Firefighters in Flin Flon and Creighton will be back to helping each other out if needed.
At the Flin Flon city council’s August 6 meeting, council members signed off on continuing a mutual aid agreement between the Flin Flon Fire Department and the Creighton Volunteer Fire Department, allowing members from one department to assist the other in fighting a large fire or covering expected staff shortages. In the past, the mutual aid agreement was not an official document, but more of a gentleman’s agreement between the departments’ chiefs and captains.
“There was a verbal, a handshake kind of agreement, saying something like ‘if we need you or you need us, give us a call.’ If there’s an event happening, say they’ve got a Christmas party or something where they know that if they put out a call, maybe fewer people will respond, they’d give a heads-up. There was never anything in writing,” said councillor Tim Babcock.
“The agreement was between the chiefs. There may have been something officially in writing, but this formalizes it and it’s part of the emergency plan, too,” added Flin Flon Mayor Cal Huntley.
Tax rebate
Councillors approved a special rebate on fire and protective services fees, but most Flin Flon landowners will be unable to take advantage.
A rebate of $355 per year will be made available for land owners who own one vacant lot per primary residence, provided the owner is fully caught up on their taxes. Vacant lots factor into fewer fire calls and less damage from fire than properties with structures.
“If they are a homeowner and they have another property that doesn’t have anything on it, then it would apply,” said Huntley, adding the practice has been done by the city in past years.
“It’s not something new we’re doing.”
REDC funding
Council approved re-upping the agreement for the Regional Economic Development Commission (REDC), authorizing city chief administrative officer Glenna Daschuk to sign a memorandum of understanding with both the Town of Creighton and the Northern Village of Denare Beach to keep the regional group going. The agreement has already been approved by Creighton’s town council.
The funding breakdown for the project remains the same under the new agreement. Both the City of Flin Flon and the Town of Creighton will foot 40 per cent of the bill for the REDC, while Denare Beach will pay 20 per cent. A small increase in funding from the City was part of the municipal budget tabled and approved earlier this year.
“It's exactly the same thing. It’s a 40/40/20 breakdown. There was a slight increase in budget that was presented during our budget presentation,” said Flin Flon Mayor Cal Huntley.
Main ARTery
Don’t blame vandals for issues with the Main ARTery banners. Some of the banners have fallen from their spots high above the Main Street sidewalks, but it’s not because of any troublemaker – according to councillor Colleen McKee, a Main Street Revitalization Committee member, it’s because of a manufacturing defect, leaving them able to be blown down from wind.
“There were a couple of issues with the banners. The ends of them weren't appropriate, like the hardware wasn't appropriate to the banner. That's why a couple of them blew down,” McKee said.
McKee also confirmed that another Main ARTery art submissions will take place in 2021. The existing Main ARTery banners will be put away this fall, reinstalled next spring, then taken down for good in fall 2020 before a new round of banners is made and installed the next year.
“They’ll be taken down in the fall and put up again in the spring, then that’ll be their two-year term,” she said.
