We are kicking off the month by celebrating Seniors Week (June 3-8) and our local seniors’ countless contributions to our community. Later in the month we will honour our Bee City designation during Pollinators Week (June 17-23) during which the committee will provide educational information for you to learn how bees can thrive in your neighbourhood. Finally, we will acknowledge Indigenous Awareness Week (June 17-23) and Pride Week (June 24-30) with a variety of events at the end of the month.
Celebrations are an important part of recognizing the diverse groups, committees, demographics and cultures that contribute so richly to our community. I am pleased to see so many wonderful activities happening this month and look forward to catching up with you at some of these events.
June is also Parks & Recreation month, which I feel is very appropriate as the warmer days provide great opportunities for families to enjoy our parks, trails and outdoor amenities. Did you know that Chestermere has more than 6700 trees and more than 70 parks and green spaces? If you’d like to learn more about these amenities, I encourage you to visit chestermere.ca/parks for maps and information about all the beautiful spaces our city has to offer.
Please keep safety top of mind as you enjoy the outdoors. I have been seeing many kids riding bikes without helmets these days and hope that parents and grandparents can take an extra moment or two to remind the young ones about the importance of safety gear.
For those looking to get out on the water, we also encourage you to be vigilant. One way we are working to improve lake safety is by adding more education to our new boat launch process. As boats come through the launch, our staff take time to discuss required safety equipment on a vessel, maximum speeds allowed on Chestermere Lake and safe operation. I am hopeful that these extra efforts to remind boaters of their responsibilities will help everyone enjoy the lake safely this season.
In addition to enjoying some summer celebrations, Council and I are also working through intense discussions about CUI. Our Transition Team recently presented the CUI Board with recommendations to bring almost all utility services back in house under the City, and we will be reviewing that proposal at a special Council meeting on June 11. During this meeting, we are looking for your feedback and I invite you to come provide your thoughts on these proposals.
I want to again reiterate our appreciation for your patience as we sort through the intricacies of dissolving CUI. It has been an intensive, thought provoking journey. We know that change is needed and we want to ensure our decisions don’t end up costing our residents more in the long run. I am hopeful that we are close to finalizing that process and look forward to providing you with enhanced customer service and better utility rates soon.
Sincerely,
Mayor Chalmers
