Triangle April 2 2015

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

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


(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.


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!


(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.


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.


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


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


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.


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


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Submitted

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

Triangle April 2 2015

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Transcript of Triangle April 2 2015