News | DrumhellerMail

Motorists responding well to new St. Anthony’s School

   One of the biggest concerns of parents, teachers, and the RCMP was that North Dinosaur would pose a risk to the students of the new St. Anthony’s School when it opened its doors. Those concerns have largely been alleviated thanks to motorists heeding students and the traffic light in front of the school.
   The school has been opened for a month without the volume of issues that residents had feared.
   “There was a lot of extra patrols and visibility by the detachment for two and a half to three week period. Right now, things are going well,” said Staff Sergeant Art Hopkins. “There haven’t been any big issues and people are learning the traffic patterns.”
   “Things are going well,” said Tim Gregorash, principal of St. Anthony’s School. “The RCMP has done a marvelous job of making people aware that we have our school here. Their presence has helped and changed a lot of habits that needed changing.”
   There has been a concern that the traffic lights, when activated, actually last too long. The RCMP is investigating whether the red light could be shortened slightly.
   One of the biggest issues has actually been congestion in front of the school. Initially, there had been a great deal of congestion and confusion when it came time for the kids to hop on the bus or in their parents car. St. Anthony’s has put in place some solutions and is continuing to look for more.
   “We’ve done some changes at the school as well. We’re dismissing kids who need the bus five minutes earlier so that the buses leave earlier. This alleviates congestion when parents come to pick up their kids,” said Gregorash.
   Spring is in the process of springing and there is some concern over an increase in pedestrian traffic as kids decide to walk or use their bikes.
   Students are using the crosswalk safely and will be getting a refresher course soon. Bikers will also be educated on walking bikes across a crosswalk.
   The RCMP will also keep an eye on St. Anthony’s School.
   “We’re going to continue to monitor it, now that we’re getting into spring and summer,” said Staff Sergeant Hopkins. “There may be a little more pedestrian traffic and we’ll make changes when necessary.”

Statement of Claim keeps ski hill suit alive

A claim put on the land that made up part of the ski hill by the former manager is still alive.
   Drumheller Town Council received a letter from the counsel of Zrinko Amerl, former manager of the Drumheller Ski Hill. It was a service of a Statement of Claim. It was noted the services was made to comply with requirement of the Alberta Rules of Court.
   Mayor Terry Yemen said this Statement of Claim is not new. He explains a couple years ago when the town, Ski the Badlands and the Drumheller Ski Club were wrangling to open, Amerl put a claim on the land owned by The Town of Drumheller. This area is roughly from the first tower of the lift, up.
   “He put the claim on the land about two years ago,” said Yemen.
   He said the correspondence keeps Amerl’s claim alive.
   “Because he put that lien on the property, the statute of limitations was about to run out… this copy of the letter rekindled the claim,” said Yemen.
   He said the town has no plans to take any immediate action in dealing with the claim.

Alberta Transportation selects new area highway maintenance contractor

Come August there will be a new contractor taking over highway maintenance in the area.
   Carillion Canada will be taking over highway maintenance from Ledcor come August 1, 2012 in the Hanna district. This is comprised of Contract Maintenance Area 20, 21 and 22. This area encompasses approximately from Highway 21, east to the Saskatchewan border. It includes areas slightly north of Stettler and Provost, and south to roughly the Red Deer River.
   Carillion established itself in Canada in 1955 and was known as the George Wimpey Company, operating as a general contractor. It grew through the ages and for a short spell was known as Tarmac. It adopted the name Carillion in 1999.
   It is the largest provider of road management in Ontario and acts as the largest roads management service in Western Canada, and are headquartered in Sherwood Park.
   Tony Chelick, operations manager for Alberta Transportation in the Hanna office said the new contractor was selected though a competitive bid process and this was the first 10-year contract in the province. This, however, will soon be the norm.
   “A 10 year contract term was chosen to better allow the successful contractors to capture their initial and ongoing capital costs within the term of the contract. Also, a longer term should allow for more stability for their contract employees,” said Chelick. “Any resultant savings may then be reflected in the bid unit prices.”

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