Residents are being asked to let the Town of Sundre know whether they would be in support of having the community host the 2013 Special Olympics Provincial Games.
During last week's governance committee meeting, Mayor Annette Clews said she believes the town could do the job.
“I really think our community could participate in hosting it,” said Clews. “It would need to be supported by the community before we move forward with an application. It would be a big job.”
In a letter to the town received at last week's meeting, Special Olympics Alberta vice president Johnny Bryne explained that the games are held every four years and are the “pinnacle of competitive sporting opportunities for athletes with intellectual disabilities in Alberta.”
More than 600 athletes, coaches and others would participate in the 2013 games. Sports in the games include track and field, golf, bocce, powerlifting, rhythmic gymnastics, soccer and softball.
A Special Olympics Alberta grant of $25,000 would be made available, he said.
The host municipality traditionally provides cash and/or gifts in kind towards the operation and staging of the games, he said.
“It is anticipated that in addition to grant funding, the host community will solicit cash and/or gifts in kind from the private sector and raise the necessary cash and gifts to offset games expenses,” he said.
“By hosting the games your municipality will be rewarded with numerous community and economic benefits such as a strengthened social and volunteer base, provincial media attention, and increased local business activity.
“The Town of Sundre will also gain notoriety through a Special Olympics Games whose brand has provincial, national and international notoriety.”
The deadline to submit a bid to host is Dec. 16.
Mayor Clews said she believes there would be numerous benefits in hosting the games.
“There would be all kinds of host benefits, including economic development and the community engagement benefits when we would have a lot of interaction of our age groups within our community. We will have cross section of interaction and that would be a huge benefit.”
Sundre would be able to provide the facilities for most events, she said.
“I do believe we would be able to provide most of the facilities, and those that we don't have in our community we could possibly work with other communities to provide those (such as the bowling alley in Olds).”
Residents who think hosting the games would be a good idea are being asked to call the town office at 403-638-3551 on or before November 4, said CAO Ryan Leuzinger.
Mayor Clews said if there is enough interest shown in that phone survey, a public open house might be planned and held.
Recruitment committee working for Sundre
In other council news, a multi stakeholder community committee designed to help bring new physicians, nurses and other health professionals to town could prove very helpful in ensuring Sundre has enough of the health staff down the road, council heard.
Dr. Hal Irvine and Dr. Robert Warren appeared as a delegation before council to outline the committee and ask for town support.
As things now stand local doctors are responsible for guiding perspective doctors around town, showing them everything from real estate to schools to recreation facilities. The new committee hopes to be able to involve many new stakeholders in that recruitment process.
“The committee will be able to showcase Sundre,” said Dr. Irvine.
The Sundre and District Chamber of Commerce has already named a representative on the committee.
Mayor Toone called the committee a good move and something the town supports.
As well as helping in the recruitment process for new health professionals, the committee will also examine such things as the long-term need for new health facilities in town.
The existing Greenwood Clinic building has become quite crowded, with nine physicians and staff working there, said Dr. Irvine.
Councillor Paul Isaac said Sundre needs to address the need for new health facilities, sports facilities and other infrastructure.
“We've all got to get together,” said Isaac. “If we re going to grow, we need to meet these needs.
Dr. Irvine said, “I agree entirely.”
Fire department asks to be spared ‘Charlie' level calls
Town councillors are expected to consider a motion this week regarding a request from the Sundre fire department that firefighters no longer respond to so-called ‘Charlie' level medical assist calls.
During an appearance before council at last week's governance committee meeting, fire chief Marty Butts explained that Charlie level calls are non-life threatening calls where the patient is feeling unwell but is not in danger.
As things currently stand, Sundre firefighters responding to Charlie calls can only standby as EMS personnel help the patient. Firefighters are not permitted to transport patients to hospital.
Ending response to the calls would take time pressures off firefighters who are often called out of bed for Charlie level calls, he said.
None of the other fire departments in Mountain View County, except Cremona, now respond to Charlie level calls, he said.
Councillors passed a motion forwarding Butts' request to this week's council meeting where a resolution may be considered.
“It's quite a drain on our manpower and we can't transport anyway,” said Butts. “We will be going with what the other departments are already doing.”
Sundre firefighters will continue to respond to both Delta and Echo levels calls, which are the more serious type of calls, council heard.
Butts noted that firefighters would continue to respond to Charlie calls wherever requested to do so by EMS.
If council approves the change, it will not in any way negatively impact public safety, he said.
School offers help for students dealing with drugs
During a presentation to councillors, Sundre high school principal Jason Drent said while the school is not having a problem with illegal drugs, some students are dealing with drug-related issues outside the school community.
“Are we seeing drugs in the school? Absolutely not,” said Drent. “I would be naive to think students are not impacted by drugs outside their school time. We are seeing drug impact students when we have them approach wellness workers and say how they are struggling with things that happen at parties and things like that.
“When I talk to other bigger schools, the bigger the schools get the more troubles they have with that sort of thing. I would be naïve to think students are not impacted by things like that in their lives. I want to make sure programs are in place so students can seek help if they need it.”
The school does offer anti-drug programs and counselling throughout the year, council heard.
In his presentation to council, Drent also highlighted some of the recent activities and statistics about the school.
The school's May Queen student fundraising program is one of the most successful in the province – it raised more than $60,000 last year through student community work.
On the athletics side, Sundre sends more students to provincial level athletic competitions than all other schools in Mountain View combined, he said.
The school's completion rate is currently 92 per cent, compared with the Chinook's Edge Division average of 73 per cent. Sundre's drop out rate is zero, compared with the provincial average of four per cent.
“We really do have a school we can be proud of,” said Drent. “We've got great kids.”
River bank stabilization funds received
The town has received the $2.4 million grant from the province for the Red Deer River stabilization project, councillors heard.
The town has now started the detailed design stage of the project, which will see riverbank stabilization work competed along the west bank of the river in Sundre.
The work is designed to prevent flooding of the town and protect vital infrastructure, homes and businesses.
Councillors consider safety policy
Town councillors have examined a proposed updated municipal safety policy #133 designed to ensure that municipal duties are conducted in a safe manner.
“An injury and accident free workplace is our goal through continuous safety and loss control effort,” the policy states. “Employees at every level, including senior staff and contractors are responsible and accountable for the municipality's overall safety initiatives.
“Complete and active participation by everyone, every day, in every job is necessary for the safety excellence the town expects. The town supports coordination of safety among all workers on the job site.”
The policy also states that the town will ‘provide first aid, cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, workplace hazardous material information system, and transportation of dangerous goods training for public works employees, municipal enforcement and firefighters.
“All employees are responsible for following procedures, working safely, and wherever possible, improving safety measures.”
The policy would not take precedence over Occupational Health & Safety regulations.
Under the assignment of responsibility for safety section of the policy, the CAO duties includes “ensure unsafe conditions are corrected”, “ensure compliance with regulations”, and “promote health and safety awareness.”
The worker duties include “cooperate with the employer through involvement in all aspects of the health and safety program”, “correct unsafe conditions”, “report unsafe conditions”, “make safety suggestions”, and “promote health and safety awareness.”
Contactors and contact services responsibilities would include advising “the appropriate municipal personnel of any safety matters which may impact on the operation of the municipality.”
The policy was expected to come back before council this week.
