triangle april 2 2015
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The April 2nd, 2015 issue of the Elk Island TriangleTRANSCRIPT
Vol. 38 No. 6 April 2, 2015 Email: [email protected] Ph: 780-868-9221 or 780-446-3088
Spring Babies at a Bruderheim Area Farm
AARON MARKO PHOTOS
Page 2 Elk Island Triangle, Thursday, April 2, 2015
The agenda for the March 10, 2015 regular Council
meeting contained several funding requests from Randy
Siemens, Emergency Services Coordinator and Lamont
County Regional Fire Chief.
The first matter before Council was a request to renew
the employment contract for Mr. Al Klassen. The
employment contract, originally entered into in 2013,
proved to be very valuable as Mr. Klassen covered for
Siemens in his absence, assisted with many projects,
attended incidents when Siemens was not available and
after being appointed training coordinator was able to
bring all departments together under one training calen-
dar.
The request from Siemens stated “During 2014 we
asked for direction from the Office of the Fire Commis-
sioner and were presented the Ross Bennett recommenda-
tions. In these recommendations he stated Lamont Coun-
ty must put in place a training officer to coordinate all
training the County is responsible for and the training
officer will have the designation of Deputy Regional Fire
Chief and will act for the Regional Fire Chief in his/her
absence. Elsewhere in his document he states the
Purchasing Team will consist of 1 member from each
contracted department, chaired by the County Deputy
Fire Chief”.
Siemens’s request went on to say, “I would like to see a
designation of Deputy Fire Chief and Training
Coordinator accompany this position. More importantly
the title for the person holding this position allows
them to do the job alongside the other ranks within our
departments. The events of the past few months have
made it necessary to have this position in place and I
have drawn on it to expedite the changes”.
Council agreed to renew Mr. Klassen’s contract at a
rate of $50.00 per hour, mileage if using a private vehicle,
no benefits and assigned Mr. Klassen the designation of
Deputy Chief and Training Coordinator for Lamont
County.
The second matter before Council was a request for
funding to cover engineering for the Fire Training Center
currently being constructed in Chipman.
The structure has been assembled but requires
engineering before continuing any further. The scope of
engineering services required include: review of the site
and initial structure set up, structural analysis of the sea
-can structure, detailed connection design between the
sea-cans, preparation of fabrication and construction
drawings for the connections, field review following
construction of each structure and operational inspection
recommendations including frequency of inspections.
Siemens indicated he originally had difficulty finding
an engineer to come to the site until McElhanney
Engineering visited the site and provided an estimate of
$19,000.00. In turn the tower portion of the project was
dropped and some safety items were added to the CAD
drawing bringing the estimate down to $12,407.00 plus
GST.
Before a decision was made, Councillor Bryks asked
Siemens why engineering wasn’t considered before the
project reached its current state. “Didn’t we ask you a few
months ago if engineering had been done to make sure the
structure was safe so the County would not have any liability
issues and didn’t you tell us you didn’t need any engineering?”
asked Bryks. Siemens indicated he had thought the
County would not need or have to pay for engineering
but now realizes that is not the case because of safety
and liability issues.
Council voted in favor of attaining the services of
McElhanney Engineering for $12,407.00 plus GST.
The third request from Siemens was in regard to the
purchase of an office trailer (Continued on Page 3)
Council Approves More Funding for Regional Fire Service Needs
Elk Island Triangle, Thursday, April 2, 2015 Page 3
(Continued from Page 2)
for the temporary County Fire Hall in Chipman.
Since moving the County fire equipment into the Chip-
man grader shop, the need for an office space has been
identified because of the need of an area free from ex-
haust fumes for computer equipment and the health of
individuals doing reports.
The addition of a small room at the northwest corner
of the grader shop was considered but drew a negative
response from Public Works.
Siemens’s report indicated the reason for mobility was
that in the event of a large incident in the County the
office space could be moved with a pickup to serve as a
mobile command post. The unit is 16’ x 8”, fully fur-
nished, heated with propane, can connect to a power
source with a 30 amp plug and can be moved easily if its
location is unsuitable to Public Works.
The report went on to state, “We will be forced to
share accommodations for at least the next year and are
now practicing to fit three units into one bay along with
equipment and bunker gear racks. Meetings will require
units to be placed outside and folding tables and chairs
will need to be set up and taken down each time. In addi-
tion to these inconveniences, the station will be storing
most of their equipment in one of the sea-containers”.
The cost of the mobile trailer is expected to be
$4,600.00 but additional costs for insurance, a licence
plate fee and propane and electrical charges to operate
would be incurred.
