Donation Of Goods For Fire Victims Maxed Out!

Trucks and storage lockers across the province are brimming with donations for residents displaced by fires in Northern Alberta. No further non-cash contributions are needed at this time.

“The province, local municipalities and the Red Cross are working with evacuees to determine their needs,” says Donelda Laing, Manager of Community Social Development with the City of Grande Prairie. “As we assess how we can best help these regional neighbours, we will share this information with communities in our area.”

The City of Grande Prairie, the County of Grande Prairie, the Towns of Sexsmith, Beaverlodge and Wembley and the Village of Hythe are part of the Grande Prairie Regional Emergency Partnership.

“We know that residents across the region are eager to help and we appreciate the outpouring of concern and generosity,” says Kathleen Turner, Director of Family and Community Support Services with the County of Grande Prairie. “The best way people can assist is to provide cash donations so specific needs can be addressed.”

Individuals and organizations wishing to provide assistance are asked to please consider giving a cash donation rather than goods. Individuals and organizations that wish to provide assistance are asked to call the Red Cross at 1-800-418-1111 or online at www.redcross.ca, or the Salvation Army 780-908-7782 or 780-909-5598.

Cash donations may be made to the Community Foundation of Greater Grande Prairie by calling 780-538-2820 or contributions can be made online at www.canadahelps.org

-30-

Media enquiries may be directed to:

Donelda Laing

Community Social Development Manager

City of Grande Prairie

780.538.0909

Kathleen Turner

FCSS Director

County of Grande Prairie

780.832.7013

Sharon McLean

Red Cross Regional Branch Manager

780.539.7127

Sharon.mclean@redcross.ca

Hydrants need a helping hand

Aquatera just released the following info ... I know we're all tired of shoveling but this is a major safety issue:
 
Grande Prairie, AB – Somewhere in a snowbank near your property is a fire hydrant that may be desperately needed on a moment’s notice. 
 
Aquatera and local fire departments are urging the public to clear out hydrants near or on their property regularly so they can be used at a moment’s notice by fire crews in the region.  Fire hydrants should be easily accessible from the street, and have clearance of one metre on all sides of the hydrant, as well as two metres on each side of the hydrant. 
 
Aquatera provides approximately 2300 hydrants throughout Grande Prairie, the County of Grande Prairie and Town of Sexsmith, as part of service agreements with municipal governments.  Hydrants are typically located 200 metres or less from each other, and provide fire crews quick and easy access to water in emergencies.

Arrest Made In Connection with B.C. Pipeline Bombings

I just received the following media release which notes that there has been an arrest made in connection with the pipeline bombings in the Dawson Creek area. The Grande Prairie Daily Herald Tribune has more info here.

The RCMP release:

"Large Search Underway in Pipeline Bombing Investigation
Grande Prairie for E Division
Friday January 8, 2010

Hythe, Alberta: A significant development in the 15 month long investigation involving a series of bombings near Dawson Creek has lead to a search of a large rural farm and the arrest of one male.

RCMP members from E and K Divisions led by the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET) are currently conducting a criminal code search warrant on a large rural property located near Hythe, Alberta to search for evidence relating to the Dawson Creek bombings. It is not known how long investigators will remain on the property.

"We cannot say what we are looking for specifically, or what information led us to the location, but we have followed a trail of evidence that ultimately led to the execution of the search warrant," said Supt. Lloyd Plante, Assistant Criminal Operations Officer for the RCMP's National Security Program in British Columbia.

One male associated with the property has been taken into custody. His name cannot be released since he has not been formally charged.

This investigation is far from over. Criminal charges have not been laid, and investigators have a significant amount of work ahead of them.


The $1,000,000 reward being offered by EnCana has not been claimed. Anyone with additional information is asked to call the dedicated tip line at 1-866-994-7473

Inspector Tim Shields is available to answer media questions at the scene. He can be reached through the RCMP E Division media line at 604-264-2929. Please monitor www.bc.rcmp.ca closely for any updates."

