CARSTAIRS - At their recent regular council meeting, Carstairs councillors passed a motion regarding the Alberta First Responder Radio Communications System (AFRRCS).
AFRRCS is the provincewide radio system that helps first responders such as police, fire and ambulance, coordinate to improve safety and response times.
The estimated cost for the Carstairs Fire Department to purchase the needed radio and pager equipment for a complete transition to the AFRRCS system was $162,716. The amount was based on 28 portable radios, seven mobile radios and 32 pagers.
"This is the one the whole region is looking at going to," said CAO Carl McDonnell. "It's the provincial model. Council approved for us to move forward with the fire department purchasing with a budget of $85,000 with $27,000 coming out of the current budget. We had $27,000 previously budgeted. The remainder will come out of reserves."
McDonnell said that Mountain View County is expected to pay the remaining $85,000 for the equipment, pending approval at the county meeting on Oct. 10.
"It's a regional initiative with all the other communities through the fire chiefs' group," he said.
McDonnell said that with towers throughout the province, the AFRRCS system will provide consistent and reliable service.
"There are a series of towers all over the province and a duplication of systems so in major events you'll have your communication ability," he said. "You can also create talk groups. So in Mountain View County region you can have a fire department talk group so they can all talk to each but you can also expand it. So in Carstairs' case because we have neighbouring municipalities to the south with Rocky View County or Cremona has Rocky View, and some Crown land and Clearwater out the west end and Sundre. So they can create their own talk groups if they're doing mutual aid or working together, they have stronger radio signals and can actually communicate in the backcountry as well."
Bylaws, policies updated
In other council news, council approved updates to several bylaws and policies including the animal control services policy, the fire hydrant maintenance and inspection policy, and the sanding, plowing and snow removal policy.
"All of it was really wordsmithing," he said. "They're all being updated to reflect that we've gone for the most part to online systems than paper systems. For say the fire hydrant and valve inspections, the policy would say the attached sheet would be the sheet you would fill out for each valve. Now it's all done online with an electronic system."
Council approved a policy to allow administration to enter into an agreement for the energy aggregate program through RMA (Rural Municipalities Alberta) and 8760 Expense Management.
"So we lock our power and gas in with them for a three-year time frame," he said. "By doing so we would save a projected $24,000 over the length of the contract."
