Citizens raise concerns over proposed new ‘Civic Square’ in Coaldale

Information about Civic Square was also sent forward by the town to a local newspaper.

One piece of information Beekman noticed was a project cost of $8.65 million, a figure that was included in the town’s 2019-2020 capital budget.

Officials with the town have since stated that the project has been downgraded to about $3.5 million, according to Beekman.

“The way many of us heard about it was, you know, there’s a few local business that are being displaced, being asked to move. There’s already one that has shut down and moved into Lethbridge, for the town to acquire the land to build this, but again, they’re not consulting any of the citizens,” Beekman said.

“This is a major project that, you know, we feel we should kind of have a bit of a say in where our tax money goes.”

Lethbridge News Now asked Beekman if the matter was more focused on concern around Civic Square itself, or a lack of transparency from town council.

“I would say a little bit of both,” he said.

“Personally, my biggest concern is the transparency and the secrecy. In a town of 8700 people, council has to be able to consult with the citizens a little bit better. We’re not a huge city [and] we have to differentiate between our needs and our wants.”

The building would reportedly be two to three floors.

Beekman said there must be more “modest options”. He also noted other work that should be taking precedence over a new town office.

“You talk to anybody that’s a resident of Coaldale and their biggest concern and complaint is the roads. The roads in Coaldale are atrocious. They’re doing a main street revitalization right now, which is taking care of some of the worst spots, but that’s one road. There’s still a pile of them in Coaldale, and that to me, from what I’ve been hearing from most of the residents, is that’s their biggest concern,” he said.

Another issue that the town has been dealing with over the last year is problems with its outdoor pool.

READ MORE: “Critical failure” in Coaldale pool to be fixed while council decides on long-term solution

The town repaired the popular amenity, however, Beekman said the fix is not a proper, long-term solution.

“They were able to fix it for a couple hundred-thousand to get it operational this year, but [that’s] a band-aid, we maybe will get one year, we might get three years out of it but there’s no plan in place for when this pool is absolutely unusable anymore,” he said.

“A lot of the residents want to see something like that; they feel our money would be better spent towards something that’s more usable for the rest of the citizens, rather than council and administration. If all of a sudden, that pool doesn’t make it through the end of this year, then what? Then there’s no more repairs that can be done and then we’re sitting there with nothing.”

COMMUNICATION WITH THE TOWN

Beekman said a few members of the group have tried to engage in discussion with council.

“Most of the times when they talk to council members, the generic answer that we end up getting is always, ‘I don’t know’ and it’s like there’s something that’s being hidden. We’re curious why council is scared to talk to us.”

Last week, Beekman said he sent a letter to council requesting a plebiscite focused on Civic Square.

“When it made the floor [at town council], they tried to file it away for information and avoid discussion on it, but one council member had suggested that they call our group in for information and meet with us to clear the air on it,” he explained.

The meeting was proposed for September, but Beekman said that’s too late.

“The only option that they’re giving us is they’ll discuss it with us after everything’s been finalized and the project’s a go and to me, that’s not meaningful consultation. That’s not coming to the best happy medium. That’s them making a decision, going forth with it and then telling us, ‘okay this is our decision – live with it’,” he said.

“All in all, what we’re trying to do is have our voices heard a little bit. There’s a lot of concerned citizens about this and it’s too bad that council’s not listening.”

Beekman said Citizens for a Better Coaldale is simply a group of concerned citizens.

“[We] are kind of getting fed up with the way the town is being run; the secrecy, the over-spending. We’ve got the, I would say, arguably, the most expensive town council in the history of Coaldale. There’s a bunch of lies and deception. They’re doing all these capital projects without any public consultation and saying we’re going to have no tax increases,” he explained.

“Well, anybody that knows basic economics knows that money going out has to be replaced by money going in. You can’t have one without the other. We’re a group of citizens who are just trying to hold council more accountable.”

by Justin Goulet

Citizens raise concerns over proposed new ‘Civic Square’ in Coaldale

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