A glimpse into 2023 with Mayor Jeff Genung
Mayor Jeff Genung poses for a portrait in his office at the Cochrane RancheHouse on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. (Photo by Steven Wilhelm)
“I’m energized to continue to do some good work here in Cochrane, I’m excited for our future,” said Mayor Jeff Genung, “I think this is going to be a huge year for us.”
Genung is looking forward to engaging residents again, attending events, and meeting with stakeholders this year, after the many challenges created by the pandemic.
“Cochrane is back, we’re active, we’re doing things, we’re in the parks, the rec centre, we’re back in council chambers.”
“I want to continue addressing the acute needs that people see every day,” he continued, “The first one is traffic.”
The Highway 22 and 1A interchange is starting construction this spring, which has been a lot of work to get to the starting line according to Genung.
“Working with the province, liaising with them at a very involved level, trying to influence them to pull the trigger on the spending,” he said, “If we’re not talking to the province, we’re not going to get the 1A and 22 to interchange ever.”
There are a lot of moving parts to the interchange project, including coordinating with pipeline operators for relocations, an archeological dig on the east side of the project at the Cochrane Ranch, coordinating with the Cochrane & District AG Society as well as CP Rail.
The goal was to maximize and leverage the province while they’re working on the project according to Genung, “It’s been a lot of work and it’s not even our project,” he continued, “Moving our utilities, having some of the barriers out of the way, I’m so looking forward to that project starting this year.”
“One of my goals is to not just catch up on infrastructure like that, but to try and get ahead of it a bit, at least in the planning, designing and anticipation of them,” he continued, “Having plans in place to address them as we can pay for them.”
The Station will also see its first full operating year, seeing the incubator program help businesses grow. Genung spoke about being deliberate in taking time on programming at The Station, in order to get it right rather than open quickly.
“I’m excited to see that park that we built downtown start to become someplace that people want to hang out during lunchtime,” said Genung, he also mentioned it as being a good place for outdoor events.
“Continuing to put Cochrane on the map provincially is a personal goal of mine, continuing to have us in the in the conversations with provincial decision makers so that we continue to get funding,” he said, “An example of that is the Big Hill Lodge, I would love to know have an announcement from the province that they’ll have that in their budget next year.”
In October 2022, council provided a letter of commitment to the province to provide land to accommodate redevelopment of the aging Big Hill Lodge.
For Genung, replacing the Big Hill Lodge will, “Really show our seniors population that we’re serious about building a community that is for everyone.”
“We’re the fastest growing community in Alberta, 11th, and Canada,” he went on, “We are where people are coming to when they’re moving to Alberta, and communities similar to ours, the province needs to address that through funding.”
As more and more people move to Cochrane, and things get busier, Genung mentioned a need for more indoor and outdoor recreation space. “We need to start planning for that stuff now, so that we’re ahead of the game.”
After some concerns around the budget process from some members of council, The Budget Task Force has been brought forward by administration.
Genung sees value in the Task Force and having a constant check valve on the budget and is open to discussing problems and potential solutions. He said, “Let’s be specific, let’s be deliberate, let’s fix it and move on, so we’re not in this position year after year.”
“I really see my job as mayor as being a relationship builder,” he said.
Genung has been working collaboratively with other municipalities, such as the midsized cities mayor group, or associations like Alberta Municipalities.
“We do this around the midsize city table monthly, virtually, then we get together twice per year in person,” he went on, “Half of our meetings are sharing best practices.”
Relationships in midsized cities, Rocky View County, and the Calgary Metropolitan Regional Board will remain a focus for Genung in 2023.
“It does not mean we’re becoming the City of Calgary, it means we partner with other cities and municipalities around Calgary to maximize infrastructure,” he said.
“We really need to be mindful of our identity, what is it about Cochrane that makes us special, and do everything in our power to preserve that.”
“We’re building an organization that will have a constant consistent message and presence in provincial leadership, to always keep Cochrane in the conversation.”
As Seen in The Cochrane Times