Encana work access agreement needed

Times Contributor

 

County councillors discussed a letter designated for delivery to Encana regarding the development of an access-work agreement for work done involving county jurisdictions.

Recent issues of dust control, notifications and resident complaints have generated a need for the agreement that would also deal with water quality and testing issues.

“Encana should have an agreement with us,” said Chief Administrative Officer Jennifer Deak.

In the past, a gentleman’s agreement had asked that contractors notify the county by phone of scheduled work dates.

It was suggested that if contractors couldn’t reach anyone in off hours, notifications were sometimes missed.

“They may stop notifying us if they can’t get confirmation,” said Councillor Ken Sauve.

In one instance, a contentious issue led the ERCB to direct an enforcement order on Encana, but expected the county to monitor compliance. The county mediated between the resident, Encana and subcontractor working for Encana. It was noted that Encana has a three strikes out policy with subcontractors, who don’t adhere to regulation guidelines.

“ERCB has the requirements. It should be up to them to enforce it,” said Reeve Glenn Koester.

There was discussion whether other businesses requiring testing and disposal regulations, should also have working agreements. There was consensus that the County had to take some responsibility for developing a better process for work agreements.

“There is a lot of work yet to be done. Moving forward, we will have a policy of what needs to be done,” said Reeve Koester.

Disaster training postponed

Emergency disaster training sessions are on hold, until WFCSS staff move into their county offices. Currently there are not enough people registered to hold the course. 

Gerald Skibinsky, Manager of Protective Services, Fire, Disaster, and Safety Coordinator for the county said he would like to discuss disaster issues with Sharon Tibeau, the WFCSS coordinator, before running the training sessions.

“I would like her to have a chance to work with the village and hamlets, to set some of the organizational details up,” said Skibinsky.

He said the WFCSS coordinated role will be to provide for the health, welfare, sleeping arrangements and food provisions in emergencies. Tibeau had coordinated a system, when the offices were located in Strathmore. He speculated there might be different provision stations within the county, depending on the location and nature of the emergency. 

Councillor Alice Booth said that in the past, regulations for food and accommodations were so stringent that volunteers felt they could not deliver the service needed.

“We have had other emergency response instances in the past, where people’s kindness was shown by delivering relief, even taking people into their homes,” said Skibinsky.

He thought there was a way to work with government requirements and indicated he would get more information on compliance requirements.

He had opened the training to other counties, but did not receive any response and to date had only six local applicants for the training. With WFCSS moving into County offices during the last week of January, the delay in training courses would allow them to settle in and include all their staff in the training.

Strathmore Ag gets no waiver

The Strathmore and District Ag Society asked for a waiver on their 2012 taxes. Council voted the waiver down stating that no other Ag Societies in the county receive waivers. They will have to pay the $456 tax. 

WADEMSA update 

WADEMSA listed 3,043 response calls in 2012. Reeve Koester said the crews have been extremely busy, with up to 23 responses in one workday. He commended the staff for their dedicated service to the community. The service hosted a tour of the dispatch centre for area fire chiefs and response was good. The event will occur once a year.

Fire permit changes

WADEMSA is requesting that residents with crop burning fire permits don’t call 911, prior to firing their crops.

It was a process done in the past, but is not now required. Copies of the permits are faxed to WADEMSA, when the permit is approved. However, if residents have a fire emergency with a runaway burn, they should call 911 for assistance.

Fire meetings

The observation tours of the fire halls are almost complete, excluding Dalum and Cluny, which have not given a date for their hall tour. 

“A lot of departments have made large movements forward,” said Skibinsky.

The next Fire Review meeting is set in Hussar on Jan. 17.