The Crowsnest Pass is a Great and 'Beautiful' Place to Live

Crowsnest Pass Promoter

In praise of municipal staff

I just want to give a big thank you to the staff who work for the municipality. I have heard some negative press about the way the municipality is organized so I want to say how much I appreciate what these people do and how helpful they have been to me and my family. My wife and I moved to the Pass almost two years ago. We built our own house from the ground up and I had the opportunity to talk with most everyone in the office, and many of the Public Works field staff during this process.

When I worked in commercial construction in Calgary, it was common to have to wait six to eight months for a building permit. I was delighted to have the entire application process wrapped up in around six weeks! Whenever I had a question for an inspector or the Development Officer, I was ushered straight into their offices and we solved the problem immediately. More so, they were keen to help and make things happen, while abiding by the rules set before us. When I needed something inspected, it was common that the inspector would stop by the next day. This is something that you will never see in most other places.

On several occasions crews from Public Works came to our building site to assist with water or sewer problems. They always arrived promptly and worked with my contractors to solve the issues. Just today I had two staff come to my house for a sewer blockage out in the street. I called the office at 3:05, and even though they are off work at 3:30, they came by shortly after my call and stayed late to make sure the back-up was cleared.

I know people have issues with snow removal but you will never hear me complain about it. Shortly after we moved here, when we saw the first big dump of snow, they had my street cleared by 8 a.m. After living in Calgary for ten years, do you know how many times they plowed and sanded my street? Zero - not once.

When moving here I visited the municipality office a number of times. I have always been helped in a courteous, professional manner. Everything, from getting dog licenses to tax questions, was handled quickly and with a smile. It is so nice to know that you can talk to a person face to face, rather than waiting on hold, listening to some automated service telling you, "press one for hours of operation, press two for..."

All in all, we have been extremely pleased with moving here. I keep hearing that "other towns do things so much better" and I just shake my head. Nothing is ever perfect, but I have lived in a couple of dozen villages, towns and cities around the world and anyone who does not see the good things happening here needs to live somewhere else for a while. Then you will truly appreciate the Pass. Thanks again to everyone working at the municipality.

Brian Gallant


Note: With all the negativity floating around (especially with CLC and River Run) it's nice to pause for a bit and realize how fortunate we all are to live in the safe, friendly, interesting (colourful), and 'beautiful' Crowsnest Pass. Thanks for reminding us of this Brian.

Kudos to all our municipal staff for letting the sun shine in by keeping good things happening here!


UPDATE: (Feb. 11) For an *EXCELLENT* video presentation on the Crowsnest Pass, check out the following:



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