Brookview,
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From:
Date: 2024-09-27 1:40 p.m. (GMT-07:00)
To: The Crier
Subject: Maintenance on Brookview Amenities
When Brookview was developed back in the 1980s the developer added extra amenities to the community to attract people to buy lots in Brookview. Ornamental brick signs were added, boulevards with shrubs and trees were added, a common fence surrounding the community was put in place, and Brookview’s first playground was built. All of these amenities enhance our community, but maintaining them is NOT covered by our City of Edmonton property taxes (even though many of the enhancements sit on City of Edmonton land). Concerns about the lack of maintenance on extra community assets, like those that have been added in Brookview, have been discussed for decades in our community, at City Hall, and by the media.
Why are people concerned? To answer this question simply take a walk over to the Brookview Community Centre and check it out. Benches were added to the exterior of the Centre several years ago. One of the benches was damaged leaving dangerous sharp metal pieces protruding out the side of the bench. Take a look at the photo of the “repaired” bench. A towel was taped over the sharp metal arm of the bench and the bench was relocated from the front patio of the Community Centre to the rear patio. It has been like this for some time. Is this type of maintenance acceptable to Brookview homeowners?
Take a look at the windows at the back of the Brookview Community Centre. Three of the windows are broken.
Take a look at the parking lot. It is filled with numerous potholes, 2-3 feet in diameter and 3-5 inches in depth. Drivers should be watching for preschoolers leaving the Community Centre. Drivers should be looking out for children leaving the playground. Instead, they are dodging potholes. This is a huge liability for the league.
Look at the condition of the rink and the Bulyea Park Greenspace. All of these amenities require maintenance.
Our community volunteers are struggling to maintain the community enhancements we already have. This struggle has been going on for many years. Adding a year-round multi-sport complex to Brookview will further exacerbate the problem by requiring even more maintenance to be completed by community volunteers.
Brookview’s history of lack of maintenance on community assets is well documented. Knowing what we know about the outstanding maintenance issues on Brookview amenities, is it fiscally responsible to add more amenities that will require even more maintenance?
We now have a “Special Resolution” by the BHOA to give $100,000 to BCL for the proposed multi-sport complex. If the BHOA has extra money to give away, I question why funds are not being directed to existing maintenance issues at the Community Centre, the parking lot, the current rink and the Bulyea Greenspace development. Can the current maintenance issues in our community be dealt with using BHOA funds BEFORE more community enhancements are added to Brookview?
The BHOA Board has reviewed and approved their proposal to contribute $100,000 to BCL for the Rink Project, in principle. However, final approval requires a vote by Brookview homeowners.
Be sure to register to attend the BHOA meeting on Oct 23 and share your perspectives regarding outstanding maintenance issues in our community and how the BHOA can help out financially with these issues. If the BHOA has $100,000 to give to BCL, they should be able to direct some funds to maintain the existing community enhancements that are desperately in need of repair.
Your vote at the October 23 BHOA AGM can help provide direction to the BHOA Board.
Brookview homeowners may wish to prepare some questions in advance of the upcoming BHOA AGM. Questions like:
“Should Brookview homeowners expect that the future maintenance costs for the proposed year-round multi-sport rink complex will be paid by our annual BHOA fees?”
“Should Brookview homeowners expect BHOA fees to be increased again, to cover the added maintenance costs required by BCLs proposed community enhancement?”
