Village of Burns Lake council denies request from fair association

Village of Burns Lake (VBL) council has decided against taking on maintenance duties of the Eagle Creek fair grounds, after receiving a request to do so from the Lakes District Fair Association. After some discussions on the matter, village council voted to deny the request citing financial reasons, as well as the location, which falls outside of town boundaries.

The Lakes District Fair Association holds four major events a year, and they asked council to take on maintenance for all four, which would include grass mowing, trimming and grading on the side of roads. The four main events are the annual fall fair and music festival, the Canadian Kennel Club dog show, various 4H events [youth development program], as well as use by various baseball teams.

According to VBL Chief Administrative Officer Sheryl Worthing, taking on the maintenance duties would cost the village somewhere between $4,000-$5,000 per year. It was also noted that because some of the events take place in the fall, summer students would be gone for those events, and the work would fall under VBL’s current public works crew, which would require higher rates.

Burns Lake Fire Department call outs for November

Burns Lake Fire Chief Rob Krause provided VBL council with statistics on fire call outs for the month of November.

The Burns Lake Fire Department (BLFD) attended 12 calls in the month, with four being fires or fire alarms, three being motor vehicle incidents, one for an issue with a hydro wire and four for medical emergencies. The three motor vehicle incidents took place at Highway 35 near Francois Lake, rock cuts, and Tintagle, and all of them were considered minor with no extrication .

The fire call outs included a kitchen grease fire at A&W, as well as a burning complaint at Spirit Square. According to Krause, the BLFD has responded to 132 calls to date in 2021, which is projected to be ever so slightly above the five-year average of 134 per year by the end of December.

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