Apartment Fire Aftermath

I'm not in the city today but I just received an update (12:45pm) on the fire at Eagle Manor via email. Here's the latest info on the fire and what's happening for effected residents:

Update (5:55pm) CTV has this report on their site suggesting arson maybe to blame.

"City of Grande Prairie
Media Release
November 28, 2009

Tenant Meeting Scheduled Following Fire

Boardwalk Rental Communities is holding a meeting for tenants of Eagle Manor displaced by Saturday’s major structure fire.

The session for residents to receive information and make enquiries will be held at the Church of Christ at 7 p.m. Monday. The property management company is providing accommodation to any residents needing housing.

A phone line is in place for loved ones of residents wanting to enquire about their whereabouts following the fire early this morning. Residents of the complex are also asked to call the number so emergency personnel can maintain contact with them. The phone number at the reception and enquiries centre is 780-538-4211.

The Fire Department was called to a significant structure fire at the building at 3:54 this morning. Major damage has occurred. Defensive firefighting operations continue.

The three-storey walk-up apartment building is located at 9701-92nd-Ave. No injuries have been reported. Residents have been evacuated to the Church of Christ at 9602-92nd Ave. Disaster Social staff have been deployed to extend all necessary care and accommodation to those registering and making calls at the reception centre.

The public is asked to avoid the scene. 92nd Ave. is closed from 96 Street to Resources Road. Motorists along the Resources Road will encounter moderate to heavy smoke.

The 30-unit building has been secured. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

There are 35 Fire personnel on site, equipped with four major apparatus. The Sexsmith Fire Department has been brought on board through the mutual aid agreement with five fire fighters and a ladder truck.

Media enquiries may be directed to:
David Olinger
Manager of Marketing and Communications/Public Information Officer
780-538-3121"

Committee of the Whole, November 17th

Council has a "Committee of the Whole" meeting today at noon and even through the agenda is only 3 items long we will be discussing some pretty interesting things. Here's the agenda with my comments in italics:

1. Marketing of Former Germain Park Property
At our last council meeting Ald. Blackmore made a motion to refer the issue to a Committee of the Whole meeting so we could all discuss the future of this property and what conditions (if any) are put on any future sale. Interestingly when council decided originally to list the property in June of 2008 we were told it was worth $295,000 but my the time the property was actually listed in Jan of 2009 it's appraised value had dropped to, $195,000. Now the report for this meeting contains a new appraisal (Nov 4th 2009) that values the property at $322,000. Quite a swing.

I still feel council should hold on to the property.

2. The Multiplex – Theming RFP 23-400-09
The construction plan for the multiplex has always included a budget for adding "theming" to some parts of the aquatics centre. What's "theming"? - think of Disney Land, or Galaxy Land at West Edmonton Mall... the areas that look like rocks and trees are "theming". The "fun" parts of the aquatics centre (like the spray-deck, dump tower, flowrider and adventure river) will get a theming treatment that will give the area the feel of a water park. We've always said that this facility will be an attraction for Grande Prairie and this is part of that plan. I kind of put it this way; we know lots of people come to GP from all over to GP to shop or visit friends... this will be an attraction, like West Ed Mall that they'll have to visit... hopefully getting them to extend their stay another day... and spend more money in our city.

The budget for the theming is $900,000 and Studio Y Creations out of Calgary the company that admin is recommending. You can see samples of their work in the Portfolio section of their website. (it told me I needed a newer version of Flash when I visited but I just went in anyhow and the site worked fine.)

3. The Multiplex – RCMP Office Expansion
Another part of the plan for the multiplex has been to have a office in there for the RCMP. It makes a lot of sense given that the site will be home to two high schools eventually (the current St. Joes plus a future Public High School) and that it provides coverage to the extreme south of the city.