Council questioned where the unit would find a power
source in the middle of nowhere at which time Harold
Hamilton, Director of Public Works indicated they may
have a power generator that could be utilized if the need
arose.
Council agreed to purchase the office trailer for use at
the Chipman grader site and as a mobile command unit.
Page 4 Elk Island Triangle, Thursday, April 2, 2015
With a Fee, Fee Here, and a Fee, Fee There, Here a Fee, There a Fee, Everywhere a Fee, Fee...
After months of hearing about huge deficits, plummet-
ing oil prices, government overspending and what a hor-
rible financial mess Alberta is in, I wondered if the Chick-
en Little story was coming true and the sky was falling. Yet,
what kind of budget did the Slick Talking PC Head Hon-
cho give us? The Same Old, Same Old…
With all the forceful messages, all the personal bad
news tours and slick speeches, the bureaucratic fat hasn’t
been trimmed, as Prentice suggested it would be, and
remains where it’s been all along, at the top.
Whether it be a small business or a multi-million dollar
corporation, if their finances were handled the way the
PC’s have handled tax payer dollars, the small business
would have shut its doors and that corporate Chief Finan-
cial Officer would have received a size 13 in the behind,
an escort to the front door and no severance package for a
job poorly done.
The Prentice version of value added is more out-of-
pocket costs for everything from birth to death, dozens of
tax hikes and fee increases. Yet, we see the budget bring
with it the biggest deficit Alberta has ever seen.
Look in the Mirror he said. The first thing I saw was a need
for a haircut but then thought about Ralph Klein. Love
him or hate him, Ralph wasn’t afraid to call a spade a
spade and stood behind everything he said and did -
right, wrong or indifferent. He had a few slip-ups, but
who hasn’t. Such as the time he dropped a $20 bill at a
homeless shelter and told the guy to get a job. He got his
share of flack, but took it like a man and stood behind
what he did. Rarely, if ever, did he deny doing or saying
something and never flip-flopped on any decision he
made. He steered a tight ship and earned his crew’s
respect.
Then I thought of Ed Stelmach - a local boy of Ukrainian
descent and past Lamont County Councillor. Could we
have asked for anything more or better? A few things
about ‘Steady Eddy’ stood out to me. His idea of extend-
ing the life of our highways by changing the fast lane to
the slow lane and vice versa, the elimination of health
care premiums and the infamous high power transmis-
sion lines; the lines, for which, a needs assessment was
not required and started the ball-rolling on the erosion of
property rights.
On to Allison Redford. Originally, I had a Hip-Hip-
Hooray! We’ve got a woman Premier and we’re going to
get some real butt-kicking done. The Hip-Hip Hooray
soon turned to Ooopsy! What a disaster!
Finally my thoughts reached Prentice - Smooth talkin’,
cowboy boot wearin’, coal mine workin’, farmer
respectin’, Escalade ridin’ Jimmy. He’s only been around
a few months but he’s already put his boot in his mouth a
few times and is working very (Continued on Page 5)
In My Opinion
NEXT ISSUE – April 16, 2015
Deadline for Submissions: Friday, April 10, 2015
The Elk Island Triangle welcomes your letters to the editor, guest editorials, and news contributions with or without pictures
Please include your name and phone number for contact information Lamont County’s ONLY LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED newspaper!
Elk Island Triangle, Thursday, April 2, 2015 Page 5
(Continued from Page 4)
very hard to show he’s a force to be reckoned with. Yet,
he tries to pick the right time to make his next move by
steadily checking the pulse of Albertans. In my opinion,
these are signs of insecurity and insecurity is normally a
sign of weakness and/or a hidden plan.
Why is it that we can make concessions to balance our
cheque books after the PC’s pull more out of our pockets
but they haven’t figured out how to balance theirs with-
out putting their hand out to us again and again? You’d
think after 40+ years they’d have figured it out.
Maybe we should take a look in that proverbial mirror.
After all, it is we, the Alberta public, that have continually
offered the PCs our trust by marking the ballot. Maybe
we should ask ourselves if the Blue and Orange engine
has finally worn out and it’s time for a change. Recent
surveys indicate Albertans have lost faith in the PCs and
change just may happen.
Surely to goodness change can’t be any worse than the
present and could actually turn out to be a good thing.
Sylvia
P.S. Some of you have asked when I think Prentice will
declare an election. I would like to say April 7 but with
the current discontent around the budget, he may play it
safe and wait till April 17. We’ll see.
Page 6 Elk Island Triangle, Thursday, April 2, 2015
A lady once asked me what no blackout on flights
means. For some reason she thought all flights were
only during the day.
