News Advertiser PAGE 15
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OCTOBER 20, 2021
Two Hills & Area FCSS Exploring Possibility of Rural Transit Service Michelle Pinon News Advertiser Two Hills & Area Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) is exploring the possibility of offering rural transit service to its residents. FCSS Board Chair Dave Albrecht discussed the option with members of Two Hills County council at its Sept. 22 meeting. Albrecht has already met with the Town of Two Hills and Village of Myrnam municipal councils and wanted to share the same information with its rural counterparts. Albrecht explained that the town has a small van that it is willing to sell to FCSS, but they are also looking into purchasing a larger van to accommodate more residents as well as looking into outfitting it with a hydraulic swing chair or wheelchair lift for persons with limited physical abilities depending on the need. The primary focus of the service would be to assist people who need help getting to and from medical appointments. However, it could also be loaned it out to other local organizations when it wasn’t being utilized for that purpose. He went on to say that they would charge fee to clients to help offset the costs of operating the service. As well, they would have to develop an operating schedule and hire a part-time driver unless they were able to get volunteers to do that. He did point out that they do have one
staff member with a Class 4 operators license and another one who is interested in doing the same. Reeve Don Gulayec said insurance and liability would be required by volunteers. Councilor Soren Odegard said they would have to take into account depreciation of the vehicle and have funds set aside in a reserve fund for repairs and replacement. He asked if they had considered having a regular route rather than a request system, and Albrecht said that was a good idea, especially if they were going to travel to larger centres. Coun. Odegard asked if they had considered leasing a vehicle and if they did they would have the vehicle under warranty. “Maybe its something to consider.” He also suggested they get an outlay of costs and see if a lease would have any affect on applying for government funding. Reeve Gulayec told Albrecht that the “overall concept is great” and that there a few gray areas they would have to get details on. He added that having a rural transportation service would definitely help rural seniors living in the County of Two Hills. Councilor Dianne Saskiw, who sits as the county’s representative on the FCSS board, said this was something that has long been needed and could be easily implemented. She agreed they should look into leasing a vehicle. Coun. Saskiw said they hear about the need for rural
Ecological Project in Two Hills Comes to Fruition
Michelle Pinon News Advertiser Grade 4 and Grade 7 students from Two Hills School spent the morning of Oct. 1 in Geleta Park planting wildflowers and learning about the importance and purpose of eco buffers. Town of Two Hills Councillor Willie Babiuk, who participated in the project, expressed his gratitude to the children from the Two Hills School for all their hard work and the students at New Myrnam School for creating and constructing the sign as well as Agroforestry and Woodlot Extension Society (AWES) & the Vermilion River Watershed Alliance (VRWA) for all they’ve contributed to make this project a reality. Babiuk, who sits as a VRWA board member, said the event was “very successful” and was very happy with the results. Back in the spring of 2021, Babiuk said they replaced some shrubs and planted a patch of wildflowers. In the spring of 2020 VRWA and AWES planted over 400 native shrubs in a 3 row Eco buffer site including flowering/fruiting species. I oversaw the project representing the Town of Two Hills as a
Students planting wildflowers. (Willie Babiuk/Submitted Photo)
transportation everywhere they go and she was glad they were finally able to make some headway on this issue. She also thanked Albrecht for all of the work that’s been done in this regard and said it would definitely change the number of seniors who would be able to stay in their home communities as opposed to having to move to larger urban centres. “It could be the county’s contribution to affordable housing,” said Coun. Odegard. FCSS is asking for the county to contribute $18,000 to offset operational costs of the service. It had previously requested $10,000 from the Town of Two Hills and $2,000 from the Village of Myrnam based on the population of each of those communities. Albrecht said FCSS does not qualify for any funding to operate this service and that’s why it is critical for the local municipalities to support their efforts. Reeve Gulayec said they would think it over the request and get back to him with a response. FCSS has applied for federal government funding under the Rural Transit Solutions Fund to conduct a needs assessment. After that, Albrecht said they can apply for another grant under the same program to help cover some of the capital costs associated with the purchase of the larger van.
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Ecological Project - CONTINUED ON PAGE 16
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