The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor Mounties returned to the Flin Flon RCMP detachment Monday, more than two months after air quality and leakage concerns sent them packing. Officers and administrative staff had vacated the building Oct. 19, temporarily transferring to the Creighton RCMP detachment. 'Certainly it's nice to have the Flin Flon detachment back in Flin Flon itself,' said Mark Kolt, municipal administrator for the City of Flin Flon. Prior to the RCMP's move across the border, some employees had experienced health issues they attributed to the air quality in the building. That, combined with continual water intrusion into the facility, prompted the decision to leave the building until the concerns could be rectified. The city spent more than $10,000 on repairs to address water intrusion, a professional cleaning involving the floors and ducts, and air quality testing. While RCMP say a November analysis of the air indicated the presence of mould, the city said another analysis finalized last month showed no cause for concern. Going forward, the city has pledged to repair the building's leaky roof as soon as the weather permits. One option, costly as it may be, is to build a new sloped roof over the existing flat roof. Council will consider that possibility in its 2013 budget. But even if that is not feasible, council has committed to at least repairing the existing roof at a cost of $70,000 to $80,000, possibly with the help of a federal grant. After the city received its air quality report last month, the RCMP said their Occupational Health and Safety Officer would review its findings, with subsequent consultation to take place with RCMP Asset Management. Once the facility 'is deemed safe for RCMP employees, we will re-occupy the building,' Cpl. Miles Hiebert, a Manitoba spokesperson for the Mounties, told The Reminder at the time. Cpl. Hiebert said there were only 'minimal costs' from relocating the Flin Flon officers to Creighton. Even with its officers based in Creighton, Flin Flon still received full RCMP service. The city owns the Flin Flon detachment and provides space to the Mounties as part of its contribution to community policing. The detachment is part of the same building as the Flin Flon Fire Hall. The firefighters were not displaced.