The original plan called for a small 1 room office, in this report admin is requesting permission to expand that office into more of a "satellite office" with 4 rooms including 4 work stations, a waiting area an interview room and a communications room. The additional cost is $222,521.07 and would come from the Multiplex's overall contingency in the construction budget.

AUMA Convention 09 - Day One

The schedule for today at the AUMA convention is below and I've made some notes with a little more details on the sessions I'll be attending.

Wednesday, November 4
7:00am, Registration

8:00am, Committee Reports
I'll be attending the "Municipal Governance Standing Committee" Described in the conference package as: Today, more than ever before, Alberta municipal governments need to be prepared for the future and this session has been designed to provide members with important insight into navigating that future. Dr. Andrew Sancton from The University of Western Ontario will lead the group in exploring alternatives to municipal amalgamation, leading participants to think more creatively about changes that will help municipalities better serve their citizens. AUMA has committed to providing learning opportunities and tools to assist municipal governments in achieving sustainable futures. A review of municipalities’ issues regarding the assessment system in Alberta, discussion paper presentations at the President’s Summit, and on-going dialogue with members have resulted in the development of relevant policy papers that will be presented at the convention.

** Update ** After the above session I also managed to make it to a presentation entitled Opportunities For Small Communities in BioEnergy. Aldermen Minhas and Wong joined me as well.

11:15am, Lunch

12:15pm, Opening Ceremonies & Keynote Speaker Brett Wilson
Yes, that's Brett Wilson the Calgary oilman, TV Dragon, and possible PC party leadership contender
1:45pm, AGM & Awards

2:00pm, GP Council Meeting with Alberta Transportation. We've arranged to meet with the senior staff from the department to bring forward some issue we have in relation to funding for projects, transit funding, and maintenance of highways in the area.

3:00pm, GP Council Meeting with R.C.M.P. As with Transportation above we've arranged a special meeting with the top officials with the R.C.M.P. K-Division district to talk about some of the concerns we have in the policing area.

3:30pm, Education Sessions
I'll be attending "Planning For The Economic Recovery: Be Ready To Act": The current economic climate has certainly added to the many challenges municipalities face. Just over a year ago, we were enjoying a booming economy but faced sky-rocketing costs and a severe labour shortage. Six months later, we were in an economic recession with increasing unemployment and funding cuts. Presenter Bud Crouch has a track record of successfully helping organizations prepare for the future. This session has been designed to help you successfully navigate through the unstable global conditions from both strategic and tactical perspectives. You will be given the tools to be proactive, to adapt quickly and to best position your organization to take advantage of opportunities as they arise.

3:30pm, Trade Show Opens

5:00pm, Additional Supplementary Sessions

6:30pm, Council Dinner

Anti-Idling Bylaws; Surprise, Surprise... GP Already Has One.

Sometimes things get missed.

This article from Monday's edition of the Daily Herald Tribune looking at the possibility of an anti-idling bylaw seems to be spurred on by news from Edmonton. The Mayor ways quoted;

Discussions over an anti-idling bylaw in Edmonton last week stimulated debate in Grande Prairie on whether such a bylaw could apply to this northern city.

Edmonton is considering a bylaw that would give a $250 fine to drivers who idle their vehicles for more than three minutes within a 30-minute period – it would not apply under temperatures -11 and below.

“I don’t know. I really don’t know,” said Mayor Dwight Logan about the bylaw. “I’m reluctant to support something that infringes on people’s right to do things that may not negatively impact other people.

“On the other hand, arguments can be made that the idling does impact other people.”

A bylaw addressing idling has not reached city council in the last few years, said the mayor, but they will look closely to Edmonton’s decision on the matter. ...

So, the story gained a little momentum and generated this editorial in today's paper;

The idea of a bylaw limiting how long people can keep their vehicles running, at first might seem laughable, but it’s no idle threat.

