55 identified with the final resting place.
An inter-municipal squabble between Canmore and the MD of Bighorn will butt heads early in 2016.
The Municipal Government Board (MGB) gave notice to the MD it has received Canmore’s declaration to oppose its Dead Man’s Flats (DMF) Area Structure Plan (ASP).
A preliminary hearing between the three parties is tentatively scheduled for a date prior to Feb. 6, 2016.
