The Clive Fire Department reported a busy 2021 in its year in review, but the deputy fire chief pointed out the department is attending what seems like an ever-evolving list of emergencies.
The fire department year in review was presented at the Jan. 24 regular meeting of council.
Deputy Fire Chief Steve Zaytsoff presented his report to councillors and provided them with a map showing the substantial number of calls the Clive department attended in 2021.
Zaytsoff stated in his report the department attended seven calls inside the village, including one structure fire, two rubbish/grass fires, one public assist call, one alarm with no fire and two miscellaneous alarm call-outs.
The deputy fire chief pointed out Clive also goes to a substantial number of mutual aid call-outs, including nine in the Village of Alix in 2021.
Zaytsoff noted the lone structure fire call-out happened around Christmas time and it was “…a total loss.” Zaytsoff stated there was a bit of a delay in the department getting the emergency call and members of the department arrived at the structure fire at the same time as the property owner.
Zaytsoff also pointed out the department responded to an airplane crash in 2021, so the firefighters are seeing a variety of call-outs.
Looking at numbers from outside the village Zaytsoff reported the Clive department responded to a number of call-outs in Lacombe County, including seven rubbish/grass fires, six motor vehicle collisions, one medical resuscitation call, one hazardous materials call related to a collision, one natural gas leak, a public service first aid call, two miscellaneous accidental alarms, one alarm caused by smoke or steam, one alarm caused by a detector, one false alarm related to an internal system and one outside fire with dollar loss.
Councillors asked the deputy fire chief if he was satisfied with the department’s membership. Zaytsoff responded the department’s size is steady but acceptable at about 20 members, but he’d be happy to see it at 25.
Pet licenses
During her regular report to council Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Carla Kenney reported in 2021 Clive residents registered 167 dog and 76 cat licenses for their furry friends, which was down a bit from the previous year. In 2020 Clive saw 191 dog licenses and 82 cat licenses issued.
The year before, 2019, the village issued 14 dog and 53 cat licenses.
A fowl report
The CAO gave a report on the village’s population of the ubiquitous urban chicken. Kenney noted two Village of Clive urban hen licenses have been issued for 2022 while adding that two previous license holders have moved away and one other previous license holder isn’t renewing.
Bylaw complaints
Kenney also gave an update on recent bylaw complaints. She reported an oversize commercial vehicle was wrongly parked in a residential area so village staff sent the owner an email asking that it be removed.
Peace officers wrote 13 warnings for residents who failed to remove snow, ice or debris from sidewalks within the time allowable. As well, five owners of vacant lots were sent warning letters for also failing to remove ice and snow from the sidewalks adjacent their property.
Public input
While councillors were discussing long term strategic initiatives, they agreed the village should gather public input from residents regarding community visioning questions.
The questions include, “What program or service provided by the village makes the biggest positive impact on you personally, share three things you feel the village can do to improve your quality of life, and what do you love most about the village or why did you choose Clive as your home?”
During discussion councillors pointed out many new people have moved to Clive recently and it would be nice to get their input on the engagement plan.
Stu Salkeld, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
ECA Review
