By June Norvila
At the March 24 regular Bentley town council meeting, a policy was established to regulate advertising in the arena. It covers advertising on the ice as well as on the walls and the puck board.
* An application from one couple was received expressing an interest in living in and managing the municipal campground. They were given a copy of the newly accepted Campground Caretaker and Security Service Agreement to sign and their proposal accepted. This is a brand new endeavor for the town. Obtaining proper fire pits and more picnic tables is being investigated. There will be a total liquor ban in the campground for the May long weekend.
* The Collins Barrow Chartered Accountants 2008 financial auditor's report was presented and accepted at the April 28 regular town council meeting. A concern was expressed regarding the financial accountability of a bank account of about $56,000 in the name of the Bentley Fire Department that the town is ultimately responsible for.
* The County of Lacombe has accepted a truck to use as a wild land firefighting vehicle that had been donated to the Bentley Fire Department. After being properly equipped it will be stored in the Bentley Fire Hall and will be the sole responsibility of the County, as the town has no use for such a vehicle. The Bentley Fire Department will have access to the vehicle.
* It was agreed to not proceed with municipal aerial photography done by Parkland Community Planning Services at the cost of about $2,000 this year.
* After considering cost estimates, council authorized administration to apply for grant funding for proposed $224,000 upgrades to the library building.
* The town received notification from Alberta Transportation that they will be receiving a $64,980 Streets Improvement Program grant and from Alberta Municipal Affairs they qualify for a Municipal Sustainability Initiative allotment of $143,379 ($90,136 for capital funding and $53,243 for operating funding). It was noted that is approximately $46,000 less than last year.
* The Lacombe County Protective Services monthly report, with emphasis on seat belt enforcement, resulted in 25 seat belt violations in Bentley on March 25 at a joint check stop with provincial sheriffs.
The next regular council meeting will be on Tuesday, May 12 at 6:45 p.m. in council chambers.
2008/09 Bentley curling club league winners
The Bentley Curling Club declared a successful year despite an ice plant breakdown causing the playing surface to be lost and cancellation of some regular league curling and the annual Ma and Pa Spiel.
"Thank goodness for the Hack to Hack ice liners,” said club president Harvey Brink. "It saved a lot of time and money getting back going."
Play was able to commence much sooner than if ice would have had to be made from scratch the old way. Repairs to the ice plant were over $8,000.
There were good numbers of entries in the club's four major bonspiels with 18 teams in the Farmers, 28 teams in the year-end Mixed Open, 32 rinks in the seniors bonspiel and 16 in the ladies.
League winners were announced at the spring meeting on April 8.
Winning the Monday night league out of 16 teams was the team with Norm Rieu, Mike Schneider, Terry Dickau, and Don Bridge. From the eight Wednesday teams the Laurie Duncan crew with Elsie Sanders, Marilyn Lutwick, and Gail Molding came out on top.
Out of 10 Thursday night teams Walter Lloyd, Marilyn Lloyd, Pierre Van Velzen and Cory Van Velzen were the season's winners.
Senior's daytime league winners from 11 teams was the Norm Start team with other members Larry Scheible, Klaas Brink, and Vel St. Pierre.
They will all receive embroidered jackets.
Special acknowledgment was given to Ice Maker Bryan Sautner who said "I am looking forward to coming back," and to Lounge Manager Colleen Peterson who went above and beyond her duties to help the club be profitable.
After the year-end clean up so the Farmer's Market can run out of the curling rink, the executive and other volunteers/helpers will have time to relax and reflect on the past year, and contemplate upgrades and play for the coming season starting in the fall.