SARA GRUEN ON HER NEW NOVEL/C5
A TASTY ITINERARY Prepare your taste buds for a tour of the world
D6
Red Deer Advocate TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 2015
www.reddeeradvocate.com
Your trusted local news authority
LACOMBE FIRE
Nothing left but debris
Gawkers frustrate emergency crews
BY PAUL COWLEY ADVOCATE STAFF A family of four and an elderly couple were left homeless when a $2-million blaze levelled two homes in Lacombe on Sunday. No one was injured in the fire that started shortly before 5 p.m. and spread quickly through one home before leaping to a neighbouring house on Elisa Close in Lacombe’s Elizabeth Park neighbourhood. More than 50 volunteer firefighters from Lacombe, Blackfalds and Bentley responded to the blaze. It was put out in about an hour but firefighters remained on scene until the early hours of Monday morning. It was a hectic afternoon for Lacombe’s volunteers, who were out fighting a rural grass fire that had burned some structures and was threatening a home when they got the call about the city fire. Clive volunteer firefighters also responded to that incident. By the time Lacombe firefighters
Photos by PAUL COWLEY AND JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
The owners of three homes destroyed or damaged by fire survey the damage to their properties Monday afternoon. A fire Sunday afternoon consumed two homes in Lacombe leaving two others damaged. arrived at the city fire at 5:27 p.m., both houses were burning hard and homes on either side were threatened. Three vehicles sitting out front of the homes were also destroyed. Fire Chief Ed vanDelden said their
focus was on preventing the fire that was driven by a strong easterly winds from spreading further.
Before Lacombe’s firefighters could even begin to battle a huge blaze that destroyed two homes on Sunday, they had to fight their way through the sightseers. Scores of smartphone-toting spectators descended on the Elizabeth Park neighbourhood, clogging access roads and forcing local police to call in reinforcements to bring order to the streets. Lacombe Police Service Chief Steve Murray made no attempt on Monday to hide his frustration with the scene his officers, sheriffs and Mounties had to contend with late Sunday afternoon. Responding police officers’ first job is to evacuate people to safety, keep others from putting themselves in harm’s way, and ensure emergency services can get to the scene unimpeded. That proved unnecessarily challenging. “It was ridiculous. Literally, within minutes it was so plugged up in there,” said Murray. “We had actual fire trucks hung up in traffic that couldn’t get through.”
Please see GAWKERS on Page A2 Please see FIRE on Page A2
Modest property tax increase expected BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF Red Deer residents can expect a modest increase to their total property tax bills in 2015 despite a belt-tightening economy. Council gave first reading to a property tax bylaw that sets the municipal tax rate as 3.75 per cent when combined with Alberta Education and Piper Creek Foundation requisitions on Monday. On an average home assessed at $325,000 in 2015, the owner would pay $2,703 in taxes compared to $2,606 in 2014 or $97 more annually. Council also adopted an updated $327.2 million operating budget. In January, council adopted an interim budget with plans to revisit it
WEATHER A few showers. High 7. Low -5.
FORECAST ON A2
RED DEER CITY COUNCIL after the provincial budget was tabled. Mayor Tara Veer said since the interim operating budget was adopted there has been substantial changes in the local economy. Last spring council began grappling with an estimated 4.31 per cent increase and eventually landed with a 3.73 per cent tax increase on the municipal side for residential, non-residential and multi-family properties. Veer said council made reasonable progress in arriving at a number that would move the community forward in a way that was respectful to the local economy. Council heard the impacts of the provincial budget on the city’s books. Dean Krejci, the city’s chief finan-
INDEX Four sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . B5,B6 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5,A6 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . .D1,D2 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D4 Entertainment . . . . . . . . C5,C6 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B1-B4
cial officer, said because the province eliminated some social housing grants, the city lost $190,000 in revenue. The city will have to pay roughly $105,000 more for fleet operations due to the increase in fuel surtaxes. Land title search fees also went up, putting the city on the hook for an estimated $24,000 more. However, the city will receive $670,941 in Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) funding, $311,941 more than recognized in the operating budget. He said this ultimately offset the provincial budget impacts. Krejci said the changes amounted to about $7,059 after factoring in the boost to MSI funding. Veer said the city would likely have
been in a position that called for adding to the tax levy had it not been for the MSI allocation. City Manager Craig Curtis said there is no indication from the province that MSI funding will be available for municipalities beyond 2015/2016. Curtis said the city will be in the same position next year wondering what will happen with the grants. Overall in 2015, the city will collect $161.9 million in tax revenue, of which $119.8 million going to municipal services and programs and $41.8 million for Alberta Education and $167,000 for the Piper Creek Foundation. For multi-family property the tax rate comes in at 3.23 per cent, and 3.41 for non-residential property when combined with the provincial requisitions.
Please see COUNCIL on Page A2
Duffy had pictures framed at Senate expense Sen. Mike Duffy apparently billed the taxpayer to print and mount photos of his family, court heard on Monday. Story on PAGE A5
PLEASE
RECYCLE