Canmore council approved spending another $120,000 on radio communications for first responders in the community at its January business meeting.
This time, the money was requested by manager of protective services Greg Burt for the RCMP attachment, as the police service is about to update its communications equipment and, as per the municipal policing contract, Canmore is on the hook for the price tag.
“RCMP detachments across Alberta are joining the Alberta First Responder Radio Communication System this year,” Burt said to council. “Our municipal policing agreement we signed for a 20-year term in 2012 requires us to pay for equipment.”
He said the cost of the communication equipment into the future would be calculated as part of the per officer rate municipalities pay, but in order to purchase the equipment needed for RCMP communications to be able to access the digital network set up for first responders in the province, a $70,000 capital investment is needed in 2017 and another $50,000 in 2018. The money was approved to come from the Town’s photo radar reserve.
“They notified us after the 2017-18 budget deliberations, hence they were not included in the budget and that is why I am before you this evening,” Burt said.
In 2014, and after the 2013 flood in which Canmore’s emergency services struggled with communications, the municipality invested in updating its entire system with a $360,000 capital project.
“We learned a lot following the flood about how to be better prepared for future emergencies,” Burt said.
In December, council heard and approved $28,000 for 2017 to purchase four dual band radios for the bylaw services department. While bylaw staff have radios that allow them to communicate with other municipal departments (including Fire-Rescue, which has transitioned to a system that is compatible with AFRCS), they are unable to use their radios to reach the RCMP. Burt said the issue is one of health and safety for those bylaw staff who may be in a situation that requires police assistance immediately and are unable to get a cellphone out to dial 911.
But with RCMP expected to upgrade its radios this year, enabling them to communicate on the AFRCS system, it raised the question of whether or not the extra four radios approved in the budget were still needed.
Burt recommended council keep the capital budget project as is, and allow extra radios to be absorbed into the Town’s communication system once RCMP are capable of being reached on that radio.
“There is a low probability that something could go wrong, but it is helpful having a radio with a mic where if something went wrong I could jump on that radio (and call for help),” he said.
Burt said there is no reliable timeline for when Canmore RCMP would have upgraded communications capability, so until that time, it is worthwhile to keep the 2017 capital budget.
“The challenge is you never know what is going to happen,” Burt said.
A motion by Councillor Ed Russell, however, directed administration to investigate leasing options first.
