MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY — County council has approved a proposal to seek grant funding for the development of a wildfire structure protection unit, also called a wildfire trailer.
The move came by way of motion at a recent regularly scheduled council meeting, held in person and on Zoom.
A wildfire structure protection unit houses various pumps, hoses, sprinklers and tools required to respond quickly to wildfire threats, council heard.
The county recently received grant funding to update the Bergen and Water Valley wildfire preparedness guides.
“One of the main components of the wildfire preparedness guides is the contemplation of structural protection of buildings and priority areas through the use of pumps and sprinklers,” director of legislative service Chris Atchison told council.
“Currently, there is limited capacity within the county’s fire districts to deal with a wildfire response and would rely heavily on provincial forces for any significant events that occurred.”
The provincial intact municipal climate resiliency grant has recently been released with a Jan. 31 deadline and an objective of providing funding for municipalities toward effective, practical solutions that mitigate flood and wildfire risk.
“It would be administration’s recommendation that a trailer could be developed (using the climate resiliency grant) to be used regionally based on the area of concern to provide greater abilities for initial response while awaiting further provincial assistance,” he said.
“In the event that the maximum grant allowance of $100,000 is not received, components of the system could be purchased to the extent that funding allows.”
Coun. Peggy Johnson said she supports the proposal to seek the grant funding.
“When we look around and see how likely it is that we might need this (unit) at some point, I can certainly support this.”
Reeve Angela Aalbers asked Atchison where the unit will be housed.
He said it would be used by both the Sundre and Water Valley fire departments, with a decision on where it will be located still to be made in consultation with department officials.
“It would be a regional asset,” he said.
Financial procedure changes
Meanwhile, council has accepted changes to the county’s financial controls procedure, including how it relates to the allocation of grant funding.
The procedure provides guidance to administration on various procedures associated with the financial systems of the municipality.
Following a recent review of the Procedure 1009-01 Financial Controls, administration recommended a number of amendments to align with existing practices:
To allow for administration to replace an existing asset through the use of insurance dollars, and in the instance that insurance dollars do no completely cover the new expense, to allow for the chief administrative officer (CAO) contingency to be used to return that asset to its previous service level, and;
To empower administration to re-allocate grant funds where necessary to ensure the greatest efficiencies realized through the full expenditure of grant funding.
The updated procedures now read, in part, that, “In an effort to maximize the usage of grant funds on projects approved by council, the CAO shall have the authority to approve the re-allocation of grant funding in instances when the actual amounts received differs from those budgeted or to balance variances observed between individual initiatives.
“The funds for any specific initiatives to be completed may be placed in a reserve to be spent within 36 months with the exception of grant funds that shall be managed in separate accounts for financial reporting purposes.”
Council accepted the updated procedure as information.
