Crossfield council got an up-close-and- personal look at the new ladder-equipped fire truck during the Aug. 16 meeting at Town hall.
The truck, which features a 110-foot ladder and the ability to pump 1,500 gallons of water a minute, was purchased for $180,000 from the Lethbridge Fire Department, and was delivered to Crossfield on July 27.
“They allow you to approach a building from the roof, and put a lot of water on the structure,” said Mayor Nathan Anderson. “To me, the price is a small price to pay for public safety. This will allow us to help our neighbours, too.”
Anderson, along with Councillor Garry Richardson, took a trip to the top of the ladder, which was fully extended and nearly vertical. Anderson says tools like this for the fire department are extremely valuable for the community.
“You could see almost every house in town,” said Anderson of the experience. “You are well above it all. It was nice up there, it almost reminds me of being in a plane.”
The Town of Crossfield will be signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Town of Carstairs, allowing the two municipalities to begin talks about sharing man-power and equipment from each bylaw department.
“It’s not an agreement, but it gives our administration the right to approach them and work out an agreement,” said Anderson. “There are a lot of efficiencies of scale that you can get when you pull together.”
Anderson says that residents should not be concerned about losing peace officers’ presence as the benefits of being able to utilize the other town’s man-power and equipment will outweigh the costs. “That is something that is a concern, but there are already those gap periods,” said Anderson. “Peace officers are not there necessarily to protect people from criminal stuff. It’s important for people to understand those differences.”
Both the paving of the entrance to Sunset Ridge and the installation of a new town entrance sign are being delayed by what Anderson calls “paralysis by analysis.”
The roughly 30-foot portion of the entrance to the Sunset Ridge community in Crossfield from Limit Ave., which is a provincial highway, needs to be paved, as the current gravel surface is dangerous for drivers and pedestrians.
Alberta Transportation (AT) requires work permits, engineering and “mounds of paperwork” for the paving to go through, said Anderson.
The new sign for the 2A corridor, which has been delivered to the Town already, is also in limbo as work permits from Alberta Transportation and different kind of support posts are required for the project to go ahead.
“This is my greatest frustration in government. What happens is the rules keep changing,” said Anderson. “You will apply to them, and they will get back to us when they are ready to get back to us. Then, they will bring conditions that didn’t exist in the past.”
Despite the delays and required permissions, Anderson has the attitude to just go ahead with it.
“We pour asphalt. We are a municipality, that’s what we do,” said Anderson. “In the real world, you would call up a company and get it done. The cost will get driven up because of the engineering and excessive paperwork. The amount that people worry about covering themselves has gotten ridiculous in our society.”
The Town is looking into the ‘breakaway posts’ required for the sign, and will continue to wait on AT to begin work.
The Town of Crossfield is putting out the tender for the demolition and clean up of the old Baptist Church for a second time, hoping to have the site cleared before the end of October.
The piece of land that the church currently occupies will be the site of a new Town hall in the coming years.
“We are in no rush to tear apart a building, we have no money to replace,” said Anderson. “Those bids are free, it doesn’t cost us money to get them.”
The eventual cost of the project will be a bit higher than the $30,000 budgeted by the Town. However, Anderson says there will be no problem covering the cost, as the Town budgeted for engineering costs of the proposed hall, which will not be required in this fiscal year.
“I think that’s (end of October) realistic,” said Anderson. “We are in control of our own destiny on this one.”
Four members of Town staff collected service awards during the Aug. 16 meeting, commemorating them on a combined 40 years of service.
Operational services’ Robert Boettcher (five years), Utilities Coordinator Kathy Patey (five years), Assistant Development Officer Lindsey Nash (10 years) and the Finance Department’s Debbie Fletcher (20 years) all received a certificate marking the occasion.
“It has been a lot of fun getting to know our Town staff,” said Anderson. “We have a very committed, loyal and dedicated Town staff. They are all so competent in what they do. It’s been a pleasure working with them so far.”
The next meeting of Crossfield council will be Sept. 6. at 7 p.m.
