Fire guardians appointed

Sharon McLeay
Times Contributor

 

On Feb. 7, Wheatland County council approved the 2017 fire guardians.
Under the Forest and Prairie Protection Act, it is required that enough guardians be appointed to cover the county effectively. Chosen were four county staff and two members from each district to serve the public and issue fire permits at no charge.
They will receive training from Wheatland County’s fire and emergency manager prior to March 1, 2017.
Appointed were:
County Staff: Jim Laslo, Dave Churchill, Brian Henderson, Russ Muenchrath, Jason Regher, Jeff Cyr, Kris Permann, Dean Young, Jordan Maier, Judy Unsworth
Districts:
Wheatland West: Mike Jakubiszyn, Ben Bremner
Caresland: Ryan Hawswirth
Cluny:Vern Mills
Gleichen: Ron Welcher
Dalum: Albert Jensen, Gerald Rasmussen
Hussar: Mike Haggar
Rosebud: Art Hudson, Earl Pratt, Craig Nelson
Standard: Phil Faubion, Malcolm McKinnon

 

Additional funding
for water pipeline
Darcy Burke, chairman of the Wheatland Regional Corporation, has asked Wheatland County council to approve a low interest loan of $1,036,318 to complete phase two of the water project.
“The grant approved by the provincial and federal governments shall only cover 94.3 per cent ($17,403,672). Remaining funds required to complete the project are $1,036,318, that represents 5.7 per cent of the total construction value,” said Burke.
Burke speculated that water consumer rates would rise about 40 cents per cubic metre or $1.82 for 1,000 gallons of water consumption.
Council approved the request and the money will come from the Gleichen water reserve.
Phase one of the water project will be completed by summer of 2017, and Phase 2 by March 2018.

 

Christmas hamper debrief
There were 247 hampers delivered throughout Wheatland County for the 2016 Christmas period.
“You can see the numbers continue to go up somewhat. We are still at about 25 per cent of the hampers provided, and as you recall, council increased the amount provided for the Christmas Hamper Society in 2016, once more,” said Wheatland County CAO Alan Parkin.
The majority of hampers were delivered to 162 families of one to three persons, 81 to families with four to six people and four with over six people. It took 195.5 hours of work to get the hampers out and there were nine screeners designated to make the process run smoothly.
Three families deferred their hampers to others, stating there were other families in more need that could use the hampers.

 

Water tank facility aids fire crews
Wheatland County council approved a water tanker-truck facility, at a cost of $545,000, which taps into the new Wheatland Regional Corporation water line and is situated near Gleichen.
“The recommendation of the fire service board is to move forward with this and it is now in council’s hands,” said Jim Laslo, Wheatland County’s general manager of Agriculture, Emergency and Protective Services.
The facility will store 13,200 gallons of useable water, and aid in speedy and efficient fills for services like the local fire tanker trucks. The alternative is to fill from hydrants, which decreases water flow rates and extends time to fill the trucks. Having the capability to fill from the facility will cut fill times in half, which will aid crews in major fire emergencies.
The funds will come out of the Gleichen utilities reserve fund.

 

Promoting community involvement
Wheatland County council approved that Orica Canada purchase an old county fire engine for $20,000. Fire policy is to recycle equipment on a regular schedule to ensure mechanical efficiencies and decrease maintenance costs.
“Our goal with the sale of this engine is to undergo joint training sessions,” said Laslo.
The fire service review recommends recruiting additional fire volunteers from local industry. Part of this process involves working with local industry.
“In this case, Orica will need to have properly equipped staff to be able to assist, should we need it. These are critical first steps ensuring we have a good working relationship with our industry partners,” said Judy Unsworth, fire and emergency management coordinator with Wheatland County.
Carseland firefighters will assist with the Orica training opportunity.

 

Fire service agreement
The South Central Emergency Management Group (SCEMG) approached Wheatland County council, to approve the motion to negotiate an agreement for participation in the SCEMG as a secondary response group.
Various municipalities, such as Okotoks, have had an agreement for services around Calgary for approximately the last 20 years.
“We are not in this agreement and we never have been. Wheatland County has never been a part of it until now, if we want to be a part of this,” said CAO Alan Parkin.
Council approved to review the agreement and consider if they would like to participate.
The agreement contract will be brought back to council in the future for approval.

 

Dark fibre details trickle in
Wheatland County CAO Alan Parkin updated council on the progress of the dark fibre deal offered by the province to utilize the unused (dark) portions of the fibre optic line run for provincial purposes.
“A number of municipalities are moving forward on that,” said Parkin.
He said the offer is a lease agreement for a 20-year term. Speculation is the cost will be about $22,000 per year, which would not be manageable for one municipality, but potentially beneficial if split by partners signing onto the memorandum of agreement (MOU).
“We are not sure who is in and who is out. Once we know that we will know more about what it will cost.”
Parkin said the MOU has five points that include the option for other members to sign on, share the cost of the lease equally, and a three-month decision time to opt into also utilizing the line for electric light provision. Information that is more detailed will be forthcoming later in February.

 

WADEMSA donation
Previously, Wheatland County was handling the accounting processes for Wheatland and District Emergency Medical Services Association (WADEMSA).
“As of December 2016, we are no longer handling their accounting,” said Brian Henderson, general manager of corporate and financial services with Wheatland County.
There was a residual amount of services provided by staff, estimated at a cost of
$16,688.Wheatland County council opted to grant the amount, as an in-kind donation to WADEMSA, stating that a similar action will not be necessary in future years.