The RM of Rockwood's reeve has a new outlook on development, after spending some time in Ottawa recently. Jim Campbell attended the Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference, which focused on sustainable and environmentally friendly developments. Campbell says the presentation was a great opportunity to discuss common issues with those across the country.

Jim Campbell

"A lot of them have done things so you can talk about their experience, so you can ask questions about something you're thinking of doing. You can save all kinds of time and money, by coming across someone that says they've done it already, and it worked well, or it wasn't such a great idea."

He says some conversations where also eye-opening, citing a discussion with a municipal leader who had turned down funding for a new arena.

"I actually talked to someone there who was given a private donation for a new arena. They turned it down, because it was going to cost them money to maintain it over the life of the arena. Things like that, just because something sounds like a good idea now, you have to think about it over its life-span, what it costs to maintain, and what it will cost to replace if you end up replacing it."

Campbell notes part of the conference focused on creating more than just subdivisions, but whole communities with parks, common areas, and recreation opportunities. He notes he returns to Rockwood with some ideas, on how to address future development in the municipality.

"The first thing is instead of just getting a project or idea and just going ahead --there's no one around the council table with the experience or know-how for creating a subdivision-- I think the most important thing is to identify the project, hire a professional and do it right instead of being sorry for the mistakes you made."

He notes residential areas can often cost more to maintain than what's brought in through tax revenue, so moving to a greener and more sustainable model is something all Canadian communities are looking at.