What no blackout dates means is that you are
guaranteed a seat on any airline at any time. However,
that is not the case with Air Canada's Aeroplan or other
carriers who are members of the Star Alliance Partner-
ship because they allow only a certain number of seats
per flight at the seat sale price, and that price is not
available on certain dates.
When I tour and want to fly using my Air Miles, I
have the tour company e-mail me the date, airline flights
and times the flights leave so I can call Avion for my
tickets. Normally, in less than 30 minutes, I get my
confirmation and tickets on my computer. That is
service. I’ve had a problem with that process only once.
We were going to Australia and New Zealand and,
because of distance, wanted to upgrade our seats. I
called for two days but couldn't get my seats so I asked
for a file number. Every call I made after that had to be
documented on my file. During one of my calls I finally
said “I have enough Air Miles so give me the tickets. He
said he’d check out the problem and get back to me.
The next day he told me the reason I was having such a
problem was because the airlines didn’t want to accept
Air Miles. They wanted to sell the $6,000 seats. I said it
wasn’t my problem, I had enough Air Miles and wanted
my tickets. In 48 hours we had out tickets.
When we flew home we were the only ones in first
class and had sixteen seats to choose from. Don’t give
up, be firm and stick to it.
Here’s another example of being firm and sticking to
it. We decided to go to St. Maartens using Air Miles.
The routing was Edmonton-Denver-Washington, DC–St.
Maartens with return being the reverse. We got all our
boarding passes except for Denver to Edmonton.
Instead, we only got a flight number leaving at 1p.m.
We were at the airport early but could not get on the
flight. I was livid and asked United what they were
going to do. They told us we were scheduled on the 4
p.m. flight. “Not good enough, you’ve got to do better
than that”, I declared.
They offered us first class tickets to Edmonton. Big
deal, we get cashews instead of peanuts on a two hour
flight, I exclaimed. I said, “do better than that or the
whole airport will hear me if I have to come up to the
counter again”. They must have not want a scene
because they offered us two free tickets anywhere Unit-
ed flies in North America. I replied, “Okay and we will
take the cashews too”.
The following year we flew to Maui, Hawaii thanks
to United. We used our Aeroplan cards and got air
miles on both free trips. That is how the system works.
I got the idea from an article in a travel magazine I once
read.
Remember, don’t back down, ever. I hope this helps
someone.
- Enjoy your trip.
Elk Island Triangle, Thursday, April 2, 2015 Page 7
County Council had no choice but to make a decision regarding some costly road repair requests during the March 10 regular Council meeting. The first request dealt with the Lamont West Road-(Range Road 195 – Pioneer Road) or the portion of Range Road 195 be-tween Highway 15 and Highway 29 because the road is in urgent need of extensive repairs due to the large amount of heavy traffic utilizing it. Driving lanes, in both directions, are suffering from deeply rutted wheel paths and sections of asphalt have deterio-rated and broken down on driving lanes and shoulders. Required repairs include excavation and removal of all dam-aged areas, an appropriate amount of fill laid across the entire road and a lift of aggregate asphalt concrete pavement placed as a surfacing top coat. Council was told the repair work would consist of the same work that was outlined in tender documents originally sent out in 2014 and would complete Part A of last year’s contract. Without these repairs, the road would get worse causing increased repair costs in the future. Council chose to accept a cost estimate from Amec Foster Wheeler Environmental & Infrastructure in the amount of $1,300,000. for the repairs and asphalt overlay and directed ad-ministration to proceed with the tender. Funding for the project will be allocated through the 2015 budget. It should be noted the road repair was before Council at the September 9, 2014 regular Council meeting. Motion 14-346,
made by Councillor Bryks, states: That Lamont County Council direct Administration to award the Lamont West Road (RR195, between Highway 15 and 29) to Sandstar Construction Ltd.”. The motion was carried unanimously. Why the project has now been sent to tender again is unclear. The second road repair on Council’s agenda was the St. Michael Access Road (Range Road 184), a four mile stretch north of High-way 29. Since being paved approximately 25 years ago, the road has received only basic routine maintenance, such as crack filling and patching, and is now in need of an upgrade so an extensive re-build can be avoided. With the addition of a preservation layer over top of the existing base now, the life of the road could be extended. The St. Michael Access Road was in front of Council at their September 9, 2014 meeting as well. At that time, Councillor Warawa made motion 14-347: “That Lamont County Council direct Administration to work with AMEC to develop a tender package for a chip seal on the St. Michael access road for con-struction in the spring of 2015”. On February 19, 2015, a revised project cost estimate was provided to the county by Amec Foster Wheeler Environmental and Infrastructure in the amount of $388,400.00. Council accepted the cost estimate for the project and advised administration to proceed with the tender process with funding for the project to be allocated through the 2015 budget.
