Potentially-infected carpeting will soon be replaced from a building that houses Stettler Community Health Centre and Alberta Health Services and owned by the Town of Stettler.
At its regular meeting Nov. 16, council approved a staff recommendation for the town to initiate plans to meet with Alberta Health Services to develop a priority list for upgrades and to discuss the lease rates for 2011 to 2013 and/or share costs of the maintenance.
The lease requires that the Town of Stettler is responsible for structural maintenance and that Alberta Health Services maintain the lease hold improvements except reasonable wear-and-tear on the building that dates back to the 1950s.
“We will let administration deal with this,” said Mayor Dick Richards.
Estimated at $78,163, the project states priority work to replace the carpeting, reroof the building, replace the sidewalk, construct a new sidewalk, paint the exterior, clean the air duct and replace about 35 ceiling tiles and about five light ballasts.
“We have plans to do upgrades next year and we do have sufficient funding,” said town manager Rob Stoutenberg.
Recently, the facility passed an environmental audit with “flying colours’, he noted.
“There have been other community facilities and buildings that have recently removed their flooring to meet infection-control standards so this in not just a local issue,” states a letter signed by Nancy Aspenes, Alberta Health Services seniors’ health area manager for Stettler and central zone east.
“It has been brought to my attention by Infection Prevention and Control that the flooring in the building hosts the potential for harbouring organisms that contribute to disease and it is recommended that the carpeting be removed for this reason.”
“We have been able to meet the cleaning requirements within the actual clinic as the carpet in this area have been removed and replaced with linoleum which has been excellent for us and clients,” said Aspenes.
“However, we are not meeting this standard in the rest of the building due to the difficulty in cleaning carpeting to meet infection-control requirements.”
A lease for the building will be presented to council in the coming months.
-More committee appointments
Former councilor and retired development officer Dave Dennis was appointed to the subdivision and development appeal board while Gail Peterson was appointed to the board of Stettler Public Library.