Public Works

Public Buildings

New Community Complex On August 22/03 a sod turning ceremony was held at the south east side of the sports grounds. In attendance were dignitaries from INAC and STC. The FSIN Chief Perry Bellegarde was also in attendance. Construction for the Community Complex will commence in the early spring. New Maintenance Shop The new Maintenance Shop with the chain link fence will be completed in the spring. Right now only the shell is up. We still need to do the plumbing and electrical then comes the rebar and concrete. This building will house the heavy equipment, the grader, back hoe and loader. We will also be moving in the Public Works office in there. The present maintenance shop will be used for the Medical Taxi’s and Band vans. The night watchmen/Security will still have their office in this building. School Once again the school year has started. The janitors did a great job waxing and polishing the floors and getting everything back to normal and ready for the students, teachers and all the staff that work there. Everything is running smoothly at the school and we hope it stays that way with the cold weather approaching.

Fire Protection

The first week of May was when Miner’s Construction from Saskatoon was awarded the contract to construct our new Fire Hall. It is now completed with the turn over on September 11, 2003. We presently have our pumper truck with the mini pumper being converted to a foam truck. This work is expected to be completed by the end of September. We have formed a Volunteer Fire Department with 13 members and hoping to have more recruits signing up. We do ongoing training because it takes 400 hours to become a certified fire fighter. Each training session is approximately 20 hours (all weekend). Once a member is qualified, they will have all the qualifications needed for the fire departments in the city. This month our Fire Department will have CPR classes instructed by our own Lyndon Teiszen. On September 15, 2003 we had the Grand Opening for the Fire Hall. Pictures were taken with a couple of members in full uniform holding the ribbon. We had a good turn out with members of the Council and staff in attendance along with our Chief Mistawasis Volunteer Fire Fighters. Everyone enjoyed the tour of the building and the demonstrations of the equipment along with pop and bar-b-qued burgers. The fire hall will be equipped with $50,000 worth of equipment that is needed in fire halls, this includes 6 sets of SCBA’s (self- contained breathing apparatus) and 12 full turn out gear from head to toe (helmet, balaclava, jacket, overalls, boots, gloves). We will also be acquiring a number of two-way radios. The department is fundraising to purchase equipment that is not included in the package, so please support our Volunteer Fire Department in their fundraising. Chief Mistawasis Volunteer Fire Department Members The phone number to the Fire Hall is 466-2010 Greg Pechawis Celest Pechawis Richard Morissette Ed Ledoux David Ledoux Blake Dreaver Lori Anne Pechawis Chris Watson Warren Tawpisim Ricky Ledoux Ivan Sand Jr. Kevin Ledoux This is great to see in our community. Keep up the good team work!!!!!

Roads

Earlier this spring the Chief lobbied with I.N.A.C. to provide funding for Dust Control on the 13 kilometers of main grid plus 2 kilometers west from Camille Duquette’s to Pat Johnstone’s corner. Western Road Management was then contacted to spread calcium chloride on 15 kilometers of gravel road with a cost of approximately $36,000.In order for this dust control substance to be most effective, we were unable to maintain the roads as often as we would have liked to. The only time the grader could do them is after a rain fall or when there was moisture on the surface. We managed to make it through the summer and we’d like to thank the public for bearing with us on this matter. After September 19, 2003, our grader operator will be temporarily laid off but will be on a “on call only” basis. We hope to see him back full time again next spring. Being on the subject of highways, Mistawasis and the Canwood R.M. are meeting to come to some agreement for Mistawasis to take over the roads from the tower east to Highway 3 and from the tower north to the little white church. Once the agreement has been settled our grader will maintain these roads year round. We will also have the responsibilities of cutting the grass and keeping the ditches clean We have entered into lease agreements with Kramer Ltd for a new Backhoe. We pay monthly payments for three years with the last payment of only one dollar. We then can trade this machine off for a new one, therefore keeping the trade in value up and the band equity low. There is full warranty for three years, so if there is a breakdown, the warranty will cover it. The same type of agreement was made with the new gravel truck. We are hoping to do the same to loader next spring. The grader was purchased back in 2002. We are also looking at putting up street signs. If you have any ideas as to what to name our streets, please don’t hesitate to submit your ideas to the Public Works Office.

Water & Sewer

In August there was a new well drilled at the lake. This second well will ensure a steady supply of water to the Water Treatment Plant for everyone. Raymond Sanderson’s water hauling days are Monday, Wednesday and Friday’s. Ron Sanderson’s garbage haul days are Monday and Thursday’s with Wednesday being garbage pick up for the Public Buildings. Ken Johnstone’s septic service goes seven days a week, so if you need your tank emptied just phone the shop and we will get him going in your direction as soon as possible Last winter we had quit a few water and sewer lines freezing up. It took us a while to get everyone thawed out and we appreciated your patience. During the summer we lowered some of the problem water and sewer lines, unfortunately the backhoe was down for awhile and hopefully we’ll get to other problems before freeze up so no one will have this problem again this winter. We ask that you please be patient when faced with a plumbing problem. Harvey Sanderson is the only plumber on call right now. Kenny Daniels will be on leave for the next 6 months. For the month of August, we answered 55 service calls and for the month of September, there have been 49. So please be patient.

Housing

Housing Policy We would like to take this opportunity to inform the Membership the Housing Policy is now in effect. A copy will be distributed to each household. This has been a long time in the making and we hope that Membership will find this benefits everyone. Anyone wanting to apply for new housing will be required to submit their usual letter and fill out an application at the Public Works Office. All requests for repairs or renovations will be handled according to the Housing Policy. Database We have done up a database so we can priorize the need for housing. When a letter is received, your name, along with your situation, is entered. This, along with the Housing Policy will make it easier for housing distribution. If you have any questions regarding your house number or land location, feel free to give us a call, 466-4748. New Construction We are hoping to start construction of the duplex early this fall. This will make room for two families. The RCMP duplex will be starting this fall as well and the current houses will be turned to band status.

Public Grounds

Pow Wow Grounds In August, Mistawasis held the annual Competition Pow Wow which was a good turn out. We had visitors from all over the North America. The arbor was constructed a few years ago but carefully maintained and painted to perfection. The grounds were cleaned before and after the event by the High School Students, band staff and lots of volunteers. The Fire Department worked Security along with the R.C.M.P making sure it was drug and alcohol free. The Pow-Wow was a huge success Sports Grounds During the same week-end as the Pow Wow, there was a slow pitch tournament with teams coming from all over. Everybody had fun competing for the trophies. We are glad to see the grounds were left clean. Race Track Every year the chuck wagon association holds one, maybe two events here. The cowboys come to compete for the best time, so we have to make sure that the track is leveled to the best of our ability. The grader man had to go and redo the road entering the grounds, other than that, this is one of the better kept tracks in the area. Let’s continue to take pride in our public facilities by making sure we clean up after our events and reporting any damage to the buildings to the Public Works Office.