It has been just over a week since an East Bankview neighbourhood was stunned by a fire that destroyed two houses and damaged a third. While this is a tragedy for the families, they are seeing an outpouring of support from the community.
    Even before the fire was out members of the community showed their support. Firefighters were grateful for the many businesses that supported them with hot coffee and food while they battled the blaze. Online there was an outpouring of support from members of the community offering shelter for those affected as well as items needed for the families to continue on.
    Within a couple of days, GoFundMe Campaigns were launched for Dwayne and Jen Nagy and their twins, and for Sasi Sivam, his wife Harshini, and their son, the families that lost their homes.
    There has also been an outpouring of donations of items needed as well as gift and grocery cards. Drumheller’s Boston Pizza and Drumheller Chrysler have stepped up to take these donations on behalf of the families.
    There have also been a number of initiatives people have undertaken on their own to support these families. The DVSS student council voted to purchase a $150 Visa gift card for each of the families.
    The A&W Restaurant in Drumheller also spearheaded a fundraising campaign and donated $2 from every Mama Burger sold last week to the family. A&W manager Sean Armstrong said they sold 867 Mama Burgers and also collected donations. They raised about $1,800. The restaurant is also adding to the total to present each family $1,000.

    Starland County is moving forward on the reconstruction of a new county office.
    On May 25 of last year, Starland’s office on Main Street in Morrin burned. The fire completely destroyed the County’s offices as well as the ATB. Last week the building was finally demolished.
    “It has been 10 months and it has sat there,” said Starland Reeve Steve Wannstrom, who is relieved to see work being done.
    Since the fire, the county has made strides to return to normalcy. After using the new Munson Fire Hall for offices right after the fire, it has since moved back to the community of Morrin in a temporary office space.
    The county has since identified land it previously purchased on the railway right-of-way on the east side of Railway Avenue in Morrin as a suitable site and used its own crews to complete some site work.
    Along with the new office, the county has identified the need to construct a new  Public Works facility and have combined the projects.
    The County posted a tender for a request for proposal on January 25. They are looking for a qualified consultant/contractor team to provide bids on a design and construction project. The request on the Alberta Purchasing Connection appears to show there is great interest from qualified bidders.
    Wannstrom says the cost will be a factor, like any project. He said the county has funds in savings, and they are looking at funds from insurance to build the project. The request for proposal closes on March 22.
    “We hope to be building, or at least starting this year,” said Wannstrom. “We’ll see what happens.”