Jan. 22 Bow Island council meeting

Posted on January 30, 2018 by 40 Mile Commentator

By Justin Seward

Commentator/Courier

The Town of Bow Island council covered a request from the town’s recreation advisory board, an amendment to the protective footwear policy and the transfer of taxes at the Jan. 22 regular meeting.

Bow Island Recreation Advisory Board

Council moved to donate the Bert Knibbs ball diamonds and the Bow Island Multiplex rental fees for the sixth annual slow pitch tournament from June 9-11.
The weekend donation of requested facilities allows for the possibility of a higher profit margin for the organization.
Protective Footwear
The town amended the protective footwear policy allowance to increase to $200 from $150 per year with the option of carrying forward the allowance for one years to a maximum of $400.

Fire chief report
Bow Island Fire Department had a busy year, as they were called out for 728 hours of duty in 2017, according to fire chief Kelly Byam’s report to council.
The fire department kepy track of all the EMS incidents including return transfers, as well as cancelled calls, which accumulated to 402 incidents in 2017, an increase of 103 from the 299 in 2016.
Renovations are being done to the upstairs of the fire hall with new cabinets and painting being done.
Programs, such as the junior firefighter program and the Fire Smart program, are being considered for the whole community.
These programs will assist in fire safety awareness and promote the fire department for possible new recruits.

Bylaw officer report

Bow Island bylaw officer Jason Schreiber provided a copy of his report for council at its Jan. 22 meeting.
The report says his shortened month of December kept Schreiber busy upon his return from the Alberta Managment Association’s annual summit in Edmonton at the beginning of the month.
He had to deal with a car running into the Centennial Park sign.
With an ensuing investigation, Schreiber was able to determine the level of damage.
The Bow Island RCMP has the incident on file and repairs are expected to be complete in 2018.
There was also damage done to a ‘Heavy Truck Prohibited’ sign, which was placed at a business on the highway.
The person who caused the damage has not been found.
Four dogs-at-large complaints were filed with only one of the four dogs entering the pound.
The other three dog owners were actively looking for their canines at the time of the complaints.
Traffic complaints were up in December, consisting of parking facing the flow of traffic and and heavy traffic off route.
Another concern was the number of vehicle operators parking on top of the cross walk on Fifth Avenue West.