March 2015 Newsletter

Hello Ward 14! We’re nearing the end of winter, and there are already two Aldertalk sessions behind us. If you want to talk about one (or more) municipal subjects, join me at the Mid-Sun Community Centre on March 14th, from noon to 2 p.m. If you can’t make it in March but still want to join, then visit www.calgary.ca/aldertalk for upcoming dates.

Many interesting topics come up at Aldertalk; topics like street lights. That topic came up at the January Aldertalk, and there are some big changes coming in the near future. I am very happy to be moving these changes forward.

Council has approved city-wide retrofitting of street lights. The southeast of the city is scheduled for a complete retrofit in 2016. The street lights will be converted to take LED bulbs. They will save money, and save the environment.

Over the 2015-2018 timeframe the City will replace about 90,000 streetlights with LED fixtures, and although the estimated $32 million initial cost might seem large, the financial benefit to the City is well worth it in the long term.  LED lights use less electricity for a similar quality of lighting, and need to be replaced less often. LED lights are directional, so they waste less light. This results in better energy conservation, efficiency, and less light pollution in the night sky. LED lights will reduce the City’s operating costs by $50 million over ten years—a cost recovery period of only six years.

The conversion will take place in two phases. First, they will be installed in a handful of communities to gain insight, and will then be installed city-wide. If you’re in the neighbourhood, why don’t you check out the future of street lighting? You can find out where to go by searching “LED lights” on www.calgary.ca

Did you know? There are some slight differences in blue and black cart pick up.

While you can expect the garbage man to pick up any extra waste that won’t fit in your black bin, you shouldn’t expect the same for the recyclables you put in your blue bin. This is because the City’s Waste and Recycling department won the contract to provide the blue cart service through a bid on a contract that stipulates cart collection only. There was no bid, or contract for black cart collection.

You can always bring your extra recyclables to community recycling depots across the city, or store it to be collected later, and of course any material intended for the black cart can be left out for regular pick up. Just make sure that the waste is in a bag that is easily lifted with one arm, and is about 1-2 feet from the cart.

I am always interested in having a conversation about whatever colour cart, or variety of topic that you wish to discuss. Feel free to contact me anytime! Also, don’t forget that I send email reminders for Aldertalk, and other important happenings in Ward 14, but I need your consent to send them. You can state your consent via an email to ward14@calgary.ca. Goodbye for now​