M.D. of Taber council briefs

By Cole Parkinson
Vauxhall Advance
cparkinson@tabertimes.com

The following are a selected set of briefs from the Municipal District of Taber’s regular meeting held on November 27.

Enchant House
M.D. administration received total confirmation the current Enchant grader operator does not require the use of the available M.D. owned house.

Council has approved an employee rental rate of $650 per month plus utilities and they could offer the house to any M.D. employee or elect to offer it to the public as the estimated market value rent would be between $1,000 to $1,200 plus utilities.

A motion was made to express interest to rent the house to all M.D. of Taber employees at $650 per month per utilities to determine the level of interest. If multiple parties come forward, they would determine how to select the most suitable candidate.

Infrastructure Report

Several Strategic Transportation Infrastructure Program (STIP) projects have seen updates over the past several weeks.

Bridge File 79921 and Bridge File 80259, both of which saw delays due to overland flooding in the spring, are now complete and they are in the process of compiling costs to submit to Alberta Transportation for reimbursement of incurred expenses.

Bridge File 80155 / BRID Drop 5 saw construction start in early October and the contractor reports they are slightly ahead of schedule.

Bridge file 80046 has been awarded to Ossa Terra and work will be completed by March 15, 2019.

Both of the surfacing improvements and water plant backup generators in Hays and Grassy Lake have been completed.

The regional walking rail project is nearing completion as hydro-seed/mulch work and minor cleanup is all that is needed.

The last of the M.D.’s overland flooding work is done now with the Township Road 11-0, east of Highway 36 pipe bore/grout work completion date set for November 30.

Farm Fresh Sponsorship

M.D. council was brought to the attention of sponsoring the Alberta Farm Fresh Producers Association and Alberta Farmers’ Market Association’s upcoming 2019 conference.

Held from February 28 to March 1 in Nisku, they were seeking sponsorship in the form of bronze ($200), silver ($500), gold ($1,000) or platinum ($1,500).

Council had not put money towards the event last year.

A motion was made to sponsor the event at the bronze level for $200 and was passed unanimously. 

Regional Fire Report

Regional Fire Service calls for service from October 17 to November 20. 

Barnwell – fire (1/9), MVC (0/5), EMS/public assist (0/5), false alarm (0/1), inspection/investigation (0/0), M/A calls (3/15).

Enchant – fire (1/6), MVC (0/0), EMS/Public assist (0/4), false alarm (0/2), inspection/investigation (0/0), M/A calls (0/0).

Grassy Lake – fire (1/5), MVC (0/4), EMS/public assist (0/6), false alarm (0/3), inspection/investigation (0/0), M/A calls (1/2).

Hays – fire (0/8), MVC (1/5), EMS/public assist (0/0), false alarm (0/0), inspection/investigation (0/0), M/A calls (0/1).

M.D. Regional – fire (9/39), MVC, (1/31), EMS/public assist (0/16), false alarm (0/6), inspection/investigation (0/11), M/A calls (2/11).

Vauxhall Regional Fire Department – fire (1/11), MVC (3/18), EMS/public assist (0/9), false alarm (1/7), inspection/investigation (1/7), M/A calls (0/9).

Total Regional Fire Service – fire (13/80), MVC (5/63), EMS/public assist (0/40), false alarm (1/19), inspection/investigation (1/18), M/A calls (6/38).

Community Peace Officer Report

Total calls for service – 127, total community patrols – 368, violation tickets issued – 26, warnings provided – 72, total interactions – 414 and 13 bylaw investigations for the month.

Officers responded to seven fire/rescue calls while on-duty, five of those events resulted in the CPO’s providing traffic control, one where they provided scene control and one where they assisted with defusing a situation to allow first responders to work unimpeded.

CPO Dana Butler has been assigned to act as a liaison with the RCMP for when the Rural Crime Watch program begins. With council approving a CPO student placement for winter 2018, students have begun applying for the position. 

Enchant Park Truck

Currently, they have a 2005 half-ton truck with 256,000 kilometres on it and they are hoping to replace it with a reliable truck. 

Council discussed the possibility of sending one of their older trucks for use in Enchant as they rotate vehicles in the new year. A motion was made to work with the mechanic to find a suitable truck to replace the old one and was passed unanimously.

Eagle Spirit Nest Community Association

The association is currently applying for a Family and Community Safety Program Grant through the Government of Alberta to develop and enact several major projects this year along with funding for a coordinator to operationalize this work.

They were in search of a letter of support from M.D. council as they continue to apply for different grants.

A motion was made to write a letter of support and was passed unanimously by council.

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