FRIDAY
S I N C E
OCTOBER 18, 2013
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Vol. 118, Issue 165
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PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALMO
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SD20 on track to reach settlement with CUPE BY ART HARRISON Times Staff
As the mid-December deadline for reaching settlements between school districts and Award Winning its non-teaching Canadian Best Western Plus Union of Public Employees (CUPE) support staff looms large, many districts in the province have yet to come to terms with the budget adjustments necessary to fund the wage increase. A recent media release by EAT CUPE reports that only eight DRINK of B.C’s 60 local school districts have reached agreeLOUNGE ments with the union. Mon-Sat • 4pm-closing Darrel Ganzert, chair of School District 20, feels that 1001 Rossland Ave. the local discussions are on in the Best Western Plus Columbia River Hotel track for the short and the longer term to be able to cover the costs of the agreement It’s negotiated by the provincial government with CUPE. almost “We’ve been able to find a the weekend... modest surplus that we could dig into for this year,” said Ganzert. “For the future we will be able to submit a budget that meets government requirements.” SD 20 was required to find over $130,000 in savings for the current year and almost $250,000 per year for the remainder of the contract to Hwy 22A 250.368.6466 cover the 3.5 per cent raise agreed to by the province. School districts were required to have the current year’s increase funded by Oct. 15 with negotiations for the remainder of the contract to be completed in December. “They (CUPE) came to us with a fairly large package but in our district the wages are settled,” Ganzert said. Call us for a FREE “There are still some other market evaluation issues we’re working on and Thea Mario we’re looking at potential cuts Stayanovich Berno in jobs to be able to meet greatertrailrealestate.com budget requirements in the future.” 250.368.5000 MP_adO3_Layout 1 13-10-04 6:20 AM See PageBUDGET, 1 Page 2
Time to visit Maglio’s!
VALERIE ROSSI PHOTO
Century 21’s Amy Klit (left) and Jody Audia demonstrate what to do in case of an earthquake Thursday, which was proclaimed ShakeOut BC Day in recognition of the important role communities, workplaces and families play in promoting emergency preparedness.
Trail shakes off earthquake drill BY VALERIE ROSSI Times Staff
If a tremor shook the City if Trail, the general public might find themselves practicing the ingrained fire drill: stop, drop and roll. While residents in the Lower Mainland may have dropped, covered and held on with more than 690,000 British Columbians during the Great British Columbia ShakeOut drill Thursday morning, the majority of Trail organizations contacted opted out or knew nothing of the province-wide earthquake preparedness exercise. Kootenay Boundary Regional Fire Rescue, School District 20 and the City of Trail were among several places contacted that same day in hopes of gaining some insight on local preparedness. Deputy Regional Fire Chief Dan Derby, who also wears the hat of Emergency Program coordinator for the Regional District of
Kootenay Boundary (RDKB), said the unlikely event does come with a plan. “It's coming from the coast, it's definitely a far bigger issue on the coast,” he explained, a response echoed across the community. “Our bigger risks locally are related to wildfires . . . flooding and a hazardous material incident and I think that's probably one of the bigger reasons.” Larry Abenante, Trail public works manager, said the city has never participated in an earthquake drill in the 18 years he's been on board. He can't recall there ever being a tremor in the city. What the city does focus on, he said, is working together with emergency agencies during a disaster. Such was the case with the 2008 Unified Regional Emergency Exercise, a cooperative exercise done to test the performance of each individual rescue squad and
to evaluate how they work together. He said the Emergency Program committee has already started planning for the next one, which is scheduled for every five years, but with a cut to funding will likely look much different than the massive orchestrated event done in 2008. Done on Teck property, 14 organizations including the RCMP, firefighters and ambulance took part in the simulated drill, where volunteers on the scene were dressed as casualties with burns, chest wounds, and gashes to the head. In case of an emergency, Trail does have an Emergency Operations Centre, located in the lower level of the Greater Trail Community Centre and features full inter-connectivity for fire, police, ambulance and public works; four stations with full radio capabilities for all jurisdictions in the RDKB; a backup generator and a meeting room for decision makers.
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