NEWS: Search and Rescue
PROFILE: Meeuwissen 60th Anniversary
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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 2015
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$2.34m water supply upgrade By Xuyun Zeng
we’ll be isolated.” “The other thing is our capacity for fire fighting. Right now, we don’t have the capacity because we only have the one tower.” The funding will completely cover the cost of the refurbishment and it will also pay for new transmission lines. “We’re going to go up to request for qualifications here, for consultants here, probably by the end of the summer, and we’ll probably design in the winter,” Glavin said. Construction will start next spring and completion will arrive in early 2017, he added. At the council chambers on Friday, Nechako Lakes MLA John Rustad came to announce the funding put forth by both the federal and provincial government.
Houston Today
FUNDING Upgrades
Xuyun Zeng/Houston Today
Councillor Jonathan VanBarneveld, Mayor Shane Brienan, Councillor Tim Anderson and Nechako Lakes MLA John Rustad posing for a photo-op after Rustad delivered his speech promising funding to Houston’s water supply infrastructure.
Houston will see an injection of $2.34 million into its infrastructure in the coming year. The federal, provincial and municipal government will each put in $780,000 that will go towards the refurbishment of a deteriorating water tower located off Mountainview Drive and a new water transmission line that promises to improve Houston’s water security. “We’ll know that we have a tower that’s not going to fail,” chief administrative officer Michael Glavin said. “By having this tower, this extra line, if we ever lose our main water line, we have a back up water line. And that’s important because right now we don’t. So if we ever lost that water line,
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Missing boaters: Search and Rescue not taking chances By Xuyun Zeng Houston Today
On July 25, two people went on a boating trip, and when they did not return, someone got worried and called the RCMP to report them as missing. Using the i n f o r m a t i o n provided, RCMP
decided that they needed to call on a search. They got in contact with Houston Search and Rescue and drew up a plan. Houston SAR Director Andy Muma said that since the people were reported missing on the Morice River, they immediately called in back up.
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Muma delegated ground search and search management to Houston SAR, but river searches have very specific safety criteria, and Houston does not have a swift water team. “Smithers was called in because they have a swift water team,” Muma said. Under mutual aid,
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different Search and Rescues will help a sister organization if they do not have the appropriate resources. “Different groups within the region have different expertise, so that you’re not duplicating on resources. We’re doing a lot of sharing of resources these
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days,” Muma said. As the search went underway, they found the missing people, but they weren’t missing – they went camping. Unfortunately, no one knew about their plans. “That happens from time to time,” Muma said. “You balance the Pkg
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circumstances and in this particular case, the RCMP decided it was worth going out and doing a search because of a concerned call from the public.” “The search could have easily gone the other way, right? So you don’t want to take chances.” Muma said
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that people can avoid such issues by communicating their plans to family members or friends, so the RCMP can make a better and more informed decision. “A decision has to be made quickly, and they will have to decide on the safe side,” Muma said. r!
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