Although the provincial government has granted funding for the Sundre Fire Department to purchase a riverboat, Town of Sundre officials are required to pay for insurance, maintenance and reserve money for a replacement down the road.
Sundre council and Mountain View County council have agreed to split the cost halfway to replace the riverboat down the road. This requires each municipality to reserve $2,250 every year for the next 10 years.
During the Sundre council meeting on June 2, council formally approved for the town to purchase a riverboat utilizing the funds from the province. Council also approved for the town to pay $300 each year for insurance, and pay for general maintenance and upkeep, which will be based on usage.
The province is providing $42,000 to purchase and outfit a riverboat for swift water rescue, through the 2014 Flood Readiness Supplies Grant Program.
Members of the Sundre Fire Department are trained in swift water rescue, and fire Chief Marty Butts and captain Dave Bennett are certified riverboat operators. Therefore, there is no financial requirement for the town to train a boat operator.
Butts has been pushing for a riverboat for at least three years. He believes it is one of the last tools to the department's collection needed for successful river rescues.
In the past, members of the fire department have had to call someone in that personally owned a jet boat. This included some of the members, but there is a liability risk involved.
The department currently owns a Zodiak and an RDC boat but they're inflatable boats with no motor.
Town officials are receiving $96,175 in total through the provincial grant program. The rest of the funds are for purchasing a sandbagging machine, as well as some items that needed replenishing after last year's flood, like rescue ropes, life-jackets and dry suits.
Town officials applied for the funding immediately after the flood in June last year. They asked for additional items in February and were approved in March.
“We can't just go buy a boat off a lot. It's a unique boat because it's a jet boat, so it doesn't have a prop on the back. It has got to be reinforced on the bottom for the abuse that they take on the low, shallow rivers that we will be using it on,” explained Butts.
“And it has to have radios and lights and all that stuff in a rescue, compartments for all our gear and stuff.
“We're hoping to have it for this flood season but the lineup for getting something built like that custom is probably going to be closer to the end of the summer when we receive it, or the fall, and that's even pushing it. We might not get it until next year.”
Mark Hoskin, area Fish and Wildlife officer, wrote a letter to Butts in support of the boat.
“If the Sundre Fire Department obtained a jet boat, fish and wildlife staff would be interested in conducting joint patrols on the local rivers in order to educate boaters on boating safety and check anglers,” Hoskin wrote to Butts.
“We do have a 16-foot aluminium lake boat with a 15 horsepower motor. However, this boat is not an appropriate vehicle for any of the river systems which surround Sundre.”
Fish and Wildlife officers have been involved in two search and rescue operations in the Sundre area over the last four years, he noted.
It was also noted that there are several river systems in the Sundre area, including the Red Deer River, Clearwater River, Little Red Deer River, James River, Panther River and Fallen Timber Creek.
Sundre RCMP sergeant Percy Leipnitz also wrote a letter in support of the boat.
“Purchasing of a riverboat would definitely be an effective tool and beneficial to the community and area,” said Leipnitz.
“Over the past several years Sundre RCMP has been called to, and/or responded to several calls for service of people being distressed in our river systems.”
There was a case in 2010 where 35 people who were rafting on the Clearwater River were dumped into the river, he said. Another case involved abandoned Sea-Doos on the Red Deer River.
“Other calls would be someone floating down the Red Deer River on a quad, or two people in canoes missing on the Red Deer River who were located after getting stranded.”
