A number of East Coulee residents have contributed to the creation of a sign protesting the soon to be created Town of Drumheller water fill station for their community.
Fifty-four concerned citizens of the town chipped in for the sign that has been installed on private property across the street from the selected fill station site.
“We want to let (Drumheller) Council know that we still have a lot of concerns about their handling of things around here, as far as the truck stop (commercial water fill station) goes,” said East Coulee resident Linda Gerlinger.
“Ninelty-seven per cent of people still, in this community, are very upset about the situation, that Council doesn’t talk to us - we’re not informed,” Gerlinger told The Mail.
“And we hope this (sign) will spur them on to please talk to us. Come out and just talk to us.”
She said the bottom line is the majority of residents do not support the fill station and want it moved.
“We’d like to see that fill station stopped from being put there. It seems like a big waste of taxpayer’s money,” said eight-year East Coulee resident Faron Morgan.
Morgan disagrees with the Town’s sale of treated water from the commercial fill station, especially since the majority of that water will be trucked out of the valley for use, and funded by local taxpayers.
He adds the location selected by the Town is a horrible spot to build the fill station, as the land is prime real estate for future tourist development.
He doesn’t understand the site selection, given the Town’s priority of developing the area as a tourist destination, and thinks they could install a water line at the East Coulee fire station.
“We have a fire hall right across the road, and the fire trucks, in order to get water, will have to drive out of the station to go across the road to the fill station. It seems ridiculous.”
Both Morgan and Gerlinger say the East Coulee fill station has been an ongoing issue for a long time, and residents are feeling frustrated that their elected representatives are not listening to them.
Gerlinger expresses frustration over their last communication with Drumheller’s Mayor Yemen, who replied on behalf of Council, saying the fill station decision was made.
“I asked if individual members would reply and he said no, that’s not their policy.”
“Which reinforces the question in my mind - why do we bother to elect representatives if they really aren’t allowed to talk to us, or willing to talk to us? We need that from our elected people.”
“Nobody seems to be listening to us,” said Morgan.
“They ask us, we tell them we don’t want it, they jam it down our throats. It’s not right. It’s not democratic.”
