Community Conversation to cover wide range of projects in Lethbridge on Wednesday

“We have chosen that instead of having 20 open houses throughout the year for each project, we are pooling all of the projects that are on the go that have some component of community engagement and doing them all at one time. This helps with efficiencies; it’s cost-effective, and it prevents the public from experiencing engagement fatigue.”

The other positive benefit, according to Iwaasa, is they have sent out 4,700 invitations to people who are either stakeholders or live adjacent to a particular project so while they may be coming for the Crossings playground as an example, there will be 17 other projects for them to have a look at.

“It allows the public to see everything at once and we’re holding it at CASA. If the weather permits, we will be using the rotary square just outside the CASA doors. It will be more or a less a self-guided open house. We will have project managers or representatives at every project, and people can chat with them or ask questions of them. There will be activities as well, and we’ve invited food trucks to come to make this not your typical open house,” Iwaasa stated.

Doors will open for the open house at 3 p.m. before closing at 7 p.m.

There will be 18 projects that will be showcased at this event, and these are projects that are either on the go currently or important to the public.

“For example, the curbside recycling, that project is basically done, but it’s of interest to the public. We will have someone there to help answer questions, give some information and input to help people out. Same with 311, that’s already been launched. 311 is going to be the face of our information at our community conversation open house as well.”

In terms of new info versus old info, Iwaasa says of the 18 projects, eight are brand new that the public probably hasn’t even touched yet.

“There is something new for everyone to see. Probably of great interest will be the design of the Crossings playground. It’s going to be a very engaging playground which is a little bit different than the rest of the city has, that’s always an important one.

“The 5 Ave N/13 St project will be of interest to a lot of people. The scope of is 5 Ave N from Stafford Drive all the way to 43 St and 13 St from 16 Ave N all the way to 26 Ave N. That will be of great interest, this is the first time its been rolling out because it’s just in the early stages,” Iwaasa explained.

There are several projects people can come out to learn about that maybe they haven’t been made aware of. The other projects are perhaps in a different phase than what people remember, so Iwaasa believes there’s a lot of value in coming out and getting updates on things they’ve already viewed.

The full list of projects/initiatives that the public will have an opportunity to chat and learn about include:

– 5 Ave N/13 St

– Intersection Improvements

– 3 Avenue Reconstruction

– Cycling Corridors Functional Planning Study

– Municipal Development Plan

– Parks – What’s in the Works

– Urban Forest Management Plan

– Crossings Playground

– Fire Station #5

– Complete Streets

– Bicycle Bylaw

– Mobility Accessibility Master Plan

– Downtown – Parking/Public Realm

– Lethbridge Electric Utilities

– Youth Advisory Council

– Curbside Recycling

– Lethbridge Transit

– Lethbridge 311

For those that can’t make it, all of the information from the display boards, surveys or any forms related to specific projects will also be available online at https://getinvolvedlethbridge.ca.

by Aaron Mahoney

Community Conversation to cover wide range of projects in Lethbridge on Wednesday

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