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Outlook Town Council News & Notes - August 28

The town council of Outlook met for a regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday night, August 28.

The town council of Outlook met for a regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday night, August 28.  Present was all of council; Donna Smith, Kevin Grotheim, Kyle McLeod, Maureen Applin, Floyd Childerhose, and David Simonson, as well as Mayor Ross Derdall, Acting Administrator Rachel Sillers, Public Works Coordinator Bonnie Pshyk, Recreation Director Jordy Jones, and Superintendent of Municipal Operations Luke Lockhart.

A number of topics and items were discussed, including the following highlights.

Old Business/Business Arising

On the topic of bylaw enforcement in town, Councillor Applin noted that the WaterWolf organization is having a Regional Planning Forum in Strongfield this November that will include information on the Community Safety Officer Program.  Applin also passed on information to Rachel on a possible Commissionaire.

Recreation

Fall Registration Night is set to be held on September 11 at the Jim Kook Rec Plex starting at approximately 7:00 pm.

The Town is working on getting involved with the upcoming trade show, and they’re looking into purchasing new pop-up banners that would feature the updated Town of Outlook logo.  A motion was made and carried to approve spending of up to $1000 for two new banners.

Jones noted that the recently held concert put on by SaskExpress at the Civic Centre was “amazing”.  A total of 330 tickets were sold for the show, and Jones said he would love to look into getting more of that type of entertainment into Outlook, as the show seemed to attract a hefty number of visitors to the community.

Jordy and Councillor Smith met recently to brainstorm about the Potato Festival, discussing committee options.  No concrete details about the event are known at this time, other than the summer of 2020 is being explored as a date.

New Business

Discussion related to Bylaw 08/19 – A Bylaw to Establish Water and Sewer Rates was tabled until the next council meeting.

Another item tabled until the next meeting was related to Piccolo Pizza’s request for a tax abatement, but it was said that granting the request could be seen as “opening a can of worms” as there are similar businesses in town who may seek out such a request in the future.

Lagoon Dredging

In the Infrastructure Committee notes, it was said that the recent dredging of the town’s lagoon did not increase its capacity, and therefore there is no capacity to accommodate those outside of town who wish to access it.  Ensuring that the lagoon access is solely for the Town of Outlook ratepayers is vitally important in this situation, it was said.  It was recommended that the Town enter into an agreement with Solnicka Septic Services until the end of the year, and a motion was made and carried to move forward on such an agreement.

General

The Town made a motion to file correspondence after receiving a letter from a resident related to concerns over their water pressure.  The Town takes such matters seriously, and it was said that in the summertime, low water pressure at times is “one of those things that can just happen” with so much varied usage in the entire community.  They suggested that a pressure booster may work, but the resident replied that they shouldn’t have to invest more money into something that is the Town’s problem.

Public Works/Transportation

There are several dead trees on Prairie Avenue that need to be removed.  As well, there are trees affected by fire blight at the former Quadra building on Progress Avenue, and the Town is set to remove the affected ones, as well as trees that are close to the building’s foundation.

The temporary pump continues to work fine for the Town’s raw water intake, and a special algae sample was sent for analyzation.

A motion was made and carried to accept a bid for $5000 from Strait Line Fencing for fencing around the lagoon.

A motion was made and carried to contract ASL Paving Ltd. to pave Chow Crescent.

A motion was made and carried to pay the entirety of a bill related to the dredging of the lagoon.  It was said that the Town is already over-budget on initiatives related to the lagoon, with the dredging, construction of a dry bed and fencing to be done.

Council moved into in-camera talks at the end of the regular meeting.  The following items were listed on the in-camera agenda:

  • Planning & Development
  • Land – Camp Outlook
  • Personnel