Anti-idling bylaws, as they’re commonly called, are just one of many environmentally-driven ideas that have become all the rage in communities across Canada. While many of these bylaws, and the people supporting them, have their hearts in the right place, we urge caution and not blind obedience. Edmonton is the latest city in Alberta to examine the idea. Jasper has had a bylaw since 2007.

It might not come up in Grande Prairie, but if it does, it’s not a clear-cut issue. ...

The thing is that Grande Prairie does actually have an anti-idling provision in one of it's bylaws, and has had since 2003! You can read the full bylaw here but I've coped the important part below;

Bylaw C-1103
A Bylaw of the City of Grande Prairie, to prohibit certain nuisances, disturbances and activities creating noise; and to abate the incidence of noise and to restrict when certain sounds may be made
(As Amended by Bylaw C-1103A and C-1103B)

...

MOTOR VEHICLES
17. No person shall use or engage in the use of engine retarder brakes within the City.
18. No person shall allow a motor vehicle engine to remain running in a residential district or within 500 feet of a residential district for longer than 20 minutes while the motor vehicle is not in motion.
19. The failure of a person to comply with the provisions of the Traffic Safety Act or any regulations thereunder regarding:
(a) the prohibition against the use of signalling devices on motor vehicles so as to make more noise than is reasonably necessary;
(b) the restrictions in the type or use of mufflers and similar equipment;
(c) the prohibition against creating or causing the emission of any loud and unnecessary noise from a motor vehicle; or
(d) the operation of a vehicle on a highway in a residential district between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. in a manner that unduly disturbs the residents of that area;
....
(my bolding)

From reading the bylaw you can see why the issue came up; noise - not environmental impact. I remember discussing the issue and hearing from quite a few residents who were upset with neighbours who would leave large diesel trucks running in the driveway over night. It was only after quite a bit of debate that we decided to include part 18.

So, turns out that GP has had anti-idling provisions in it's bylaws for quite a while. Its not as specific as Edmonton is considering but it is there. Sometimes these things get missed.

Talkin' Taxes

At last night's council meeting we approved the budget for 2009 as well as what should be considered a draft budget for 2011. Of course there is always a lot of public comment & media coverage with municipal budgets and taxes in general. Usually the discussion rotates around how much the taxes are or how much they are going up rather than what they are paring for.

So I thought I'd try to find a little different way to show what your monthly taxes will be paying for in 2009.

The charts below are based on a house valued at $350,000. Using the city's online tax estimator tool we can find out that the approximate municipal tax bill will be $2271.04 per year, or $189.25 per month.

This first chart shows roughly how much of that $189.25 per month goes to different city departments.
All the numbers shown in the chart are in dollars. For example; of that $189.04 monthly tax bill, $61.43 goes to pay for the Protective Services department, $9.74 goes to Transit and $2.39 supports the activities and expenses of Council.


Protective Services Breakdown
This second chart breaks it down even further by looking at the $61.43 per month in the Protective Services Area. Of that total $31.69 per month goes towards paying for RCMP and $23.82 pays for the Fire Department.

So, someone living in a house valued at $350,000 is paying approximately:

• $32 per month for access to round the clock, 365 day a year RCMP service
• $24 per month for access to round the clock, 365 day a year professional Fire Fighting service

Ok, ok... I know it's likely that breaking it down this way isn't going to change how one feels about paying taxes. I do hope that it at least give a little perspective on the "value for dollar" that your local government is providing.

By an interesting coincidence, the chart that inspired me shows that residents in Guelph are paying a similar amount for fire protection.

It's been a long time coming but finally, on Monday the 19th, Grande Prairie's red light cameras will be active. In case you missed the articlein the newspaper here's the media release from the Enforcement Services department.

"News Release
May 16, 2008
Red Light Cameras are in Effect

The Red Light Cameras are going “live” on Monday, May 19, 2008. For the first 30 days, warning notices will be sent out to the owners of vehicles found in violation. These notices will be clearly identified as warning notices. Following the 30 days, violation tickets will be issued. The specified penalty for a vehicle which goes through a red light is $287.

