NEWS: Midnight Madness/ Light Up Event
SPORTS: To Provincials Volleyball
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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2013
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HFP workers need training By Jackie Lieuwen Houston Today
FLU Shot
Jackie Lieuwen/Houston Today
Public Health Nurse Taryn Opel gives a flu shot to retired nurse Carolyn Ledwon at the Houston Health Centre last Thursday. Flu shots are available at the Houston Health Centre on Nov. 20, 21, today and tomorrow, and Nov. 27, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The Steelworkers Union is working with Houston Forest Products (HFP) employees to help them make a smooth transition and get answers. “[The closure announcement] is so sudden, and there’s so many questions and so few answers,” said Wayde Decooman, Plant Chairman for United Steelworkers (USW). Boota Johal, USW Business Agent, says they want to alleviate stress and anxiety in the workplace and they are doing a survey to find out what their 225 union members need as far as training and education. Then they want to get programs set up at the mill, he said. Johal says one of the main concerns
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“There are at least 160 people who need work.” - Tom Stringfellow
workers have is losing health benefits, especially for those with families, and whether the benefits will extend for a time period beyond the closure date. Another issue is that workers don’t know the HFP closure date, and thus they cannot figure out pensions, he said, adding that there are also questions about whether West Fraser will bridge pensions to help people retire. See HFP on Page 3
Council cuts spending to save money in 2014 budget By Jackie Lieuwen Houston Today
Houston council is looking at ways to save money and cut back on spending in 2014. At a budget meeting last Wednesday, council went through a list of 65 key projects that are part of the 2014 draft budget, planning to contract more work locally and re-look at some of the ways they do things.
“There is a way to do most of these [planned projects], that’s the good news,” said Director of Finance William Wallace. He says that between grants, Northern Development Initiative funding and Gas Tax funding, as well as reserves allocated to various projects, they can form a balanced budget with most of the key
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projects. Looking at ways to save money, council discussed contracting
themselves. Council considered budgeting $200,000 for a down payment on
“Contract it out,” - Councillor Kyle Thomson
out various District work instead of buying equipment and doing the work
a new street sweeper and $7,000 for a grave digging attachment for the 2004 bobcat.
“Contract it out,” said Councillor Kyle Thomson. Thomson says there are local businesses that own street sweepers, and the cost to contract someone to do grave digging would be minimal. “The way I’ve been thinking about this public works stuff, is that if there’s a big enough usage that the town needs it, that somebody else
can actually build a business off it, then we keep it within the town, such as street sweeping or garbage pickup,” he said. Staff agreed to look into the costs of contracting out grave digging and street sweeping to see if savings can be made. The draft budget also included a new dump box for the District dump truck, budgeted at $90,000,
and paid out of equipment reserve funds. Mayor Holmberg said they should look at the condition of the box and see if they can put on a new liner instead. “A lot of people just redo their boxes,” he said, adding that a new liner would cost around $10,000, and save the District a lot of money. See MONEY on Page 3
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