Who We Are and What We Do
The Cougar Ridge Residents Association’s top priority is to take care of landscaping and planting the flowers throughout Cougar Ridge.
Your annual Cougar Ridge Residents Association (CRRA) fee is an integral part of keeping Cougar Ridge a great place to live! The CRRA board uses the fees to improve the landscaping and beautify Cougar Ridge by enhancing and maintaining the greenspaces in the neighbourhood. These are additional operational, maintenance and replacement services over and above the standard of service provided by the City of Calgary, to the extent legally permissible, for the:
- Entrance features
- Public utility lots
- Environmental reserves
- Municipal reserves
- Public walkways
- Road boulevards
- Road medians
We also advocate for our concerns within Cougar Ridge with the City of Calgary and the Province of Alberta. We work with the West Springs Cougar Ridge Community Association (WSCRCA) for many of these issues.
Treasurer’s Update
The Board remains committed to the enhancement of our community while endeavoring to keep your membership as low as possible. The 2021 fee of $115.54 is an increase of $0.91 from the 2020 fee, however we understand that this is a difficult time for many of our residents. Therefore, we encourage residents to contact FirstService Residential or the Board if you have any concerns regarding your account. We have included a copy of the current collection policy for your information. Staying current with your account is the best way to avoid costly collection fees from adding up, and we have made it easier than ever to pay by providing many options on how to pay your fees.
Management Company (First Service Residential)
First Service Residential is the management company hired by the CRRA to manage the administrative and financial aspects of running our organization. This includes mailing of invoices, financials, and collections. Our designated community manager is Grant Becker. He works with the team at First Service to ensure that all inquiries and concerns are addressed as quickly and satisfactorily as possible.
Grant Becker
Community Manager, First Service Residential
1100, 840-7th Ave SW | Calgary, AB T2P 3G2
Toll Free 855.266.3601
Email: grant.becker@fsresidential.com
www.fsresidential.com
Landscape Maintenance Contractor (Allstar Landscaping)
Allstar Landscaping is entering year 2 of their 3-year contract to perform the landscape maintenance for Cougar Ridge.
We received a great deal of feedback from our residents last year about the landscaping, and the transition from using Pixie Gardens to Allstar. We have shared all of that feedback with Allstar and are expecting the landscaping in 2021 to look fantastic. They are planning for many improvements. We are impatiently waiting for the growing season to get here so that our walks and bike rides through Cougar Ridge can be even more enjoyable and beautiful.
Other Initiatives and the City of Calgary
The City of Calgary owns the land where we plant flowers and make improvements to the community. This land was turned over to the city as part of the requirements of the development process for our community, as it is in all communities throughout Calgary. This means that we need the City’s permission for every activity that we do in Cougar Ridge.
The CRRA is always advocating with City Parks to plant more trees in Cougar Ridge. If there are any tree related concerns that you notice in Cougar Ridge, please reach out to us and contact 311 about your concerns. The more 311 requests the City receives, the higher things move up on the priority list to be dealt with.
Last year we had a great group of volunteers that were working together to make improvements to the playgrounds within Cougar Ridge. This committee made a proposal to put in a new playground to the north of Cougar Ridge Dr. just east of 85th St. Ultimately, that site did not work out as a playground location for a number of reasons. Alternatively, in order to make improvements to our existing playgrounds, we would have to demolish what is currently there to put in something new. With those challenges in mind and our current playgrounds still in pretty good shape, our playground committee volunteers have chosen to pursue other interests for the time being.
This year we have a few volunteers that were very excited to see an “Adopt-a-Rink” pop up on the soccer fields south of the Waldorf School. These volunteers have been working with the WSCRCA and the Coach Hill Patterson Hill Community Association (CHPH) to determine the feasibility of a more permanent skating rink/sport court in Cougar Ridge. Please let us know what you think by reaching out to us at feedback@mycougarridge.com.
West Calgary Ring Road
Along the western border of Cougar Ridge, the province of Alberta is building the final stretch of the ring road that encompasses the city. If you would like more information about what is happening with that project please visit their website at https://westringroad.ca
Residents of Cougar Ridge might especially like to know more about the Multi-Use Pathway that is planned for in the Transportation Utility Corridor (TUC) that should eventually connect us to our neighbouring communities. Currently no budget money has been allocated for this project at either the provincial or municipal level, as far as we know. For more information about this, or to voice your support for it, please contact your elected officials at the provincial and municipal level.
It sure would make the walks and bike rides around Cougar Ridge a lot better if that pathway was built!
Community Associations: Memberships and Volunteering
In our communications with our mandatory membership at the CRRA, we often talk about our close association with the volunteer run West Springs Cougar Ridge Community Association. But we have not mentioned the Coach Hill Patterson Hill Community Association before. Both of these groups rely on volunteers, memberships, and sponsorships in order to be able to operate and provide the wonderful services that they do for our communities. We strongly encourage everyone in Cougar Ridge to learn more about these two organizations and to look into purchasing a membership in both of these CA’s.
Cougar Ridge Residents can choose from a number of different membership options at the WSCRCA; ranging in price from free for volunteers to $15 for seniors and $25 for households.
You can become an Associate Member of the CHPH for $20. Please follow the links below if this interests you.
https://wscr.ca/membership/ https://www.chph.ca/memberships
For volunteer opportunities with the Cougar Ridge Residents Association please visit our new and improved website at https://cougarridgeresidentsassociation.com. You can also contact us at feedback@mycougarridge.com