The town council of Outlook met for a regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday night, June 12. Present were councillors Donna Smith, Kevin Grotheim, Kyle McLeod, Maureen Applin and David Simonson, as well as Mayor Ross Derdall, Acting Administrator Rachel Sillers, Public Works Coordinator Bonnie Pshyk, and Superintendent of Municipal Operations Luke Lockhart.
Absent was Councillor Floyd Childerhose and Recreation Director Jordy Jones.
A number of topics and items were discussed, including the following highlights.
To begin the meeting, Rachel Sillers was appointed as the Acting Chief Administrative Officer as the Town makes the transitional process into eventually hiring a new person for the role.
Council adopted the minutes of the May 22 regular meeting, as well as the June 6 special meeting.
Old Business/Business Arising from the Minutes
The Town has been exploring possible promotional items to sell, including t-shirts, sweatshirts, and water bottles. Quotes were obtained from Economy Stationery of Rosetown, and Councillor Applin had also explored ideas from the website ‘4imprint’. A decision on moving forward with ordering items is expected soon, possibly by the next meeting if not sooner.
Town Budget
On the topic of the Town’s financials and any sort of forecast related to the budget, it was said that the auditors still required additional information from the Town to complete work on their end. As such, council held readings of “Bylaw 05/19 – A Bylaw to Extend the Time Required for the Completion of the 2018 Financial Statement”. The bylaw would be formally enacted if the financial statement wasn’t completed by the province’s deadline of June 15. As far as adopting the official capital and operating budget, there is no legislated deadline according to the province. However, this must be done prior to authorizing a tax levy for 2019. The deadline for completing the tax roll is August 15.
Recreation
The Heritage Centre requested that their flowers be watered by town workers. Mayor Derdall and a couple of other councillors didn’t like the idea as it opened them up to receiving similar requests by others in the future. Council opted to decline the request.
Council carried a motion to purchase 30 sitting chairs to be used at the new swimming pool.
Council carried a motion to establish a cash register float at the pool in the amount of $300.
As far as when a grand opening for the pool will be, that has yet to be fully confirmed. Ross put forward the idea to possibly hold it on Canada Day, which seemed agreeable to most in the room, but nothing was set in stone. The Town is also aiming to try and run the pool in limited hours during the last week of June to ensure things are running smoothly. As well, council will be doing a walk-through of the facility prior to their next meeting on June 26.
An official decision on the date of the pool’s grand opening is expected very soon.
Public Works
Emergency measures have been undertaken in the wake of the Town of Outlook’s water restriction that was held from June 4-6. Some councillors, as well as Mayor Derdall, noted that they received a hefty amount of criticism for the restriction, while Councillor Applin said she’d heard nothing of the sort directed to her. Regardless of the reaction to the restriction, it was deemed a success as water consumption was cut in half during that time period, which was just shy of 48 hours.
The Town is hesitant to water a green space on Tufts Crescent due to the current water situation. Council decided that it won’t be watered for the time being.
A motion was made and carried to write off and forget a list of “uncollectable utility accounts.”
Town Lagoon Quotes
The Town received quotes from two companies pertaining to dredging the lagoon. There was much discussion in the room as council was taken aback by the costs that were quoted, particularly the vast difference in projected costs by the two submitting companies.
The quote from Roy & Sons Dredging Services was estimated at $78,395.00, while Dairyland Agro Supply Ltd. quoted two prices. Their first quote was for land application of the dredged sludge at an estimated cost $559,187.03. Dairyland’s other option was for dewatering with a drying bed at an estimated of $692,533.78.
Councillor Grotheim was notably concerned about the difference in quotes, and he theorized that the Town should perhaps seek a third quote in order to further compare pricing. However, Councillor Simonson made a motion to move forward with Roy & Sons. Councillor Grotheim requested a recorded vote that was granted, and the motion was carried with Grotheim being the lone opposition.
New Business
More information on what specifics may be required will be sought after a request was received by the Sask Central Acquired Brain Injury Outreach Team, an agency of the Saskatchewan Health Authority.
Council will be seeking a Committee of the Whole meeting after receiving a request from Transport Canada.
General
After reading the latest Bylaw Enforcement Officer Report (BEO), Councillor Applin said that “clear direction” may be needed to address when there are instances where a ticket should be automatically issued. Council elected to draft a letter to BEO Ron Klassen.
The Town will seek more information as it relates to possibly implementing a Telmatik messaging system. The topic will come back to a meeting in July.
Town Office Closure
The RM of Rudy offices will be closed as they begin clearing out of the Outlook town offices building during the week of June 24-28. They will be moving temporarily to 211 Saskatchewan Avenue East. As such, council approved the closure of the town office during that week as well.
After moving the correspondence, council entered into in-camera discussions. The in-camera session included the following topics:
- Admin/Personnel Report
- CAO Interviews
- Legal – Robertson Stromberg Correspondence
- Legal – McDougall Gauley Proposal
- Fire Hall
- Associated Engineering Phase II ESA Proposed Agreement
- Recreation Personnel Report
