Smoke Alarm Safety Highlights Fire Prevention Week:

October 5th—October 11th, 2014

October 2014

Fire prevention has been an ongoing concern in Brandon for many years. From 1883-1906, oversight of the Fire Department was provided by the Fire, Water and Light Committee of City Council. Fire, Water and Light may seem an odd combination of activities for a committee, but they had a key goal in common: fire prevention. The “fire” portion of the committee worked with the Fire Department and made sure the horses pulling fire apparatus were well taken care of. The “water” component of the committee made sure high-pressure water lines were installed throughout the City (hydrants couldn’t work without them). Regarding “light,” the committee oversaw the installation of lighting throughout the City and made sure any new lighting didn’t pose a fire hazard.

Concern regarding fire prevention was also evident in Brandon’s 1906 order and nuisance by-law, which decreed: “No person shall set fire to any shavings, chips, straw or other combustible matter for the purpose of consuming the same in any of the streets or parks of the said City, or in any enclosure within one hundred feet of any building, and no person shall carry fire through any of the streets or parks of the said City, except in some covered vessel or metal fire pan.”

(Source: Council Committee Files)

From The Vault:

A Dedicated Fire Dept By

Committee

Connections

Most Canadian homes have at least one smoke alarm. The bad news is that one out of every three of those alarms isn’t working. Smoke alarms with batteries that are dead, disconnected, or missing, can’t alert you to a fire. Make sure your smoke alarms are operating correctly by testing them once a month!

In recognition of Fire Prevention Week from Oct. 5th to Oct.11th, Brandon Fire & Emergency Services personnel are promoting fire safety with the following activities:

Tuesday, October 7th: #1 Fire Hall Tours: The firefighter/paramedics will be

on hand to provide public tours of the #1 Fire Hall ~ 120 19th Street North, between

1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Groups of 6 or more are asked to phone 204-729-2400 or

email fire@brandon.ca to arrange a group tour.

Wednesday, October 8th: Fire Chief for a Day: Brandon Fire & Emergency

Services, GVMA District, and McDonald’s Restaurant are hosting this event. One

lucky Grade 4 Student from each school in Brandon as well as students from

Souris, Carberry, Shilo, Wawanesa, Douglas, and Forrest will spend the day

between the BFES #1 Fire Hall and the Manitoba Emergency Services College.

Thursday, October 9th: Celebrity Fire Olympics: This year’s event will be

hosted at École New Era School. Four celebrity Firefighters and four Grade 8 New

Era Students take on the grueling “Celebrity Fire Olympics Obstacle Course”. The

celebrity Firefighters will include a member of the Brandon University Bobcats, two

CKLQ media personalities, as well as the crowd favorite – the Principal or a teacher

from New Era. Four teams competing in five events & the fastest time wins “Gold”.

Friday, October 10th: The Home Depot Fire Safety Day: Between 10 a.m. and

2 p.m., Brandon Fire & Emergency Services members will be on-hand at The

Home Depot in the Corral Centre to answer questions regarding fire safety and

distribute Fire Prevention Week information.

You can learn more about Fire Prevention by visiting www.brandonfire.ca.

Wednesday, October 22nd is Municipal Election Day in Brandon!

In the event that you are unable to take part in the regular voting opportunities

provided on Election Day, the following alternate voting options are available to

Eligible Voters:

1) Advance Polls:

Wednesday, October 8th, 2014, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Main Foyer - City Hall,

410 - 9th Street

Thursday, October 16th, 2014, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Main Foyer - City Hall,

410 - 9th Street

Saturday, October 18th, 2014, from 9 a.m. - 8 p.m., Salon A - Keystone Centre,

1175 - 18th Street

2) Sealed Envelope Ballot Voting:

A voter is eligible to vote by sealed envelope if they have reason to believe that they

will be unable to vote at their regular Voting Place on Election Day or during Advance

Voting opportunities—for example, students or Snowbirds.

An eligible voter can apply to vote by sealed envelope ballot until October 17th, but

they must use the proper application form by calling 204-729-2210.

Application forms must be accompanied by a photocopy of appropriate identification.