Included with the notice describing the offence, will be a violation ticket (yellow in colour). This violation ticket is the legal copy for Court purposes. The goal of Enforcement Services is to reduce traffic collisions through education and enforcement. Red light violations contribute to a significant number of injury and fatality collisions in Grande Prairie. Our goal is to reduce these through enforcement by using the red light camera technology."

So if you run a red light in the first month you'll receive a letter giving you a warning - then after that, you'll have to pay. Also, one of the system features that hasn't been mentioned much is that the cameras also record video. When you receive your ticket you'll also have the option of going online and actually viewing video of you going through the red light. Something like that is pretty tough to argue with!

If you are looking for more details on our red light cameras I've done postings on them here and here .

Drive Safe!

Quick Round Up

It's been a while since I've done a Quick Round Up post. Lately with council, work and the online course I'm taking up a pretty fair chunk of my time I've noticed that I'm not posting as much as I used to. So rather than feeling like I have to sit down for an extended period to write a full post I'll try to do these a little more often.

A few quick hits for your reading pleasure

Kelowna Looking At Sister Cities
The city of Kelowna is exploring opportunities to start sister city agreements, with the assistance of grants from the B.C. government.
full story

My Comment:Of course GP just signed a sister city agreement last weekend, with Mazatlan, Mexico. Interesting that the B.C. government sees these kind of connections as valuable enough to actually put $50,000 up to encourage cities to do it.

City Manager of Hamilton Resigns
full story

My Comment: Well, it looks like GP isn't the only city having to deal with changes at the top of the organization. We are currently recruiting to fill the vacancy that will be left by Dave Gourlay's impending retirement as of March 14th. This is probably a part of the shifting demographic of municipal employees, expect more and more top civic officials across the country to retire over the next few years. Anyone out there thinking about a career in municipal government?

City of GP Appoints New Fire Chief
Dan Lemieux is the new city Fire Chief, taking over from Bill Walker who will continue on as Protective Services Director.
full story

My Comment: Bill had been doing double duty for quite a while now and both the Protective Services Director and Fire Chief positions have grown in that time. It makes sense to have someone directly involved in the day to day operations assume the Fire Chief role and Dan is going to be great. He has probably one of the broadest ranges of experience with the city of any one I know having worked in everything from Parks to HR to Public Works.

Expansion of Fire Service

This morning at the Protective Services committee the City's Fire Master Plan study was presented. I didn't get to attend but was at the presentation of the draft plan back in June.

The report has confirmed what we believed waaaay back before the election when we told the county that we could not guarantee service beyond the current contract. We knew the local fire service was under sized for our region and that with out a significant investment we couldn't in good faith continue serving the areas outside the city. With the expansion of both the County and City there just were not the personnel or equipment to go on doing it.

Eventually we did come to an agreement with the county to renew the contract we had for service outside the city. This has seen an increase in the amount they contribute to the service (up to $1.6m in 2009 &$1.9m in 2010) and I think we'll see a move towards some kind of integrated regional fire service over the next two years.

But in the mean time (and knowing that we have additional money coming in) Council has approved expanding the city fire service over the next three years with a new hall somewhere on the west side of the city. This will give us halls in the north, south and west and good coverage across the region. This doesn't come cheap though - below is what is approved in the City's 2008 - 2010 budget for setting up that third fire hall. Thanks to Deputy Chief Lemieux for the concise data.

