Contrary to speculation that 2011 Thunder in the Valley celebrations would be cancelled, Blairmore Fire Chief Jamie Margetak said last week the show will go on.
In October, the Police Advisory Committee informed Council of its desire to see police funding for Thunder in the Valley increased from $10,000 to $40,000, based on information gathered through a policing survey.
The money was to be used to fund the municipality bringing in approximately 25 additional RCMP officers to police the public during the event.
Council cut the increase request from the 2011 municipal operating budget in January, saying that they would request the same level of policing service, but would not be spending tax payer dollars to pay for it.
The buck was then proposed to be passed to the Blairmore Fire Department, which owns and executes the event.
The fire department took the stance that if they were to be responsible for coming up with the additional funds, they would cancel the event altogether.
Margetak said he didn’t want to see the burden fall to the taxpayers, as the event is supposed to be a way of the fire department thanking the community for its support, but that the fire department should not be responsible for providing the money either.
Discussions between the fire department, municipality and police have been ongoing since the issue was raised in the fall.
A meeting between the fire department, RCMP, CPR and the municipality was scheduled for last Monday, Feb. 28th, but was cancelled due to extreme snowfall.