Completed applications & identification must be submitted by mail, by fax at 204-729-

0975, or in person at the Election Office at City Hall, 410-9th Street.

Sealed envelope ballots MUST be received in the office of the Senior Elections

Official by 8 p.m. on Oct.22nd, so be sure to leave yourself a few days if you are

mailing your ballot after you fill it in. A sealed envelope ballot CANNOT be placed in

an ordinary ballot box at an advance poll or an Election Day polling station.

ALL OTHER VOTER INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND AT www.brandonvotes.ca.

“PROSPERITY BY DESIGN”

Brandon has spent considerable effort

over the past several years managing

growth and making the city physically

bigger. We now need to put that same

energy and innovation into making it

more prosperous, and the new

economic development strategy

approved by Council earlier this month

is an important first step on that path.

Brandon has significant competitive

advantages - our location at the edge of

the Bakken oil fields, transportation

linkages, regular air service, rich

agricultural opportunities, manufactur-

ers with global customers, a national

and international reputation,

excellent facilities for hosting events,

and excellent post-secondary

opportunities. We need to understand

which companies and industry can ben-

efit from these advantages and how,

and then actively pursue them with the

same determination that landed

WestJet.

Building a more prosperous community

means good jobs for our kids, it means

good jobs to bring those Brandonites

home that have left town to seek a

brighter future elsewhere, it means

welcoming a new generation of friend

or neighbour to our community. If we’re

to continue to thrive and grow, Brandon

needs a solid foundation from which to

build a more prosperous future.

‘Prosperity by Design ‘is that

foundation. If you’d like to read the

entire ‘Prosperity by Design’ document,

it’s available on the Economic

Development Brandon website here.

Council Connections

By Mayor Shari Decter Hirst

Did You Know?

The City of Brandon’s work to develop a

vacant piece of remediated land at 1st

Street and Rosser Avenue into the green-

space of Errol Black Park has netted it a

national Communities in Bloom Award!

At this fall’s Communities in Bloom

National Conference in PEI, Brandon

received an Outstanding Achievement

Butchart Gardens Land Reclamation

Award. Congratulations to all who helped

make the memorial park a reality!

The City of Brandon also received a 5-

Bloom rating and a special mention for its

Fabulous Fronts-Front Garden

Recognition Program.

Errol Black Park—1st St. & Rosser Ave.

Moving Day is finally here for staff of the City of Brandon’s Engineering, Planning &

Building Safety, Community Development, and Emergency and Risk Management

Departments! As of next week, these four city departments will work out of the A.R.

McDiarmid Civic Complex at 638 Princess Avenue. The retrofit of this city-owned

office building at 638 Princess Avenue began in early 2014. The building’s main floor

has been developed into central public offices for the City’s Development Services

Division and Community Development Department. Office space has also been

created for the City of Brandon’s Risk and Emergency Management team, including

an expanded Emergency Operations

Centre. A Youth Centre and Cultural

Resource Centre have also been

created, and there has bee space set

aside to function as a back-up loca-

tion for the E-911 dispatch centre

housed at Brandon’s No.1 Fire Hall.

A grand opening ceremony of the

A.R. McDiarmid Civic Complex,

which has been named after promi-

nent Brandon mayor and business

owner Arthur Reginald McDiarmid, is

being planned for late-November.

Brandon’s Green Cart

Program Rolls Into Fall

Pick-up Schedule

An important reminder for all

participants of the City of Brandon’s

Green Cart Program: weekly pick-up

resumes the week of October 14th!

To aid residents in their end-of-

season yard work, four weeks of

weekly collection are scheduled, with

the final scheduled pick-up of the year

to occur through the week of

November 4th through 7th.

Weather-permitting, the Green Cart

collection program will start up again

in late-spring of 2015.

However, Green Cart program

participants are encouraged to

continue placing all kitchen waste and

other accepted organics into your

Green Bin during the winter months. If

your bin fills up prior to the start of the

2015 program, you can empty your

bin at any one of the City’s compost

drop-off depots or by taking your bin

directly to the Eastview Landfill.

