Retiring Sgt. says Rainy River is a ‘safe’ community

Ken Johnston

Rainy River Town Council received their final visit from Staff Sgt. Hugh Dennis of the Ontario Provincial Police Monday.
Dennis, who will be retiring in June, said it was with mixed emotions he made the trip to Rainy River. “I am somewhat sad that this will be my last visit, but I am excited to be retiring.”
All of council extended congratulations to him and best wishes.
Dennis reported to council that crime for last year was about the same as it has been in Rainy River over the past several years. There were 248 incidents reported in Rainy River of which 49 were cleared by charge and 177 cleared by other means. “That is a 91.1% clearance rate which is good,” said Dennis. That is an improvement over last year when the rate was 90.8%. “From a marketing point this community, in fact the entire district is very safe,” said Dennis.
He noted that the final costs for policing in Rainy River in 2004 are not in, but that the estimates were for about $158,000. The year before the estimate was $162,000 and actual cost was about $132,000.
Other business
•Council endorsed two motions to support having Riverside and Rainycrest merge.
•Councillor Larry Armstrong noted that the water treatment plant was recently inspected and the the administrative issues it was flagged for involve adding the actual regulations to their operation manual for the plant.
Mayor Glen Armstrong, also noted that after the town’s recent court appearance that counsel advised the town to follow up regularly with the staff operating the plant to insure that non-compliance issues are being resolved. “The judge was upset by the fact that we had 31 times on the same infraction.”
Councillor Ed Tymkin expressed his concern at the fact that a small town like Rainy River was fined $7,000 when, “Other towns had violations and were not fined. I wonder if this is political?”
•Council agreed to give seasonal employee Leroy Hancharyk health and medical benefits. They also agreed to send him to water treatment training next week.
•Council passed a resolution encouraging Grey Goose bus lines to reconsider cutting its services on the Winnipeg to Fort Frances route.
•Council did some housekeeping when it passed a motion confirming that the balance outstanding of the loan from Reserve Funds to General Funds at year end was $550,441 at an interest rate of 1.7%.
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