Fireworks To ban them or to ban them

Tuesday night on the agenda is the second and third reading of the Fireworks bylaw.

March 6 first reading passed by a vote of 4-3. With councilors Gail, Gallant and Saje opposed.


There was a presentation made by the Interim Fire Chief about the bylaw he spoke in support of banning the sale and use of fireworks in the Crowsnest Pass. He was questioned about the possibility of allowing fireworks under a regulated process. But made it very clear that where other communities have allowed it the process was so Onerous that in reality Fireworks are allowed but people do not sell them because simply the procees is so complicated that nobody can be bothered.

So hence the title of my post "To ban them or to ban them"

Now I am sure  some of the councilors have been feeling a little pressure on this issue (especially with Fireworks being such an hot topic right now) so maybe somebody will flip flop on the vote Tuesday night time will tell.

But really if the process is going to be so difficult that nobody will bother, you really are banning them you are just providing the decision makers the opportunity to say "I didn't support banning Fireworks, I voted to allow them" .

But on the other side of the arguement the more laws in place the more potential for the Community Peace Officers to pay there way.

  

Consultants-Is this the price we pay?

Crowsnest Pass-Money is tight?

I like a lot of my readers have been asking the question for months, what are we spending on Consultants.

We all know they do not come cheap and when you look at what CEO’s, Celebrities and athletes are making now days it is getting crazy, but in their defence they can only make it if somebody is prepared to pay it.  

At the last council meeting Councilor Saje asked if Council could be supplied with the amount of dollars spent on consultants, administration answered that they would and in fact they could post the information on the web site, as of today I have not seen anything yet.

Obviously it is not confidential information protected by FOIP rules because the information below is posted on a public site.

It's great for council to see that information but what about us the taxpayers, I have been trying to research what kind of money is paid to the type of consultants we have been using without a lot of success.

Until today I received an email from a very astute follower of my blog and told to check out the following address    http://www.mountainviewcounty.com/specialagendas and to read the minutes from the Nov 5 and Nov 10, 2010 meetings.

To my great interest I found the following which I have copied and pasted from the November 5, 2010 minutes:

Moved by Councillor Good

                                SC10-183      That Council approve entering into a Memorandum of Agreement with Transitional Solutions Inc. for the period from November 8, 2010 to April 29, 2011 and that the funding be allocated from the Tax Rate Stabilization Reserve as follows:

                                                    -     Twelve hundred ($1200.00) dollars per day (plus GST) for each day worked by Kevin Robins

                                                    -     Twelve hundred ($1200.00) dollars per day (plus GST) for each day worked by Donna Tona

                                                    -     A flat rate of fifteen hundred ($1500.00) dollars per month for accommodation and meals

                                                    -     Fifty cents ($0.50) per kilometer for all kilometers travelled from Transitional’s office to Mountain View’s County office

                                                    -     Subject to articles 13 and 14, any time in a twenty-four (24) hour day worked by Robins or Tona beyond seven (7) hours shall be banked until the banked hours total seven (7), at which time Transitional shall invoice Mountain View for an additional day pursuant to articles 16 or 17 of this Agreement, whichever applies;

                                                          and further, that the total contract amount be to a maximum of $194,000 (not including GST);

                                                          and, that the Agreement include amendments as provided by County Legal Counsel. 

Now I know full well the Council of the Crowsnest Pass may have negotiated a better deal! I hope but if its even close to what was proposed above think of the following. 

$1200 per day for a seven hour day,  not bad $171.43 per hour plus $1500 per month for accommodation and meals. Once again nothing against the consultants we would all make this kind of money if we could. But the question is can we the taxpayers of the Crowsnest Pass afford it.