Capital Budget:
Third Hall Architectural Design (2009): $850,000
Third Hall Land Servicing (2009): $500,000
Third Hall Construction (2010): $8,500,000
Third Hall Pumper Truck (2010): $600,000
Third Hall Rescue Truck (2010): $150,000
Third Hall Tanker Truck (2010): $150,000
Third Hall Small Vehicle (2010): $40,000

Total Capital for Third Hall & Equipment: $10,790,000



2008 Operating Budget Increases due to new firefighters:
Six (6) firefighters hired in June 2008: $240,000
Gear & Equipment for new firefighters: $18,000

Impact of additional firefighters on 2008 operating budget: $258,000


2009 Operating Budget Increases due to new firefighters:
Full-year cost of the 6 firefighters from 2008 ($518,710) plus additional ten (10) firefighters hired in Jan 2009 ($764,640): $1,283,350
Gear & Equipment for new firefighters: $30,000

Impact of additional firefighters on 2009 operating budget: $1,313,350


2010 Operating Budget Increases due to new firefighters:
Full-year cost of the 6 firefighters from 2008 ($567,799), plus full-year cost of the 10 firefighters from 2009 ($946,332), plus additional eight (8) firefighters hired in July 2010 ($350,227): $1,864,358
Gear & Equipment for new firefighters: $24,000

Impact of additional firefighters on 2010 operating budget: $1,888,358

Recovery Program for The Storm of '07

July 17th of this year a storm and flash flood shocked the city. The storm made for an incredible spectacle and some strange sights on city streets:

"In one unique case, police were called to a motorboat being driven in the south end of the city near 89 Avenue just after midnight. The boater, who said he was a business owner concerned about the condition of his business, was loading his boat onto a trailer when police arrived. He was warned about operating a boat on the streets of Grande Prairie but not charged."

It also left many homes and businesses with uninsurable damages. Immediately afterwards the city and other local agencies went to work collecting the data that the Province would need to decide if this storm qualified as a "Once in 100 Years" event. It did and so the Province has launched the "2007 Grande Prairie and Area Disaster Recovery Program".

From the Municipal Affairs media release:

"The 2007 Grande Prairie and Area Disaster Recovery Program ($700,000) includes the City and County of Grande Prairie and includes all municipalities that reside within the county. Damage occurred following a severe hail and rainstorm on July 17, which resulted in overland flooding throughout the area ...

Disaster recovery programs cover damage for which insurance is not readily and reasonably available. For example, insurance policies traditionally cover damage from causes such as sewer backup and hail; however, insurance coverage is not available for flooding resulting from water entering through basement windows. The programs include funds for municipalities, homeowners and small businesses, with the majority of the funds going to municipalities for infrastructure damage, emergency costs, etc."

For answers to some important questions for those looking to make claims check out the full release here.

People You Meet At Conferences

The conference here in Yellowknife has been great so far. There have been some excellent presentations on economic development and on fostering the "Next Big Idea". I'll try to write about some of those later on but I wanted to post a note about one person I met at lunch yesterday.

I sat at a table with GP Chamber of Commerce President, Dan Pearcy and a gentleman named Kevin Shoults. Kevin is an exhibitor at the trade show, he is manning the booth for Trafco Canada, the company that is installing GP's new red light traffic cameras. It was a great chance to pass on some of the questions people have asked me since the units started to go up.

On Pictures - the cameras record video (things to cover your plate or make it blur in a flash won't work).

On Privacy - the cameras do not record the faces of anyone in the car. Cars, the overview of the intersection, and the license plate only.

On Accuracy - each "violation" is reviewed by a human three times. Once is a quick check to make sure that the vehicle isn't an ambulance or police car or the back end of a semi-truck. Next it's reviewed by enforcement to look at the actual circumstances of the infraction. They check the video to see if there were special circumstances - any icy road, or moving through to get out of the way of an emergency vehicle. Then it goes to registries to confirm the license plate number and finally back to enforcement to send out the ticket.

On Features - the video that is recorded can be set up to be on the web. So that you can log in with your ticket number and review the video yourself before deciding to pay or fight the ticket. I'm not sure if we were planning on using this feature but I think we should and I'm going to talk to staff about it when I get back.