County Council Addresses Necessary Road Repairs
Page 8 Elk Island Triangle, Thursday, April 2, 2015
During the March 10, 2015 regular Council meeting,
County Council was presented with a Request for
Decision (RFD) regarding work done in or near wetlands
along Range Road 193.
The RFD indicated there has been an ongoing
water drainage concern between landowners at
NW-27-53-19-W4 for several years. It appears one of the
landowners had used a tractor or loader to make a ditch
through his field into the county ditch. The work
performed deepened the ditch at a culvert and caused
water to drain from his field into the neighbor’s land
causing a flooding concern.
Council was advised that over the last several years
Public Works staff and the County Peace Officer had been
to the site because of the drainage issues.
“Someone will plug the culvert and someone will call
complaining the culvert is plugged. Next time someone
will call and state that the culvert has been opened and
water is washing through,” the RFD stated.
Alberta Environment became involved but as the land
was in crop when the inspection was done; it was difficult
for the inspector to determine how much drainage work
had been done in the field but he confirmed drainage
work had been done in the county ditch.
As a result; the County received a letter from Alberta
Environment and Sustainable Resources dated January
16, 2015. The letter stated their office received a public
complaint that a culvert had been plugged resulting in
flooding of the neighboring property. The letter went on
to state that the inspection found material had been
removed from the ditch line, on county property, during
the spring of 2013 by a person that rents the adjoining
property. The removal of the material from the ditch
caused a diversion of water from a wetland associated
with the private property which then flowed through the
culvert that was subsequently blocked as reported by the
county.
The letter stated: There was no approval under the
Water Act for any activity in or near the body of water; there-
fore this is a contravention of section 36(1) of the Water Act
which reads in part:
36(1) Subject to subsection (2), no person may commence or
continue an activity except pursuant to an approval unless it is
otherwise authorized under this Act.
As this area is on county property it is the County’s responsi-
bility, as defined in the Water (Ministerial) Regulation, under
section 1(5)… (Continued on Page 9)
Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resources Assigns Remediation Order
to Lamont County
Elk Island Triangle, Thursday, April 2, 2015 Page 9
OTTAWA (18 March, 2015) – Leon Benoit, Member of Parlia-ment for Vegreville-Wainwright, on behalf of the Honourable Candice Bergen, Minister of State for Social Development, today encouraged local organizations to submit their projects for con-sideration under the newly launched Enabling Accessibility Fund (EAF) Call for Proposals. “This is a great program that will in-crease accessibility right here in Vegreville-Wainwright,” said Benoit.
Organizations are encouraged to apply for funding for projects that will help improve accessibility in community facilities. The deadline for submissions is April 27, 2015. Proposals can involve a wide variety of projects; however priority will be given to pro-jects that enhance access for children with disabilities (e.g. play-grounds and recreational facilities), veterans with disabilities or seniors with disabilities. Under this call for proposals, organiza-tions can receive a grant of up to $50,000.
Municipalities are also eligible to apply in support of the first priority (access for children with disabilities) since a large num-ber of recreational facilities are under their management. As such, all municipalities, irrespective of size, have been included as eligible recipients under this priority only and are strongly encouraged to apply.
Benoit noted that examples of eligible projects could include
building accessible playgrounds; widening hallways and door-ways; installing elevators and automated power doors; improv-ing lighting, acoustics or contrast; installing accessible wash-rooms and service counters; upgrading facilities that offer pro-grams for adults and/or children with autism and other cogni-tive/intellectual impairments; installing assistive technology; and installing or updating information technology.
Over $11 million in funding is available through this year’s call for proposals. All applications are reviewed against eligibility criteria, call for proposal requirements and program objec-tives. Since the creation of the EAF in 2007, the Government of Canada has funded over 1,800 projects, helping thousands of Canadians gain better access to their communities’ facilities, programs and services.
“I encourage organizations and municipalities to take a look at how these available funds may help with a project such as in-creasing accessibility in a playground or recreational facility,” added Benoit. “We want to ensure that all Canadians can partic-ipate fully in our communities.”
Application information is available on Employment and Social Development Canada’s website at http://www.esdc.gc.ca/eng/disability/eaf/
MP Leon Benoit encourages organizations to start submitting applications
Remediation Order - Continued from Page 8 The letter went on to say; “Therefore Lamont County is to
remediate the works done and bring the area back to its pre dis-
turbed state ensuring the integrity of the wetlands is not com-
promised. This work must be done prior to March 31, 2015 or
when environmental site conditions permit”.
