To help fight grass fires throughout the municipality, a majority of Gimli council voted in favour of purchasing a pick-up truck from a local dealership.
At a regular council meeting held April 17, councillors Kurt Reichert, Thora Palson, Andy Damm and Richard Petrowski voted in favour of the purchase of a 1-ton pick-up truck for $159,346.14 from Gimli mayor Kevin Chudd’s family-owned Chrysler dealership. The councillors also approved payables of $340.60 to Chudd’s Powersports and $317.51 to Chudd’s Enterprise.
The mayor declared a conflict of interest and left the room before council discussed and voted on whether to approve the payables.
Before voting commenced, councillor Thora Palson explained what the $159,346.14 payable was for and how the pick-up truck will benefit the community.
“That is the purchase of a new grass fire truck. The tender was put out early this year. We received four tenders and the lowest price came in from Chudd’s Chrysler. Not only was it the lowest price, it was also the quickest turnaround to receive a specialized vehicle,” said Palson. “The grass fire truck is a new addition to the fire department fleet and we want to almost refer to it as a quick attack vehicle. It’s obviously much smaller than a fire truck … and it’s really a quick, manoeuvrable on-the-scene versatile piece of equipment that is a huge addition to the fire protection and safety of our community.”
Damm, who worked with Reichert and the fire department to get the new truck, said there were “certain parameters” the fire department had asked for.
“We went through them all. There was one company that actually refused to bid on the piece of equipment, and there were tenders from other companies,” said Damm.
A 1-ton pick-up truck can carry heavier loads than pick-up trucks such as a three-quarter ton and a half ton.
Gimli Fire & Rescue is equipped with two pumper trucks, an aerial truck, a water tanker truck, a rescue van and jaws-of-life equipment, according to the RM’s website. It is a volunteer fire department overseen by fire chief Mike Chudd and deputy fire chief Ken Arnason. In addition to responding to fires and emergencies in the municipality, the fire department assists neighbouring municipal fire departments when needed.
Other council news:
- Council approved the purchase of a Daphne Odjig painting for the municipality’s art collection. The painting was purchased from local art gallery Sigvaldason Fine Art.
Palson said the purchase was made in the spirit of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.
Odjig is a celebrated Indigenous painter and printmaker who blends traditional Indigenous themes with movements such as surrealism and cubism. Her works have addressed colonization, Indigenous women and children and issues affecting Indigenous peoples.
- Council agreed to dispose of fire department and public works department assets that are no longer needed, and to clean up areas where items are being stored.
“This is an initiative by public works, directed by council, to have some of the areas cleaned up,” said Damm. “We have a lot of pieces of machinery that are inadequate to be used in the municipality and/or they’re derelict … in the industrial site and in various areas. …. At least we can get a little bit of revenue out of that.”
- Council accepted a Biosolid Hauling and Placement tender for $222,442. The mayor said this is remedial work for the decommissioning of cells in the former wastewater lagoon.
- Council discussed adding a caretaker’s clause into the RM’s Organizational and Procedures Bylaw. The clause would be similar to provincial legislation that prohibits announcements a certain number of days before an election.
“There isn’t one [a caretaker’s clause] in any municipality that we know of in Canada,” said Damm. “Making decisions before an election can sway votes or can tie the next council’s hands.”
Damm said the mayor came up with the idea.
- The majority of council (the mayor and councillors Petrowski and Reichert) voted in favour of creating additional boulevard parking on Second and Third avenues to help reduce congestion on First Avenue, which is typically jam-packed with cars from the May long weekend to the September long weekend.
Chudd said the removal of grass areas where cars park will “help out the business community and make it safer for pedestrian traffic.”
Palson said she would prefer council first tackle Third Avenue because “it’s fully serviced with a sidewalk” whereas Second Avenue is not.
- Council heard from a delegation consisting of Kelsey and Derek Debets, who asked council to consider two items with regard to a development they’re working on in Sandy Hook along Trevino Trail. They asked for permission to remove swales between lots and a reduction to 50 per cent from 75 per cent for a security requirement (i.e., letter of credit).
The Debets said they have 25 lots of which they’ve sold 16 and have three more reserved.
“Having 19 out of 25 lots [spoken for] tells you there’s a need and demand [for housing],” said Kelsey Debets.
Chudd said the request can be referred to other departments in the RM.
“This council likes to follow procedures,” said Chudd. “We can refer this to legal and see if we can drop to 50 per cent. We can refer to engineering. And we can bring it back to council.”
