With rising costs and static government funding, both town and rural residents recognize the importance of working together to maintain access to all services, and continue to expand their long-time experience with cooperation and innovation into new areas.
Below are a few examples of how the Town of Cut Knife has partnered with other towns and rural municipalities to ensure that residents of the area continue to have access to quality services.
FIREFIGHTING
The focus of firefighting has shifted from extinguishing structure fires to dealing with an increasing number of callouts for wildfires in pasture or bush locations. To meet this need the Cut Knife and District Fire Association purchased a Bulldog extreme terrain Brush/Wildland truck and built a new facility to house the oversized vehicle. The completion of this project was a cooperative effort between the Fire Association’s members: Town of Cut Knife, RM of Cut Knife 439, RM of Hillsdale 440, RM of Buffalo 409, RM of Round Valley 410.
LEISURE
The Cut Knife and District Recreation Board originally oversaw the operation of the Cut Knife Civic Centre and access to other provincially mandated activities. Now, it also assists with insurance and maintenance costs for the movie theatre, library, bowling alley, civic centre, and community centre to ensure these facilities are able to operate. The board is also responsible for the administration of matching grants of $300 for recreation, sport, and cultural programs
MEDICAL
Highway 40 Health Holdings is responsible for the relocation and expansion of the former medical clinic within the Cut Knife Health Complex (2018). The new space offers increased access by patients to health professionals and specialists via TELEHEALTH, which will reduce the time and expense involved with travel to larger centres. Member organizations that worked for improved access to health care are, Town of Cut Knife, RM of Cut Knife No. 439, Village of Neilburg, Village of Marsden, and the RM of Hillsdale No. 440.
TRANSFER STATION
The Town of Cut Knife and the RM of Cut Knife operate transfer stations which serve their respective populations. These transfer stations are conveniently located side by side on the east grid road. The Town and RM share the operating costs of the office space and the attendant’s wages but maintain the transfer stations separately.
Town of Cut Knife 