By Sue Tiffin
Published Oct. 16 2018
The following are brief reports of items discussed at the Oct. 3 meeting of Highlands East council.
The building department reported issuing 136 building permits as of Oct. 3 compared to 117 permits last year. The total includes permits for 29 dwellings compared to 13 in 2017. Total construction values in Highlands East this year totals $11479080 compared to $6813593 at this same point last year.
Shannon Hunter CAO presented the report for Laurie Devolin chief building official who was attending a conference.
“You can tell by the construction values to date they have been busy and this is great for Highlands East” she said.
Two dozen calls for fire department
Chris Baughman acting fire chief reported there were 24 calls for September for a total of 255 calls to date for the Highlands East fire department. In 2017 207 calls were made at this point in the year. The fire department responded to calls that included medical assists issues with hydro lines one case of a tree on the road and one fire.
Arena and curling club opening soon
Compressors at the Keith Tallman Memorial Arena and Wilberforce Curling Club are running smoothly and ice is being made. According to a report by Jim Alden property supervisor the arena was to be opened on Oct. 9 while the curling club will be open mid-October.
Snowplow truck to be sold
A 2009 Stirling Snowplow Truck was declared as surplus property now that the roads department has acquired a new snowplow truck and will subsequently be sold. Earl Covert roads superintendent noted the truck could be sold online via the Kijiji website or possibly at GovDeals.com
High score for visitor information centre
A mystery shopper arranged by the OHTO OHvation Customer Service Designation Program visited the Visitor Information Centre in August resulting in a total rating of 93 per cent. Points were lost largely due to the elevator for wheelchair access not being operational and to a report that the building was “plain.” The centre did not have a Google listing but that has been corrected. Staff at the centre received excellent reviews in the mystery shoppers report
A design for MyHighlandsEast.ca
The Economic Development Committee has chosen new logo designs created by Jodi Rupnow for the MyHighlandsEast.ca web site and social media accounts. The website and social media accounts will be created to help promote tourism and business in the area.
Waste Reduction Week declared
Waste Reduction Week in Canada will be recognized from October 15 to 22 this year.
