Coronation town council
“Coronation has some of, if not the lowest crime rates in Alberta,” reported Sgt. Darcy McGunigal to Coronation town council at their regular meeting on Mon., Mar. 21.
Property crime, one of the local RCMP’s top priorities, has seen a 21 per cent reduction and impaired driving has decreased by 35 per cent, although traffic enforcement tickets have increased by 48 per cent year over year.
Sgt. McGunigal, along with Cst. Hall asked council for their input on the 2016-2017 policing priorities, however did state that police visibility would remain at the top of their list.
Sgt. McGunigal was happy to report that they very rarely see drugs in the Coronation area and that he has seen less drug use here than any of his previous postings.
The Coronation RCMP detachment will be expanding their fleet by one vehicle, most likely an F150 or a Tahoe, within the next month or so. Use of the Crown Victorias will eventually be phased out of the rural communities due to the long commutes, the gravel roads and the impracticality of the cars for rural driving as it relates to the RCMP’s specific uses and needs.
Local fire department to acquire trainer status
Captain Keith Rindal, Dave Walsh and Will Noseworthy from the Coronation Volunteer Fire Department requested $13,931 from council to provide current fire fighters with additional skills and acquire the official paperwork for OHS purposes as well as allow two of the town’s own to reach “trainer status”.
Dave Walsh and Will Noseworthy are both willing and interested in upgrading their training to acquire the official paperwork required to train fire fighters locally.
After crunching the numbers and walking council through a prepared power point presentation, they believe that the town will not only save $7,717.50 per competent fire fighter by spending the $13,931, but will also be able to host future training sessions “in-house”, thus charging other communities training fees and reclaiming dollars, in addition to potentially attracting new fire department members because training will be done locally.
CAO Sandra Kulyk suggested adding $20,000 to the 2016 budget, with the hopes of getting $7,500 from the county for this project. The additional $6,000 would be used for a laptop to assist in training classes held in Coronation, additional courses and possibly an infra-red camera, which is useful for detecting bodies in burning homes or in a ditch, especially when temperatures are 40 below.
Castor and Coronation both requested funds for the infra-red camera from the county in the past, however the county said the camera would need to be kept in the county office, which was not feasible for either community.
Castor has since purchased their own camera.
Library highlights
Coronation Library Manager Eunhye Cho reported that there was a 135 per cent increase of program participants and a 14 per cent increase in library cardholders in 2015 over the previous year.
The library’s 2016 goals include increasing cardholders by 50, providing year-round after school programs to promote literacy skills, continuing to hold professional and local art exhibits as well as strengthening ties with other organizations in the community and holding community events for all age groups
