Charles Houle and Bertha Williams of Norbert Recycling came to Midway council on Monday, March 2.
They were there to discuss four items: the nature of the Encorp contract held by Bertha Williams and the area of her territory, services provided and payment for pick-up of corporate recycling (as opposed to residential recycling) from the Village of Midway, bottle collection for the community gardens from the donation bin beside the regional district recycling station, and his payment.
Williams presented council with a written history of Norbert’s recycling. Houle told council the local recycling centre is a business that the community needs to look after. He said he would be taking this message to Greenwood and the regional district board as well.
“Midway and Greenwood talk about having the cleanest drinking water in the world, but I think we need to get to zero waste too,” Houle said. He told council he has added six contracts to this company through product care programs and Norbert now takes appliances, TVs, paint and light bulbs.
“We want to bring that to the community,” he told council. He explained his vision of setting up recovery sites in West Boundary communities that they can both create employment and keep waste out of landfills.
Council told him the decision of who would pick up the recycling from the village office would be one made by staff and that typically council would not get involved in the process beyond general policy. Houle was told that the community garden group sponsorship of the donation bin had nothing to do with the village.
New fire equipment
Fire Chief Walter Osellame also came before council to discuss the need for Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) that meets current standards. Council voted to purchase 10 new units and 20 bottles at a cost of just over $65,000 to be financed with a low-interest loan from the Municipal Finance Authority. The village will also purchase two positive pressure breathing apparatus to be used in case of an ammonia leak at the arena. The cost will be just under $2,900 for the units and two bottles.
Fire department training
Under training guidelines released by the Office of the Fire Commissioner late last year, municipalities must declare what level of training their volunteer firefighters will attain–either exterior attack or interior attack with interior attack only permitted for those departments training to that standard.
At their last meeting Midway council has approved funding for exterior attack training ($6,000); with approval in principal given to interior attack training (an additional $3,000). Council gave full approval for the interior attack training after meeting with Osellame on Monday night. A further $1,000 has been budgeted for contingencies.
West Boundary Road Rescue
Council referred a letter from Larry Bowen, coordinator of West Boundary Road Rescue (WBRR), to RCMP, BC Ambulance Service and Emcon Services for comment. Bowen is asking council’s support for changes to provincial policy, which states, “Flagging is only authorized for ensuring the safety of the emergency services personnel involved in the removal of the subject(s). Once the subject(s) are safely extricated, flagging is no longer covered.”
Road rescue would like that changed so they are funded while flagging until a highways flagging crew is on scene. They also ask that coverage by WCB, accidental death and dismemberment, and liability insurance be expanded to cover road rescue groups until suitable traffic control flagging from the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure is in place.
In the past, WBRR has remained on scene providing flagging for the safety of RCMP and ambulance personnel. Council will wait until they see these comments before they press for the changes.
Curling club reopens
Council received a letter of thanks from the Boundary District Curling Club for the $4,000 grant that help pay the $26,000 it took to replace the ice plant. This is in addition to $3,500 the club had spent in September to replace a brine pump.