The Paintearth County council approved the purchase of new water truck for Castor Volunteer Fire Rescue during the Sept. 13 meeting.
Under the inter-municipal fire services agreement that all members in the region have signed, Paintearth County is responsible for supplying a water truck for each fire department.
Castor Volunteer Fire Rescue has been renting a water truck from the Veteran Fire Department in Special Areas No. 4 since the previous one was destroyed in a tragic vehicle accident which claimed the life of firefighter Stephen Rayfield and injured fire Chief Patrick Kelly back in February.
See also: Castor firefighter killed in the line of duty
The agreement for the water truck rental is ending at the end of October 2023, which gives the County of Paintearth just over a year to secure a new water truck for Castor.
A meeting was held in the spring of 2022 with members of the inter-municipal fire committee, with direction given to the County of Paintearth to research alternate manufactures for a new truck which would meet Castor’s specifications.
The county has received three tenders from two different companies.
Alberta based New West Freightliner submitted a tender for a 2024 unit at a cost of just under $319,000 with delivery in mid-2023. Unfortunately, due to several concerns raised by the Castor fire department, including lack of storage, the model was seen as not being viable as an option.
Joliette, Que., based Camions Helie, a firefighting apparatus manufacture, submitted two options; one for a 2022 model deliverable by the end of the year and a 2023 model, at nearly $10,000 cheaper, with delivery after January 2023.
Council moved to purchase the 2023 model with the after January delivery.
Emergency Management meeting
Paintearth County council has agreed to attend a joint meeting with the region’s emergency service partners.
The meeting is being put together at the invitation of the Town of Castor council after concerns were raised at a recent meeting regarding ambulance response times.
See also: Castor town council concerned with AHS management of EMS
If all partners attend, representatives will be included from Halkirk, Castor, Coronation and the county.
According to the invitation from Town of Castor chief administrative officer Christopher Robblee, the main discussion will focus on response times for ambulances and “the system itself.”
Crowfoot sewer
Council is proceeding with a detailed design for a sewer system in the Crowfoot business park.
The design will be for use with a Climate Change Innovation and Technology Framework grant, which is being applied for at the same time.
According to Paintearth chief administrative officer Michael Simpson, the design and grant application will be happening in tandem with word on funding hopefully coming later this fall.