Clearwater Volunteer Fire Department should have a new fire gear locker addition soon.
Clearwater town council agreed during its Nov. 8 to ratify awarding a $76,000 contract to Mierau Contractors Ltd. to build the addition, which will be located next to the existing firehall.
The work is to be done by Dec. 15 with the money coming from the 2011 Fire Services Reserve Fund.
The addition will take the place of the old firehall, which is getting old and is presently used just for storage.
Five contractors indicated an interest in bidding, said District of Clearwater chief administrative officer Leslie Groulx. Only one local contractor attended the viewing and none submitted bids.
Mierau Contractors Ltd. is based in Abbotsford.
Approving officer gets extension
Clearwater council approved a recommendation from staff that the contract with approving officer Lee Dodds be extended for one year.
Dodds, who had 25 years of experience as an approving officer with the Ministry of Transportation, was appointed to the position in June of this year.
The Land Titles Act requires the municipality to have an approving officer.
Dodds is paid $115 per hour for his services, plus expenses.
From date of hire the cost to date has been $9,800, which was less than predicted.
The approval officer is primarily concerned with reviewing subdivision plans. The position is quasi-judicial and his decisions can only be appealed to the Supreme Court of B.C.
Seeking advice on community living
Correspondence from B.C. Community Living Action Group was referred to Yellowhead Community Services Society to advise on a response. Staff advised council that the society was the appropriate agency to advise on a response to government cutbacks regarding housing and programs for adults with development disabilities.
The action group was asking council to pass a potion calling on the provincial government to end funding cuts, implement a moratorium on the closure of group homes and provide sufficient financial resources to maintain the housing resource and address growing waitlists.
Literacy programs make progress
What is the number one determinant of health? What can increase productivity, reduce on-the-job accidents and attract jobs and investment? What can decrease crime and increase civic engagement? The answer to all is literacy, according to Brenda Le Clair of Decoda Literary Solutions.
In a letter to council, Le Clair reported that, during the past year, work by an eight-member task group in Clearwater had resulted in:
• 22 adults participating in a community adult literacy program (outside the formal education system);
• 49 children and parents taking part in a family literacy program;
• 20 school-aged children participating in a community program designed to support their learning;
• 393 adults and children enjoying literacy events; and
• 250 games, books and other literacy-related materials being given out.
Decoda is a province-wide organization that combines Literacy BC and the literacy department of 2010 Legacies Now.