There's no doubt town officials should make every effort to communicate proposals, plans and projects with the community.
And they do — through Sundre's official website as well as social media, by newsletters and by placing a weekly full-page ad in the Round Up to name a few.
But official communication and community engagement is a two-way street.
Council could inform residents when it needs feedback by shouting from a loudspeaker at the Main Avenue and Centre Street intersection or personally drop off questionnaires door to door if it came to it, but it cannot actually force people to take the time to provide input.
A recent survey about the new 1.2-kilometre Beta Loop trail on Snake Hill received a mere 14 responses.
As Coun. Chris Vardas pointed out during council's Nov. 23 meeting, when community peace officer Kevin Heerema presented a report on the trail's survey, “Whenever we do a report like this, it's sad when we only have 14 people out of 2,700 people out there in the community” actually responding.
There's no doubt the trail is popular with those who use it, but council needs as much information as possible from the entire community, he said.
“I'd like to see more response on these surveys out there to give us as a council a better grasp on what's going on out there.”
See pages 1 and 2 for that story.
Residents who are opposed to, or perhaps even in favour of, a particular project or proposal cannot expect council to read their minds. Information can be made available, but that doesn't matter much if people aren't finding a few moments to keep up to speed.
Time is a factor for everyone — even more so at this time of year. Some people work overtime, others work multiple jobs, and many commendably volunteer in the community to boot. But at some point, taxpayers have to occasionally find a few minutes to consider local developments.
Municipal politics are no different from provincial or federal politics in the sense that people who don't share their concerns with town officials have no legitimate ground to stand on when complaining.
Although we also strive to inform residents when council is seeking feedback — such as for the Aquaplex this summer and more recently the town's draft Vision 2030 — there isn't always room in the paper for everything.
So we encourage residents to take a minute or two at least once a month — even more frequently if possible — to visit the town's website and check up on its departments' social media pages to follow local developments. For those who don't have access to the Internet, the Sundre Municipal Library offers access, and those who might not be keen on computers could consider a quick call to the town office.
Council wants input from the community to help guide its hand, so don't be shy to provide your point of view.
