Plum Coulee hosted the official grand opening of the recently completed public services April 20.
Community members and visitors were able to tour the facility which houses the public works shop, fire station and Altona/Plum Coulee police office, as well as enjoy a few demonstrations and check out some of the equipment used by each department.
In keeping with the new facility’s purpose, instead of a traditional ribbon cutting ceremony, there was a fire hose uncoupling.
RM of Rhineland Reeve Don Wiebe recalled some of the twists and turns it took to finally get the building completed.
“We had code issues, and the cost was out of reach, and finally there was another compromise. We built a small addition, and we came in on budget. We do appreciate the community support we received when we first launched this project. It was about a $195,000 debenture, and there was not one voice of opposition.”
“This is a testament to the strength of the community, and the growth that we’re seeing here,” said Borderland MLA Josh Guenther. “There are a lot of young families coming into the community. The future looks bright for Plum Coulee and having a facility like this is important.”
“I hope today’s celebration is about more than just a building,” said assistant Don Cruikshank on behalf of MP Branden Leslie. “It’s really about the people; the men and the women who give themselves to serve. These are the services working behind the scenes that make our problems go away and our life more enjoyable. When a problem arises, these services are the first to respond.”
Altona police chief Dan Defer said it’s great to be in the same building with the other two departments, and he recalled how the Altona Police Service began policing in Plum Coulee in 2008.
“We did have an office at that time in the town hall, but when Plum Coulee became an LUD, the town office shut down. The administration staff now works in the Rhineland municipal office in Altona. So, we were stuck without a good facility to work out of,” he said. “When this building became available, the original building had an office space attached to it, so it was just a natural progression.
“This is where we can meet local citizens, do some file work and even if the residents just want a place to sit down and talk. This gives us more of a local presence.”
Officers from Altona are in the Plum Coulee office every Tuesday and Thursday, he noted.
“Those are dedicated hours to the LUD. The rest of the week, there are regular patrols,” said Defer.
“It’s great to have our offices connected with public works and the fire department. In the event of any major incident in Plum Coulee, all three of our departments will be working together. To have all three of us under the same roof will make that so much easier.”
“When I started 23 years ago, we were in the old shop downtown,” recalled public works foreman Randy Braun. “Back then, we needed two guys to change oil: one to hold the flashlight and one to change the oil. There was also a safety issue backing over the sidewalk downtown.
“When we got this shop, it was like the Beverly Hillbillies hitting oil. It was quite an improvement. It’s been a good move. We’ve got lots of lighting, a nice floor.”
Archie Heinrichs of the Rhineland council said this is a big step for Plum Coulee.
“All of our facilities have been kind of behind. Having us all together in one building is awesome. We have a head depot right here, and it will be great to work that way. To have this kind of facility and to have volunteers that are taking care of us is just super.”
Plum Coulee fire chief Tony Fehr said what started off as a few sketches made at a Christmas banquet turned into a dream come true.
“It’s just been fantastic. If you ever toured the old hall, you’d see that our new meeting room is bigger than our floor space was for our apparatus. We can actually get in our trucks now instead of driving the truck out to load the truck.
“We trained here all winter. We have so much space for training and public events,” he continued. “Talking to some of the old chiefs, they had to roll the truck out to have a meeting because the meeting room was behind the truck. When they went to the building by the beach, it was a retired water plant. When I came on, we took out a bay that was still used by public works just so we could have a second piece of equipment inside, but we made it home. We did the best we could with what we had, and we were very appreciative of it.”
Fehr said he can’t see them outgrowing the new facility anytime soon.
“It’s awesome to have public works next door and the police on the end of the building. I hope we never have to use the full capabilities of it, but we are proud of this, and Plum Coulee should be proud.”