The RFD indicated Public Works would have no prob-
lem filling in the approximately 20 foot long by 1 foot high
ditch as all it would take is a few loads of clay, a backhoe
to place the material and a bucket of small rip-rap around
the culvert.
However, Public Works is concerned for the safety of
the employees because the landowners are very angry
with each other. One has already had his jaw broken in
an altercation and now we hear that if anyone fills in the
ditch there may be gun play, the RFD stated. “I would like
to have By-Law and even RCMP on site while we fill the ditch
back in. We do not want to put our employees at risk”, said
Harold Hamilton, Director of Public Works.
After some discussion, Council made a motion stating:
That Lamont County council directs administration to fill in the
municipal ditch according to the letter from Alberta Environ-
ment. A letter is to be sent to the land owners that if this action
happens again, charges and all expenses will be billed to them.
The motion was carried unanimously.
Page 10 Elk Island Triangle, Thursday, April 2, 2015
Joanne has decided to make like the birds and flew the coop this week, so she asked me to fill in for her this time around. My family recently requested chicken & dumplings for dinner, so I went online in search of a scratch recipe for dumplings. Since I was out of a couple of herbs for the Herbed Dumplings version, I decided to try the Dill alternative, and it turned out fabulous! Remember if you have a favorite recipe that you would like to share with the rest of the readers, you can email it to Joanne: [email protected] or in the mail: Box 14, St. Michael, AB T0B 4B0 Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy these dumplings in either variation.
- Carol Marko
Herbed Dumplings Original recipe makes 6 servings
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. baking soda 2 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. dried thyme 1 tsp. dried parsley 1 tsp. dried oregano 3 Tbsp. butter ¾ cup milk An alternate is to use 2 Tbsp. of dried dill weed instead of thyme, parsley & oregano.
Directions: In a bowl, mix the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, thyme, parsley, and oregano. Cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Gradually add milk, using just enough to form a thick batter. Drop by rounded tablespoons into your simmering soup or stew, cover, and allow to cook 15 minutes. Note: In the slow cooker, tilt the lid to allow steam to escape, turn on high and allow dumplings to cook for at least an hour.
Although not personally present at the March 10, 2015
Council meeting, Economic Development Manager, Jim
Newman had a Request for Decision presented to Council
for their consideration.
Over the years, Council and Administration have
discussed opportunities and challenges facing the County
with respect to industrial development in the Industrial
Heartland Area.
When it comes to attracting new industrial develop-
ment, Newman believes Lamont County is in a unique
position and feels challenges for potential development
need to be identified and solutions created so the county
has a strategy in place for attracting the right industry.
Newman has been in discussions with Stantec for the
purpose of developing a Lamont County Industrial Devel-
opment Strategy and has budgeted the $35,000 cost
associated with the strategy’s development in the 2015
Economic Development budget.
Council accepted Newman’s request by way of a
motion that County Council approve entering into a
contract with Stantec for the purpose of developing a
Lamont County Industrial Development Strategy as per
the proposal. The motion was carried unanimously.
Stantec to Develop a Lamont County
Industrial Development Strategy
Elk Island Triangle, Thursday, April 2, 2015 Page 11
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Alberta Health's expenses are budgeted at $18.9 billion
in 2015-2016; about $160 million lower than 2014-
2015. Health will see a $950 million cut in 2015-16
through "significant restraint measures" by Alberta
Health Services (AHS), cuts to Primary Care Networks
(PCNs), and drug cost savings.
"The Alberta Government's new way to spin budget
cuts is by saying the lost money is being 'absorbed,'" stat-
ed Sandra Azocar, Executive Director of Friends of Medi-
care. "The cuts will include 1,700 staff being cut from the
health care system. There is only so much money they
can wring out with efficiencies. The budget looks like it
expects our province not to have any more babies, grow
older, or accept any newcomers."
The new Health Care Contribution Levy will be paid
by individuals with taxable income over $50,000 (to a
maximum of $1,000). It is expected to generate 1.8% of
the government's revenue ($396 million) and will go di-
rectly into general revenues. That new revenue will not
lead to an increase in health care spending. In fact, the
government's budget will not even account for the 84,500
new people expected in Alberta this year.
"If the government simply wanted to increase taxes, it
could have done that in many other ways," added Azo-
car. "By slapping a 'health care' label on this tax, the gov-
ernment is not being honest with Albertans. The reality
is less money in your pocket and less money for health
care."
Sandra Azocar is the Executive Director of Friends of
Medicare.
Quality Health Care Being 'Absorbed' by 2015 Budget
Page 12 Elk Island Triangle, Thursday, April 2, 2015