Donalda School removes ‘unsafe equipment’ from playground RICHARD FROESE Independent reporter Aging playground equipment at Donalda School was removed last week after the school, parents and Clearview School Division realized the equipment wasn’t safe for children. “We do inspections of our school playgrounds every year and found that the equipment at Donalda has significant
problems,” said Clearview secretarytreasurer Lewis Hill. Initially, when two components of the playground were condemned, the school division asked the school community and parents’ group to try to determine the future viability of the playground. “They came back to us and told us to remove all the equipment,” Hill said. Taking down the “unsafe equipment” became a priority for the Donalda School Parents’ Society.
“Consensus from the playground committee was that the entire playground be removed,” said Shauna Wilkie, who chairs the committee. “For the safety of children, we decided to have no playground than to have an unsafe playground.” About 15 years old, the wood-structure playground at Donalda School was showing signs of age and wearing, Wilkie said. “We hope to have a playground for the start of the 2014-15 school year. We are
working with two playground companies to get a feasible plan.” While teeter totters, monkey bars, slides and a sliding glider were removed, two swing sets were retained, she said. Most schools and playgrounds in the region have modern and durable equipment that’s deemed safer for children than the old-fashioned wood structure in Donalda. Parents and the committee plan to soon begin fundraising for new playground equipment.
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May 22, 2013
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Clearview board tweaks budget before approval Bus service extended in Emmerson Acres area LES STULBERG Independent reporter In an effort to minimize the reduction of teaching staff, Clearview School Division trustees has changed a recommendation for schools to keep five per cent of their annual budget in reserves. The board directed administration to advise principals that school reserves can be spent to help retain staff at schools for the 2013-14 school year. The principals were expected to revise their budgets before the administration presents a final draft of the spring budget to the board for approval at a planning meeting Thursday. Bus service expansion: Families in Stettler wanting bus service extended to their part of town got the news they wanted to hear. Effective in September, bus service will be expanded to include Emmerson Acres and an area northeast of West Stettler Park. Budget deliberations: The board supported full-time kindergarten programming at Stettler Elementary School and directed administration to set the level of financial support accordingly. To free up more money for individual school budgets, the board amended the way some services are charged out. Currently, the double bus runs in the Town of Stettler require Stettler Elementary School to maintain supervision staff for a longer time.
The board asked administration to allocate to the transportation budget the supervision costs for Stettler Elementary School, because of morning and afternoon double bus runs within the town. As well, costs associated with network administration at the schools will be applied directly to the central network budget and resource officer costs will be funded as a central expense, rather than as an expenditure for William E. Hay Composite High School. Celebration presentation: It was Erskine School’s turn to showcase events happening at its school to the Clearview board. Grade 9 students made a multimedia presentation and answered questions from trustees. Student funding request: As per Policy 412, the board approved a request from Carlie Gendre for financial support for her travel to the Pan Am Games in Columbia in August. Gendre, a member of the William E. Hay Composite High School wrestling team, was selected to represent Canada at the Games. The board agreed to give her $500 to help with travel expenses. Recognition night: Plans were finalized for Clearview’s annual recognition night, set for June 19 in Stettler. The Clearview Award of Merit recipients are scheduled to be honoured, along with longservice employees. Also, a tribute is planned for a former superintendent, Dr. Bill Baergen, who died this year.
LES STULBERG/Independent reporter
GROOMING A CHAMPION — Jesse Jack of the Byemoor 4-H Club prepares her heifer for the show ring at the Stettler District 4-H Show on Monday. Her heifer was named grand champion commercial yearling and reserve grand champion commercial female overall. For more on the first day of the two-day show, see Page A2.
Alix farmer disputes gas bill, still upset about ‘settlement’ LES STULBERG Independent reporter Sid Morris got “the shock of my life” when he opened his January gas bill and saw that it was $3,789.08. He said that was $45.26 more than his gas bill for the entire year in 2011. “Anybody with any common sense would say something is wrong with that,” said the 81-year-old Alix farmer. Morris is in an ongoing dispute with the gas
supplier, Chain Lakes Gas Co-op of Tees. Morris also operates Morris Meadows Country Holidays and Seminars from the same location, but said that during the winter months, those facilities aren’t heated. He said his average annual bill is $380 and that can double during the winter. After Morris complained about the amount of his gas invoice, he said Chain Lakes Gas Co-op
removed the gas meter and had it checked. Morris said they didn’t find anything wrong with the meter, but replaced it with a new one. He contends an engineer told him a meter can roll ahead and then continue to work properly again, but there wasn’t any way of determining whether that happened. Chain Lakes Gas Co-op general manager Sven Sorensen said he believes the Morris property consumed
the gas. He said the January bill was a “catch-up bill,” as the previous two months were estimated. “The $3,700 bill represents underestimated amounts from November and December,” Sorensen said. He said Morris doesn’t have a just a home, but also a guest ranch with eight buildings. Sorensen said the gas line was walked and checked for leaks. He said if there had been a leak, Morris’s meter would show him still using abnormally high amounts of gas, which wasn’t the case. “Either the meter
malfunctions, you have a leak downstream of the meter, or the consumer burned it — one of the three,” Sorensen said. He said the chance that the meter rolled ahead on its own is “very remote,” but the company decided to give Morris the benefit of the doubt and returned $1,496.24 to “meet him halfway.” Morris said that still doesn’t explain why his bill was so high, and he refused to pay the balance. Morris said he received a disconnect notice from the gas co-op in March. He paid last month’s portion of the bill and contacted “Go Public,” a CBC news investigative
team in Edmonton, to air his concerns. The TV crew visited Morris’ farm and aired his story. But the deadlock continues. Morris pays his new monthly charges, but refuses to pay about $800 still owing from his January bill. Morris said he doesn’t like how the situation was handled, with the only choices being “pay up or be cut off.” “I should have taken them to court, but that would be time-consuming and costly. “The annual general meeting of the co-op will be a lot more lively next March.”
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