Estevan city council has approved amendments to the policy for false alarms in the city.
The false alarm fee for service policy is designed to reduce the number of preventable and unwarranted false alarm responses by the Estevan Fire Rescue Service. It will also implement a cost recovery structure for preventable false alarms, increase awareness levels for both home and building owners that operate monitored fire alarm systems, ensure monitored fire alarm systems are receiving the required inspections and testing, and assure the public that a full response by firefighters will occur for any fire alarm system.
The fire chief or a designate will investigate the cause of each false alarm, and establish if the alarm was warranted or preventable.
The fee for service for the first response to an unwarranted or preventable false alarm from January to December may be waived.
The fee for a second false alarm in the 12-month period will be $300, increasing to $325 for the third response and $350 for each subsequent call.
A response to the rural municipalities serviced by the fire department will remain at the same hourly rate included in the agreement with the city.
A fee for service may be applied to a premature dispatch to a false alarm by an alarm monitoring agency, a false alarm that has been established as preventable or unwarranted, a false alarm initiated by faulty or defective system components, or recurring false alarms received within a 12-month period.
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While discussing the South East Transportation Planning Committee minutes, Councillor Dennis Moore, who chairs the committee, urged people to inform the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure if they see a downed sign, so they can put it on a list.
He noticed some important signs down on Highway 39 between Estevan and Regina on June 24, and the only way they will be up again is if someone reports them.
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The monthly cart report from Green for Life Environmental showed a total of 15,351 garbage bins were emptied in May, weighing a total 349,540 kilograms. The average cart weight was 22.77 kilograms.
As for recycling bins, there were 3,937 carts emptied with a total weight of 30,390 kilograms, or an average of 7.72 kilograms.
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Council approved the conversion of a mixed-use building in the 1200-block of Seventh Street to accommodate the new home for the Estevan Gymnastics Club.
The club purchased the building earlier this year and is renovating the west portion for the proposed use.
Concerns were raised about the lack of parking stalls to support the use. It was recommended that council consider additional parking capacity at the city-owned lot adjacent to the site.
There are also concerns about lighting in the area.
The only correspondence came from Canadian Pacific Railway, which recommended consideration of an acoustic and vibration evaluation of the building, due to the noise generated by trains.
Land development services has agreed to monitor the parking situation.
The eastern half of the building is currently being used for a restaurant, and will continue to be used for that purpose.
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Seven building permits worth $647,900 were issued in May, bringing the total for the first five months of the year to 16 worth $647,000.
One single-family permit, two garage permits and four miscellaneous permits were granted.
