New meeting dates
Council changed the dates of its regularly scheduled meetings for September, as it otherwise wouldn鈥檛 have had quorum on Sept. 3.
The meetings will be held on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month rather than the first and third. So they are scheduled for Sept. 10 and 24.
Growing budget
Unexpected expenses have put the Emergency Services department in the red.
鈥淲e are over budget $1,000 on staff training due to Don [Smith] attending an extra safety codes course in Vermillion and Fire-Pro update training in Red Deer,鈥� wrote Fire Chief Greg Van Tighem in his report to council.
The department is also over $3,000 for equipment certification, which Van Tighem had intended to do next year, but was required to do this year, and it鈥檚 also over $500 in administration costs because of unexpected printer repairs and toner cartridges.
And further increases are on the horizon, as the pump recently 鈥渂lew up鈥� on the fire department鈥檚 frontline engine foam unit.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 going to put that line item over budget also,鈥� explained Van Tighem.
Assessing flood risk
Following a question from Coun. Dwain Wacko, Fire Chief Greg Van Tighem committed to assessing the risk of Cabin Creek flooding in the case of a major rainfall event, similar to the one that wreacked havoc on southern Alberta last month.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 something we will look into,鈥� said the fire chief. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not likely. In our risk analysis, it鈥檚 not a high number, but it鈥檚 possible so we do have to look at it.鈥�
Process continues to join departments
Culture and Recreation and Community and Family Services are getting closer to a solution for joining departments.
Yvonne McNabb, director of Culture and Recreation, reported to council that she and Kathleen Waxer, director of Community and Family Services, have narrowed down the possible ways of combining to a few options that have been presented to the other directors.
鈥淚t looks like one stands out way more than the others,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o now we鈥檙e working on some of the underlying issues to make sure that they鈥檙e out of the way before we can decide what foot we鈥檙e putting forward first.鈥�
In her department report Waxer wrote, 鈥淸We] focused on each of our organizational strengths. [And] determined a solution that is aligned with our community needs. We鈥檙e now in the phase of considering the implications of each possibility to ensure the process changes will truly enhance our organization.鈥�
Delayed wage review
Non-unionized municipal staff will wait at least another year to have their wages reviewed to allow for the adoption of some of the Services and Structural Review recommendations.
Some of those recommendations, like the creation of the Director of Operations role, will significantly change the responsibilities and job descriptions of staff. So rather than undertaking a salary review before the changes take effect, administration requested that council approve an extension to the timeline for the triennial review.
That request was unanimously approved, with a deadline of Aug. 31, 2014.
Closing in on ops director
Five applicants were interviewed for the Director of Operations position last week.
On Aug. 20, Martha Fleming, manager of human resources, was in the process of checking references.
The municipality received more than 20 applications for the position.
