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Grande Prairie Daily Herald-Tribune • Monday, January 2, 2012
2011 In Review: NOVeMBeR Grave ID A meeting of the Alberta Genealogical Society’s Grande Prairie & District branch promised even more history than their typical gatherings. Tal Fisher, an archeologist who worked on identifying the remains of two WWI soldiers, made a presentation about his work. “The project was to identify the remains for two Canadian soldiers that had been recovered in a little town in France called Avion and it’s only a couple of kilometres from Vimy Ridge,” Fisher said. In 2003, the remains were discovered by French authorities, who then turned them over to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, who in turn involved the Canadian Department of National Defence. Work on the project began around 2005, with the remains of Pte. Herbert Peterson being identified in early 2007. It’s estimated that 11,000 Canadian soldiers who fought in France during the First World War have no known grave. In April 2007, Pte. Peterson was buried in La Chaudière Military Cemetery in France, providing some closure for his living relatives. •••
Leisure bucks
The Leisure Centre is in line to receive $2 million in funding in 2013 as well as the 2014 budget years to make repairs possible that could see the facility remain open. Council committee of the whole decided during budget deliberations that the Leisure Centre would be closed, with the exception of the indoor soccer field, for the 2012 year. The $2 million in funding for 2013 and 2014 will be used to start renovations needed to bring the centre up to code. This marks a big step in how the Leisure Centre will be dealt with, something that council has been dealing with
since the announcement of the $110 million Multiplex. With $5.8 million being the total needed to fully renovate the Leisure Centre to add roughly 25 years to its life, the $4 million currently budgeted will cover more than half. •••
Budget passed
City council passed its three-year budget, and taxes are scheduled to increase 11.8% over the next three years. After a morning of voting on nearly 30 funding requests totalling $813,000 brought forward by local community groups, a lunchtime deliberation by administration brought the tax rate down from 12.7% over the next three years. The city is heralding this rate as “the lowest increase in property tax in a decade.” For the average Grande Prairie house valued at $245,000, taxes will go up $90, $96, and $97 in 2012, 2013 and 2014 respectively. •••
Tougher DUI
With the province introducing legislation this month aimed at cracking down on impaired drivers the local h o s p i t a l i t y i n d u s t r y ha s shown a mixed reaction to the changes. If passed the legislation would see drivers found with a blood-alcohol level between .05 and .08 milligrams per cent have their licences suspended and their vehicles impounded for three days, a marked increase over the current 24-hour suspension. But according to local bar owner Raphael Bohlmann, the stiffer penalties are barking up the wrong tree. The current legal limit of .08 is low enough, Bohlmann said, and dipping below that mark would punish responsible drinkers. “I fail to understand why the premier wants to follow a
Established in
2004
set of laws that are proving to be imposing penalties on lawabiding citizens and not focus on those that are well above the limit,” he said. •••
STARS 5
It may just seem like yesterday to some, but STARS in Grande Prairie is celebrating its fifth anniversary and invited the public to join in. The public and former patients of STARS in Grande Prairie and area were invited to the base at the Grande Prairie airport for a short video presentation and an open house, as well as a look at the organization’s human simulation devices. Ca m He ke, m e d i a a n d public relations manager for STARS, says the organization has seen a great deal of change within the Grande Prairie base over its short history. “We’ve seen great development in terms of funding, but also in terms of patient care,” said Heke. “We’ve flown more than 900 times since we started in Grande Prairie, so quite a few missions and as you can imagine, quite a few individuals’ lives who have been affected directly by STARS involvement.” •••
No fluoride?
On the heels of a decision by the City of Calgary to remove fluoride from its water, and nearby Fort St. John in the same process, the fluoride debate is growing again in Grande Prairie Stacey Olson, who started a petition entitled Stop Fluoridation in Grande Prairie’s Water, cites lack of public consent and possibly health risks as reasons to remove the fluoride from the water. “I’m very health conscious and aware of what I put into my body and if fluoride is put into the drinking water, we have no control,” said Olson.
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So far, the online petition has close to 200 signatures, but copies have been circulating to health food stores across the city and Olson expects to add at least 100 more signatures through the paper copies. Olson planned to deliver the petition to Aquatera, which controls the city’s water supply. However, the company has an agreement with the provincial government stating it must fluoridate the water, but that contract is up for renewal soon. •••
Lee remembered
More than two months after disappearing from a campsite south of Grande Prairie, hope for Jamie Lee’s survival and return is still apparent in family and friends. A group of more than 30 friends and family gathered at the Grande Prairie Museum at a Saturday to release Lee balloons, hoping for Lee’s safe return. “All of the searchers and everyone who has come today are very positive people -we have to find Jamie and we have to bring him home and the only way we can do that is to stay positive,” said Lee’s mother, Julie DeWinter. “Chances are, he is out there, so as long as we keep getting pictures out and keep getting the information out, we have the chance to bring him home.” •••
In the black
The board of trustees of the GP Public School District approved audited financial statements ending Aug. 31, 2011, and because of enrolment, the board posted a $1 million surplus, after approving a deficit budget in May.
These funds will remain unallocated, going into a sustainability fund, which accounts for just over 1% of its $86 million budget. “We use that money as a buffer,” said Russell Horswill, secretary-treasurer. “If we keep that $1 million, that’s good financial planning.” Due to the increased enrolment – more than 200 new students – the board increased its salary budget by $2 million, and expects “massive hiring” soon, according to John Lehners, board trustee. Deputy superintendent Roger Mestinsek said this is normal for the board. “We typically hire 20 to 30 teachers per year, and we’ve been able to keep that pace up,” Mestinsek said. “We are pretty much always looking for new teachers.” •••
Acquittal
A Grande Prair ie jur y acquitted a man who stood before the courts in a sexual assault case. The jur y retired after a short second day of arguments Wednesday to make a decision in the case against 52-year-old Terry Harms, who was charged with one count sexual assault and one count of sexual touching a person under the age of 16. Harms took the stand for less than half an hour, where he refuted the previous day’s testimony from the underaged complainant that contained allegations of three separate instances of inappropriate touching. •••
Volunteerism
As the Christmas season approached and more people focused on good will and giving back, charities and nonprofit groups in Grande Prairie were hoping for the gift of more volunteers this holiday season. Statistics from the Vital Signs report show that Grande
Prairie residents ages 15 years and up have a volunteer rate of 56.5%, which is above both the provincial and national averages. Of the respondents, 72% said they volunteered their time for a cause in the last year. While it seems as though the percentages have placed the city in good standing, the reality is that a lot of groups are noticing a drop in their volunteer numbers. “I would say that in our community right now we’re in an area where it could become a huge issue for us,” said Tracey Vavrek, executive director for the Community Foundation of Greater Grande Prairie. •••
Patch pickin’
Grande Prairie’s oil industry saw slow, but steady growth in 2011, and 2012 will likely be a carbon copy. 2011 saw modest growth in the oil industry in Alberta, which is in part because of capital money being put into plants in the GP area, as well as other locations in northwestern Alberta. “Our focus has changed, a n d a l l c o m p a n i e s h av e changed from natural gas to liquid oil,” said Rob Petrone, district superintendent for Devon Canada, “and that’s what’s really driving the increase in the Grande Prairie area over the last year.” Part of the increase in capital spending is going to a significant shift in technology, and how oil is extracted. “There are some fairly big plant expansions in northwestern Alberta as a result of recovering the liquids.” Instead of vertical drilling, sites are now using horizontal drilling, which covers more area, and reduces the amount of surface equipment needed to extract oil. And Petrone said this trend will continue to become more common in the future. “It’s the way of the future.”
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