PALMER RAPIDS – At the regularly scheduled January 7 Brudenell, Lyndoch and Raglan (BLR) Township meeting councillors signed a new streetlight contract and heard updates from the recent major church fire.
Council members agreed to a proposal to upgrade the streetlight network to LED lighting with Local Authority Services (LAS), which is linked with the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO).
The decision was described by Reeve Garry Gruntz as a multi-municipality partnership with a company.
“Right now, 83 municipalities are upgrading their streetlight network using the LAS/LED streetlight service,” Clerk Michelle Mantifel said.
Gruntz reiterated the savings to the township.
“For those that weren’t here in the previous meeting, it looked like the saving would be somewhere between $1,500 and $2,500 a year to the municipality,” Gruntz said.
A BLR resident at the meeting inquired about the company and the research done.
Gruntz and Mantifel said that there will be no upfront costs or maintenance fees for the 10-year contract.
FIRE CHIEF REPORT
Fire Chief Chris Voldock said there were five fire calls in December, including two medical, two extrications and a major fire at Our Lady of the Angels Parish in Brudenell on Christmas Day. He shared some details with council about challenges encountered when battling the blaze at the church.
Voldock referred to the height of the fire at the church’s steeple on the structure, a distance of 89 feet from base to top, along with extreme wind conditions. After ongoing attempts, back-up help and equipment were required.
“As soon as I called Killaloe to come in I realized that no matter what kind of pressure we had on the truck we’re not going to get this fire out,” Voldock said.
Get your January 14, 2015 edition of The Valley Gazette to read the full story.