I understand that the council of the day has made a decision to discontinue direct marketing activities on the lots that they have developed in the Town of Innisfail. And further to this fact has made a decision to acquire the services of a licensed real estate firm who will handle all of the future sales of these lots.
In October of last year, I had commented on the wisdom of the Town of Innisfail being involved in real estate development and the negative aspects that it might create relative to other developers coming to town.
At that particular time one member of the previous council objected to my writings and commented that my entire letter and the scenario that I was describing was, to use his word, ” nonsense.” He was, of course, entitled to his opinion, as am I.
We now fast-forward to today and we see that lot sales in the new subdivision by Napoleon Lake are not going that well. And as a result of that council has wisely decided to employ professionals to do the marketing.
It is a generally held opinion that the responsibilities of a municipal government should be in the following areas: safety (such as fire and police), infrastructure (roads, water sewer, gas and electricity), social services, land use and control of zoning and the like.
I urge council to stick to this historical mandate and not get involved in areas better served by the private sector. Even more important, let us, as a community, promote our lovely town as the best possible place to live. To promote our amenities tell businesses and developers that Innisfail is “open for business.” Competition for investment dollars is becoming more and more fierce and we need to ensure that our town grows and prospers in the coming years. I support this council in what they are trying to do, including the new pathway program at Dodd's Lake which will go right by our little house.
I think we finally may have a council that is forward thinking and not doing the “good ol' boys' network" stuff that we sometimes see in small-town politics.
To council, I say keep up the good work and don’t let a few folks try to steamroll you launching into new ventures that are hard on cash and the taxpayer. Remember there is only one taxpayer, and that is us.
Chuck Blanchard has been an Innisfail resident for nine years and is a former two-term mayor for Invermere, B.C.
