Editor:
I do not condone the harassment of individuals and/or their families at their homes.
Mayor Sean Krausert’s comments after the adoption of the Three Sisters Village and Smith Creek area structure plans and indeed Chris Ollenberger’s comments as spokesperson for Three Sisters Mountain Village Properties Limited demonstrated to me a degree of civility and reconciliation to move the project forward as best as we can expect.
However, Blair Richardson’s letter distresses me: “For more than 30 years, under several different mayors and councils and several members of the Town administration, Three Sisters did not receive the treatment it deserved in line with the NRCB permit and the project has struggled as a result”.
Please refer to https://tsmv.ca/history/ to see that over that period of time and under various ownership groups at least three or four bankruptcies and/or receiverships have occurred in my view largely due to business practices and market conditions, not bungling by the Town.
I disagree with his comment the Town has had “longstanding efforts to thwart Alberta law”. My point is that it has not necessarily been the Town’s fault things have gone sideways for previous or ongoing development of these lands.
To reconcile, I would suggest and request two things of Mr. Richardson.
First, regarding “to their commitment to giving back to the community,” can he please commit to hiring a vice president of community enhancement who would examine future work proposed through a lens of not only what is good for TSMVPL, but also what would be best for the Town now and 30 years out, long after the landowner has sold off parcels to builders and left dodge.
Second, he inspired his partners to immediately withdraw what is in my view intimidating and threatening challenges to public discourse and decision-making through their ongoing civil lawsuits, based on “damages for the decades of obstruction of the project”.
He and his partners have not owned the property for 30 years and have no claim to past decisions by former owners or councils, this gets us nowhere.
On one hand, he reminds us all TSMVPL is “committed to giving back to the community,” meanwhile suing the Town, past and present council members and potentially taking the Town down financially.
How can Canmore work productively under these perceived threats? I have no answer.
Jim Ridley,
Canmore
