Your news this week: Portable air monitoring for Lamont - 2 Weapons seized near Lamont - 6 Polar Vortex sees lows in -40s - 10 OPINION: Dems promoting Trump - 4
Proud to be an Independent CANADIAN Publication
FREE
Vol. 16, No. 12, Wednesday, February 17, 2021 www.LamontLeader.com
New outdoor ice rink slated for Lamont BY JANA SEMENIUK The town of Lamont will open a new outdoor ice-skating surface in Hillside Park. Councillor Dave Taylor proposed the idea during the Feb. 9 council meeting in response to the closing of the arena due to province-wide restrictions on sporting events due to COVID. Taylor explained why an outdoor skating surface wasn’t created before now. “As you know, I pitched the idea of an outdoor skating surface before, but with the indoor arena option, it didn’t make sense because we had lots of room for public skating and shinny,” he said. Taylor went on to describe why the idea makes sense now. “But now, with COVID, our ice has been taken out, and we have kids skating on stormwater ponds, so it made sense that we provide some very accessible outdoor recreation for kids and the general public,” he said. Taylor then made his proposition. “I propose a space near the picnic
A new outdoor ice skating path is being created in Lamont’s Hillside Park after Councillor Dave Taylor made the suggestion during the Feb. 9 council meeting. The surface won’t be ready to accommodate skaters for at least two weeks. pavilion where there’s a fire hydrant for very handy water access,” he said. “We can put in a snowbank skating path like a lot of other municipalities have.” “I suggested it to parks and recreation, and they were in favour,” he said. “The recommendation from the committee was that a temporary out-
door ice skating surface be created.” Councillor Perry Koroluk was interested in how the town would be responsible. “What would the implications be for the town as far as the safety? Does someone need to be there monitoring it?” he asked. Taylor explained that the surface
would be comparable to the playground in terms of town responsibility. “The proposition would include staff time to flood and monitor the ice. We’ve talked to the fire dept. as well, and in the end, it becomes like a playground,” he said. “The users are also your reporters. If something is not safe, they need to report it to the town, and then when our staff can see to it, they will.” In terms of how quickly staff could create the ice, Director of Operations and Infrastructure, Tyler Edworthy, said the process could be done within approximately two weeks. Mayor Bill Skinner was happy with the suggestion of creating the outdoor ice and appreciative of Councillor Taylor. “We are fortunate to have Councillor Taylor on board who has a lot of experience in this area and brings a wealth of knowledge,” he said. The council unanimously approved the suggestion during the Feb. 9 council meeting.
County Council wants additional seat on Emergency Response committee BY JOHN MATHER Lamont County council debated the proposed Regional Emergency Management Bylaw for some time Feb. 9, before deciding to hold off on its acceptance, thinking they need more representation on the Regional Emergency Management Committee that would be established through the bylaw. The bylaw had already been accepted by several smaller municipalities in the County. Regional Fire Chief Shayne Milliken presented the revised bylaw. In 2018 it had first been developed to form a regional emergency management partnership with Lamont, Mundare, Andrew and Chipman, he said. “It was adapted by all the municipalities, but it had to be approved by the department of Municipal Affairs prior to the partnership actually starting,” he
said. “In June 2020 the department refused to approve the agreement citing clarity in several parts of the agreement.” He said work began to fix the areas in question and in Nov. 2020 a review took place and all parties were satisfied and all municipalities had indicated their support for the revised bylaw. Milliken told council there was a summary of the changes made and wondered if council had any questions regarding them. “Essentially Lamont County is equal to the Village of Chipman is that right?” asked Reeve David Diduck. “I’m not sure I want to get involved in another commission where we have the bulk of the assets but still only have an equal voice.” He also asked about declaring a state of local emergency. “Is Lamont County Council, as the local authority, handing over the abili-
ty to declare a local state of emergency to the committee or to you.” Milliken said the committee would be responsible for declaring a local state of emergency as outlined by the Emergency Management Act, but the state of local emergency would generally be recommended by the regional director of emergency management, whoever was appointed to fill that role. Milliken said the municipalities still had powers to take action as required under the Municipal Government Act. Using a recent water main break in Lamont as an example, Diduck asked if a state of emergency had to be declared for that, would it be the Town of Lamont or the regional committee making the decision to declare? Milliken said it would be the committee’s responsibility. Milliken pointed out the county had started the move to the regional agreement and the other municipalities had
signed on. Councillor Wayne Woldanski then wondered if the County could have an additional member on the committee. Woldanski said his reasoning was based on the fact the County was the largest contributor of resources to the emergency management committee and he felt maybe they could explore having an additional seat. Milliken said it hadn’t been discussed in the original agreement and the other municipalities wouldn’t be aware of this suggestion but it might be do-able via the bylaw’s terms of reference. Milliken added the Regional Emergency Committee was only elected officials and other guests could be CAOs. He added the Emergency Management Agency consisted of the “boots on the ground” staff. Continued on Page 8