Applications are still being accepted

for residents who wish to enroll in the

voluntary pick-up program for 2015.

The seasonal Green Cart program

allows participating households to

have household organics and yard

waste hauled to the Eastview Landfill

for use in making high-quality compost

material.

Sign Up Here!

The Move Is On To The A.R. McDiarmid Civic Complex!

The City of Brandon’s Development Services Division’s new offices at the A.R. McDiarmid Civic

Complex at 638 Princess Avenue. Once inside the west entrance (what used to be 7th Street,

across from the YMCA) you’ll be greeted by staff of the Engineering Services Department (Above

Left) and the Planning & Building Safety Department (Above Right) .

Above: Bright new surroundings

for the staff of the City of

Brandon’s Community Develop-

ment Department, who will

finally all work out of the same

office!

Left: Dedicated space has been

created for a Cultural Resource

Centre, where cultural commu-

nity outreach will occur.

BY THE NUMBERS:

So far in 2014, the

City of Brandon’s

Green Cart Pick-up

Program has

collected 985.56

tonnes of organic

waste!

The second annual Summer

Lights Music Festival, held August

24th, was once again a fun night

of top notch music that was

enjoyed by Brandonites of all

ages! Originally the event was set

to take place at the Keystone

grounds – under the trees.

Unfortunately the rain forced the

festival indoors. The City was

lucky to have The 40 nightclub as

a rain location as it was a perfect-

sized room and has great sound.

Shotgun Jimmie, Kris Ulrich and

the Bros. Landreth made up the impressive lineup this year, the audience seemed to

thoroughly enjoy every group as there were very few folks who didn`t stay for all three

bands. Throughout the evening attendance was approximately 300 people in total,

with lots of great comments. People were very appreciative of the opportunity to see

such great entertainment for free! Prior to the evening event, a workshop session was

held for local, emerging artists to get song writing and music business feedback from

the professional artists set to perform at the festival. This event was a full day of great

music and great opportunities for young local bands and music lovers!

City of Brandon Scorecard

“You can’t manage what you can’t measure”

The City of Brandon’s Corporate Scorecard tracks real data in all departments to

ensure we are providing the best public services we can.

You can keep tabs on the City of Brandon’s Corporate Scorecard by bookmarking

http://opengov.brandon.ca/corporate-scorecard.aspx. Each monthly update will

display the statistics gathered for the preceding month.

Keeping an eye on attendance figures at the City’s spray parks, paddle pools and

outdoor pools helps the Community Services Department plan for future

programming. This year, the City’s four spray parks were undeniably the main

attraction, with a combined total of 16,772 visits! The City’s three remaining

paddling pools struggled a bit this year, with a combined total of 1,751 visits over

the summer. Meanwhile, the City’s two outdoor pools, the Kinsmen and Keystone

pools, recorded attendance numbers of 5,104 visits and 3,146 visits, respectively.

These metrics will be very important as the Community Services Department looks

at 2015 programming options.

Oct. 20—Oct.26, 2014

Waste Reduction Week

Support Valleyview and

Riverheights Schools in the

“Bag Up” Challenge by

dropping off your excess

single-use plastic bags at the

schools during the month of

October!

In 2013, over 37,000

students from 168 schools

across Manitoba saved

1,347,000 plastic bags

from going to landfill!

October 22nd, 2014:

Brandon Municipal

Election Day

Brandon electors vote to

elect their Mayor,

Councillors, and School

Board Trustees for the 2014-

2018 term of office.

www.brandonvotes.ca

Connections Calendar

Connections Contact Info

City of Brandon Corporate Communications

410- 9th Street

Brandon, MB R7A 6A2

P. 204-729-2590

Stay Connected With

Your Community!

Visit the

City of Brandon’s

Online Events

Calendar Here:

http://www.brandon.ca/

calendar-of-events

Read previous editions of the City

of Brandon’s Connections News-

letter: http://www.brandon.ca/

brandon-connections

Summer Lights Music Festival Rocked, Despite A Rainy Day

Winnipeg-based The Bros. Landreth entertained a crowd of

nearly 300 people at the Summer Lights Music Festival.