BOWDEN -- Town councillors are pleasantly surprised by the turnout to an emergency management meeting held in the community.
Twenty-six people came out for the meeting, held March 18 in the Paterson Community Hall.
"The county told us they needed at least 12 or 14 to make the presentation worthwhile coming down here and we were struggling, we thought, to have that many come out," Mayor Robb Stuart said during an interview with the Albertan.
"The council actually went out and talked to a bunch of different people. And it was good to see — a lot of county residents came in to it too."
The purpose of the meeting was to inform residents about emergency management plans.
"In case something does hit the town you need about seven roles filled," Stuart said. "The reception centre coordinator, the material management guy who finds the backhoes and all that stuff for you, the financial officer who makes sure all the receipts are kept in order so we can submit it to the province. It's quite a role in that."
Stuart said Bowden is part of a regional plan co-ordinated by Red Deer County. He said other communities in the plan include Sylvan Lake, Innisfail, Penhold and Delburne.
"The guy who runs it is really good. Ex RCMP officer. He travels around the world teaching emergency management," Stuart said.
During a March 25 council meeting, acting chief administrative officer Jacqui Molyneux and several councillors praised town residents for attending the emergency management meeting in such numbers.
Coun. Sandy Gamble was impressed with how many people were willing to volunteer to help out and that many of those in attendance were people she didn't even know.
Molyneux thanked councillors for attending as well.
She said the meeting was just to relay information.
"We will get into training later and then assign people to roles," she wrote in an email.