So, sitting with Kevin at lunch was a pretty great example of serendipity.

Firefighting Big Picture

News Release
Sept. 10, 2007

City Reaches Three-Year Agreement With Firefighters

The City of Grande Prairie and the Grande Prairie Firefighters Association (the GPFA) have a new collective agreement.

City Council Monday night approved the pact, which is effective from Jan. 1, 2007 to Dec. 31, 2009. It provides wage adjustments of 5.5 per cent this year, 5.25 per cent in 2008, and 5 per cent in 2009.

With 10 years of service, firefighters will receive a one per cent adjustment. After both 20 and 30 years, members of the association will receive a further one per cent increase.

An additional 10 cent shift premium is scheduled in 2008 and 2009. The agreement affects 55 employees.

“We are pleased to finalize this agreement with our firefighting staff as a foundation to strengthening relations with these employees,” says Ken Anderson, lead negotiator and City Financial Services Director. “This contract is reflective of other agreements in the province.”

“Our association ratified the contract on Sept. 6,” says Steve Larsen, president of the GPFA. “With a longer-term agreement now in place, we hope to see increased staffing and facilities in the future to service Grande Prairie as it continues to grow.”


My Comment - This is great to get a long term deal with the firefighters. In the past it seemed like we were in a never ending cycle of negotiations that were always one year behind. With this deal the firefighters can focus their concentration on providing safety and security to residents and administration and council can focus on the strategic issues that will be coming in the next few years.

The most important of these strategic issues will be how (and if) we work with the County of Grande Prairie on a regional fire system. In my opinion it's in everyone's interest to pool our resources (ie money) and create a regional system, rather than two independent systems that compete for the same manpower and duplicate services. The caveat here is that all parties should contribute to the system on a fair basis. That "fair" contribution might not be an exactly equal dollar amount but I think it needs to be based on a formula that treats everyone equally.

Look at it this way: The Total Assessed Value of the City of Grande Prairie is about $6 Billion. That number is the value of all the "stuff" in the city including houses, businesses and land is the total dollar value of the assets that the fire department is responsible for protecting.

The Total Assessed Value of the County of Grande Prairie is $4.5 Billion. Not that big a difference really, it's about a 3 : 2 ratio. So when we are talking about property that is being protected the City and the County are on very similar footing, shouldn't that be reflected in how much each pays in to provide fire protection?

Say the total cost of fire protection for the whole region is $12 Million per year - wouldn't it make sense that the City should pay $8 million and the County $4 million? Of course there are lots of other factors that come in to it but that's what I mean when I say any system should be based on a formula that is fair.

Anyhow, with the approval of the new contract with our firefighters we can focus all of our energies on these "big picture" sort of issues.

Fire Service Master Plan

It's been an busy couple of days since I got back from our trip "out east"

Monday afternoon there was a special Protective Services committee meeting to have an interim look at how the the Fire Service Master Plan study is going. The consultants were asked to come in and give us an idea of the direction their findings were taking them. It was a pretty timely update given the fact that the County of Grande Prairie is doing their own study and seems to be on the path to creating their own fire service.

I was happy to hear the consultants say that the city's fire department provides an excellent service and is probably in the top 5% in the province in that regard. There was a caution though that a lack of attention and not providing the resources required when they are needed could seriously set the department back.

At this stage the final report isn't ready but I wasn't surprised by at least two of the recommendations that will be coming:

• We need to expand to keep up with growth
• A regional system would be better than competing services in the same area

Like I said no surprise - the devil is in the details and when the full master plan comes back it will lay out the specifics of how we go about maintaining our high performing service.

On a lighter note and speaking of fire service.... our Firefighter's Union is taking on a team of CFL oldtimers in a charity slo-pitch game on Friday at South Bear Creek. Guess who is acting as guest umpire .... that's right. I'm not sure if I'll have the guts to stare down a 300 pound lineman when there's a close strike call!