Wednesday, November 3, 2021 Vol. 44, No. 44
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Lest We Forget
New BRSD Board of Trustees sworn in
The Battle River School Division’s new Trustees met for the first time on Thursday, Oct. 28 where they each swore their oath of office. From left: Flagstaff County trustee Dwight Dibben, City of Camrose Trustee Patrick McFeely, Camrose County Trustee Karen Belich, City of Camrose Trustee Doug Algar, and Beaver County Trustee Lyle Albrecht. The new Board Chair will be Karen Belich, Vice-Chair is Lyle Albrecht, both incumbents.
Beaver County holds election for commission seats on BESC Patricia Harcourt Editor
At their latest meeting, Beaver County Council held an election between themselves for the three county seats on the Beaver Emergency Services Commission (BESC), which oversees the fire and emergency services in the county. For the west end seat, both Reeve Kevin Smook (Division 1) and new councillor Lionel Williams (Division 2) hoped to represent the county. Deputy Reeve Gene Hrabec (Division 3) and Councillor Barry Bruce (Division 4) wanted to represent the Central part of the county. And Councillor Dale Pederson (Division 5) wanted the East position on the commission. That meant five people wanted three spots triggering an election. All of council had heard concerns expressed by ratepayers during the municipal election about the costs surrounding BESC operations and the fees charged for fire services, which many
considered too high. “I think we’re going to have a few new members on (the commission) from the towns and villages,” said Pederson. “I’m a little disappointed in what has been done in the past,” he said of the BESC board. But he agreed that the county needs to keep its three representatives in place on the board. Bruce said that when he was campaigning, “BESC was brought up everywhere…People don’t feel they have been represented,” he said, adding he was asked to let his name stand for the job. Bruce said he “considered it a challenge,” but noted he has “a fresh pair of eyes,” and brings value to the position with his experience as a salesperson. He also said he could bring forward issues in a positive way and wanted “to be a part of it.” Hrabec noted he has been the BESC chair for the past two. years, adding he “knows there are issues.” The charges for fire calls follow the Alberta regulations, he said, with BESC adopting the provincial rate schedule in 2012.
He also cited communication about billing between fire chiefs and administration as another issue, but said the new BESC manager “is doing his best to make things better.” And he was disappointed when people said the firefighters “are just doing it for the money…We have a really great team,” he said, of volunteers. And due to the nature of emergency calls these days, “you will probably get a firefighter before you get a paramedic,” during an emergency. Williams called BESC “a hot button item in the west end.” The issue is “the substantial cost to people with fires,” and he called “one of the biggest issues” insurance companies that “won’t go along with paying out those kind of charges, they just won’t pay them.” He said that “people in my area want something changed.” Reeve Smook added he believed a lot of work was needed on the emergency response plan. But work “on the fire side” was also necessary considering the “nasty” bill a resident in his divi-
sion got for a fire call. Smook said he wanted to see charges similar to those given out by neighbouring municipalities. Charging provincial rates may be alright for companies and corporations, “but not for residents,” he said, stating those fees should be capped. As a former chair of BESC, Smook said he wanted to see improvements made, adding the commission would get “a fresh pair of eyes” with the new representatives on the commission from Ryley and Holden. An election for the three seats on the commission was held with Interim CAO Margaret Jones overseeing it. Each councillor was allowed to put three names on a sheet of paper with the result that Williams will represent the West end, Hrabec the Central, and Pederson the Eastern end of the county. Hrabec also remained on as the county’s representative on the Beaver Foundation, which he chaired prior to the election. The alternate was Barry Bruce.