Dear Friends,
May showers are said to bring May flowers but, in Calgary, they also bring to the forefront flooding concerns for many Ward 11 residents and other Calgarians. The 2013 flood was the largest flood in Calgary since 1932. Heavy rainfall on the melting snowpack in the Rockies caused rapid and intense flooding in and around our city. Tragically, lives were lost, over 80,000 people were evacuated, and damage totalled over 6 billion dollars.
Flood mitigation and preparedness is a priority you and me. Ward 11 is home to the Elbow River and the Glenmore Reservoir, so our neighbours and all levels of government need to be at the table for an important discussion. This month, please join me for a Special Edition Town Hall on Flood Mitigation and Preparedness. The event will take place on Thursday, May 17th (7-8:30 pm) at the Elbow Park Community Hall located at 800 34 Avenue SW. There will be representatives from The City of Calgary’s Calgary Emergency Management Agency (CEMA), Water Services and Environmental Protection business units. I hope that you and your family can join me for this event.
Also, during this month, you can expect to see construction on a variety of infrastructure projects that will continue around the Ward. These include the Southwest Ring Road, the Southwest BRT as well as impacts on our parks and infrastructure. I will continue to share updates as my office receives them. I can appreciate that the coming months will continue to be a very challenging time for commuters and residents who live adjacent to the construction of these projects. I inherited many of these projects when I was elected and did not have a say in reviewing them or making them better before they were approved. Your safety and quality of life is important to me and I want to hear from you.
My sincere appreciation goes to the Cedarbrae Community Association who hosted last month’s event. Finally, my sincere congratulations to Ward 11 residents, Bob Lang (Cliff Bungalow Community Association), Cal Melrose (Palliser Pumphill Bayview Community Association) and Erika Topola (Acadia Community Association) for being chosen by the Federation of Calgary Communities as ambassadors for the 2018 Faces of Community campaign – your tireless work is admired and appreciated.
Respectfully yours,
Jeromy
(Ward 11 Councillor and Palliser resident)
