Why Sidewalks Are Important

Avi Friedman from McGill University is in town today and tomorrow with two of his architectural students to do consultations about tourism and downtown revitalization. I expect we'll hear a thing or two about community walkability along with many more thought-provoking ideas.

A new study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine that looked at data from 11,541 survey participants in 11 countries came to the conclusion, according to this article, that "those who live in an urban neighborhood are twice as likely to be physically active as those in the suburbs," with the most important factor being "accessibility to sidewalks."

The article goes on to say that the study found that "Those individuals who reported living in a city neighborhood with easy access to sidewalks were 15-50 percent more likely to get moderate-to vigorous activity at least five days a week for at least 30 minutes each day."

Peace River has lots of sidewalks as well as the paved paths along the dike and up the West Hill. This valley is so beautiful--let's take the time to savour it by walking, biking or taking the bus to work or activities, even just once in awhile. It's good for the environment and good for our bodies!

Peace River on Level 1 Water Restriction

The Town has declared a Level 1 restriction (Bylaw 1810). Please help out by minimizing all water usage until further notice, but the following restrictions are required by the bylaw:

LEVEL I

Residents at ODD numbered addresses may water lawns: Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday between 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. and again between 4:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Residents of EVEN numbered addresses may water lawns: Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday between 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. and again between 4:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Flowerbeds and vegetable gardens may be watered by hand, at anytime, using a watering can or a hose with a nozzle with a trigger shut off to restrict water flow.

The Water Park opening on June 19 will have to be postponed until further notice.

Updates will be posted on the Town's website and information about saving water is available there as well.

Grand Opening Today (June 11): Horizon Learning Centre

Come tour the new Horizon Learning Centre today between 4:30 and 7:30 and find out what it's all about. The Centre is located on Main Street at 9807-100 Street (tucked between the Horizon Credit Union and Domino's Pizza).

There will be music, munchies and mingling and a short program (where I'll be speaking briefly) from 5:30 to 5:45.

See you there!

Aboriginal Gathering & Pow Wow: June 13-14

It looks like there will be great weather this weekend for the Aboriginal Gathering & Pow Wow, being held in its new location--the Twelve Foot Davis Ball Park--on Saturday and Sunday.

Peace River and area residents will want to take advantage of the scenic location to come and watch the wonderful dancers, singers, drummers, and Metis fiddlers and jiggers. There are also children's activities, food booths, and displays.

This is one of only a few off-reserve events on the Pow Wow Trail and a great opportunity to learn about Aboriginal culture.

FCM Day 1: Capacity Building

Councillor Milligan, CAO MacQuarrie and myself are in beautiful Whistler at the Federal of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) conference. Yesterday's theme was Capacity Building and "green" and "sustainability" were the main topics of discussion  and presentations.

In a session called "Community Energy Systems: Greening Your Bottom Line," we heard about a new Canadian organization called QUEST (Quality Urban Energy Systems of Tomorrow) and inspiring presentations about the exciting work that Guelph, Ontario, Calgary, and our neighbour over the BC border, Dawson Creek, are doing on community-based approaches to integrating land-use, energy, transportation, and waste and water systems. This is resulting in reduced greenhouse gas emissions and saves the municipality money.

Another session I attended was on brownfields, which are, according to a new document from the FCM's Green Municipal Fund (Brownfields) is "an abandoned, vacant, derelict or under-utilized commercial, industrial or institutional property where past actions have resulted in actual or perceived contamination or threat to public health and safety and where there is active potential for redevelopment."

There are a number of contaminated sites in Peace River that if remediated could provide valuable land for development on the East side of the river. The message in the session was encouraging as well as cautionary. During the Q&A, I learned about the Town of Cochrane's brownfield initiative and I've since made contact with some of the councillors to hear more about that project.

I also attended a demonstration of Microsoft's new Surface technology. Very intriguing.

Today's theme is Policy and Advocacy. More on that later.