LES STULBERG/Independent reporter
ROUGH RIDE — An overturned truck sits in the Highway 12 ditch between Botha and Gadsby last week, as wild weather caused multiple accidents. See also Page A3.
Serving the Heart of Central Alberta for 105 years
VOLUME ONE HUNDRED SIX
PM40011853 R08546
NUMBER FIFTY
STETTLER, ALBERTA
December 12, 2012
Power outage darkens overnight for Stettler and district
LES STULBERG/ Independent reporter
The fire continues to smoulder Sunday amid the rubble at the Alliance Commerical Hotel, which was destroyed in an early morning blaze. Seemingly standing tall through it all were Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus.
RICHARD FROESE Independent reporter Residents of the Stettler region were left in the dark and cold for a few hours early Saturday morning as electricity was knocked out of service because of weather conditions. “We attribute it to the heavy frost on the lines,” said Allan Gano, the Stettler-based district manager for ATCO Electric. “It was a beautiful morning, but the frost played havoc.” Power went out at about 4:15 a.m. in the Stetter area and points south to Big Valley and north to Red Willow, Gano said. It was restored “a few hours later.” For the community of Stettler, residents regained power service at 7:35 a.m. ATCO appreciated the patience of its customers during the outage, Gano said. He said that with updated infrastructure and technology, would-be lengthy power outages — particularly during cold weather — can be restored more quickly than many decades before. “We try to build infrastructure so we can respond quickly. With weather, we never know what could happen.” Gano advised people to take steps to cope during such unpredictable situations. “We always ask people to be ready and prepared,” he said. For an emergency plan and tips, Gano suggested that people visit the utility website at atcoelectric.com.
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‘Heartbreaking’ blaze levels hotel LES STULBERG Independent reporter When the Alliance Commercial Hotel went up in flames early Sunday morning, the small community lost a tangible part of its history. For the 170 residents of Alliance, the blaze destroyed a valued 90-year-old landmark. Alliance fire chief Carl Cameron said the call came in at 2:29 a.m. Sunday and when the fire department arrived, the top floor of the hotel was fully engulfed in flames. “Twenty-five fire fighters from the Alliance, Forestburg and Galahad fire departments responded,” Cameron said. Alliance is about 35 kilometres northeast of Castor.
Although firefighters weren’t able to save the hotel, they kept the fire from spreading to nearby buildings. Cameron said fire crews put water on the town office next door to keep it cool. “There was lots of ash going through the air, but luckily the nearby houses had snow on their roofs,” he said. “We kept a watch on the houses and checked the people to make sure they weren’t suffering from smoke inhalation.” Within an hour and a half of firefighters arriving at the blaze, the structure collapsed, they said. The fire caused telephone service to be out in half of the town. The blaze also resulted in low water pressure for the residents
until mid-afternoon Sunday. Late Sunday afternoon, the rubble was still burning. Fire crews were expected to keep watch on the site throughout the night. The cause of the blaze wasn’t immediately known, but Cameron said there would be an ongoing investigation. The owner of the hotel isn’t from the area. The fire left a bitter end to an otherwise celebratory weekend in Alliance. Saturday marked Santa Daze as the community hosted a Christmas market, public skating and an outdoor bonfire with hotdogs and hot chocolate. The Christmas party had doubled as a celebration of the community’s new arena, which had replaced the rink that collapsed because of
heavy snow in January 2011. Alliance residents are trying to imagine life without the Commercial Hotel, a fixture in the community for almost a century. “This is a small community,” Mayor Muriel Fankhanel told the Edmonton Journal. “When one business goes, the others are all affected. We’re struggling. We didn’t need another setback.” Many members of the community were in disbelief, Cameron told the Journal. “People are coming out and looking at it, saying, ‘Wow, I can’t believe the hotel is gone.’ That’s what everybody is saying. ‘I can’t believe the hotel is gone.’ “It’s just shocking. It’s heartbreaking in a way. There are a lot of memories there.”
Clearview trustees approve deficit budget LES STULBERG Independent reporter The Clearview School Division has approved its budget by the narrowest of margins. Trustees voted 4-3 in favour of a budget for the 2012-13 school year that shows a net deficit of $998,254. Clearview secretarytreasurer Lewis Hill presented the budget, which is based on Sept. 30 enrolment figures for this school year. He listed projected revenues to be $32.782 million
and expenses at $33.781 million. Hill said the deficit would be covered by school and department reserves. The deficit budgets of the past three years have been intentionally planned to bring reserves down, he said. Board chairman Ken Checkel said that four years ago, the province considered Clearview reserves, which were at $3.74 million, to be too high and clawed back more than $570,000. He said that put a different light on reserves, so administration and schools
were directed to spend reserves to get them more in line with what the province might find acceptable. “That being said, we can’t keep spending at the level we have been,” Checkel said this week. “We will certainly be looking at efficiencies.” The board approved the purchase of five new school buses to replace buses that are set to go into the sparebus fleet. Hill said the estimated $420,000 purchase cost would come from money set aside in the transportation capital reserve.
Administration was directed to investigate the use of smaller buses for use on rural routes and report to the board at its February meeting. “With fewer students on rural bus routes, we are looking for efficiencies,” said trustee Yvette Cassidy. Clearview’s money woes have been compounded by dropping enrolment, because much funding is done on a per-student basis. In 2000, Clearview enrolment stood at 2,843, while in 2012, it had dropped to 2,425. Among the concerns for
keeping Clearview’s newly approved budget on track are the current negotiations between the Alberta Teachers’ Association and the province. “We are sitting on pins and needles waiting for the provincial outcome,” Checkel said. He said teachers’ wages make up more than half of Clearview’s $33-million worth of expenses. Cassidy echoed Checkel’s concern. “We could very well be looking at more than a million-dollar deficit for this school year,” she said.
Readers can also find the Stettler Independent at stettlerindependent.com