Warm Water Therapy
Members of the Cochrane and District Warm Water Therapy Pool Society were on deck to present an overview of how their public education campaign on the rehabilitative benefits of warm water therapy continues to rise.
The group raised $100,000 through their years of fundraising, which helped turn their vision for a warm water therapy pool as part of the Jayman Aquatic Centre into reality.
Presenter Gale Kelly highlighted the benefits warm water therapy has on persons facing impairments such as Parkinson’s, arthritis, hip and knee joint issues and sports injuries.
“I’ve watched you all with blood, sweat and tears … if it wasn’t for your advocacy work this wouldn’t have happened,” commended Coun. Susan Flowers, also acknowledging the passing of volunteer Richard Foy and the efforts of Pat Graham.
Council agreed that the presentation was fitting with Volunteer Week.
EMS and Fire Services reports
Creeping response times were top of mind for councillors, following an annual EMS report presented by Curtis Swanson, interim director of clinical operations for the Calgary Zone, and an annual Cochrane Fire Services report delivered by Chief David Humphrey.
“I still feel that the current centralization of services has put our cities at risk and we had to hire four more firefighters to pick up the slack … it’s appalling,” said Coun. Alex Reed, questioning how much overtime work is being slumped onto EMS workers.
“One of the unfortunate realities of emergency workers is there is often overtime,” explained Swanson.
CAO Dave Devana and council brought up how much time is spent with EMS personnel waiting in hospitals until their patients are handed off to hospital care.
Swanson said they are working with the hospitals to find a solution.
Ambulance events for Cochrane last year are as follows: 998 emergency; 383 non-emergency; 647 transfers; and 75 other.
Spikes occur in peak flu season.
Total fire calls for 2017 were 1072, up 14.29 per cent from 2016; almost half of the fire calls were medical.
The average response time for 2017 was eight minutes and five seconds, pushed up from a little over six minutes with newer communities such as River Heights and Heritage Hills.
Humphrey confirmed that the four firefighter positions included in this year’s budget have now been filled and that capacity has been built, allowing for a four-man fire truck unit and a two-man rapid response unit to be on shift at all times.
He is confident that efficiencies will result out of the expanded capacity.
Administrative inquiry
Coun. Alex Reed brought forward an administration inquiry, asking administration to prepare a report on the town’s Request for Proposals policy for the near future.
Multi-family organics
Council gave final reading to the town’s multi-family organic waste strategy, which means curbside pickup for multi-family complexes in town by Sept. 30, 2018.
There are presently 35 multi-family properties (total of 1,400 people) in Cochrane not being served by the town.
The waste and organics division is now working on a strategy for commercial/industrial waste as it works toward its goal of 80 per cent waste diversion from landfill by 2020.
Public hearing
A public hearing will be held in council chambers on May 14 on the re-designation of a parcel of land downtown, on the north side of Highway 1A.
The site at 324 3rd St West is seeking a land use change to Heritage Mixed-Use from R-1.
The applicant is looking to convert the existing space into an arts and crafts studio with ancillary retail space.
