The town council of Outlook met for a regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday night, April 10. Present was all of council; Donna Smith, Kevin Grotheim, Kyle McLeod, Maureen Applin, Floyd Childerhose, and David Simonson, as well as Mayor Ross Derdall, Administrator Tina Douglas, Assistant Administrator Rachel Sillers, and Public Works Coordinator Bonnie Pshyk.
Absent was Recreation Director Jordy Jones, and Acting Superintendent of Municipal Operations Luke Lockhart.
A number of topics and items were discussed, including the following highlights.
Old Business/Business Arising from Minutes
The Town received three tenders from companies related to a call put out for sewer line replacement work to be performed at 425 McKenzie Street in Outlook. The three companies who submitted bids were Garnett Industries (Saskatoon), Brunner’s Construction Ltd. (Saskatoon), and Rafoss Plumbing & Heating (Outlook). After reading and reviewing the details of each bid, council ultimately decided to select Brunner’s Construction to perform the work. Their bid came in at the lowest at a cost of $27,195 (w/GST) and included a timeframe of May 13-17 for the work to be done and completed.
Recreation
The Town may look into taking out the phone lines in the bowling alley and the curling rink, citing their rare usage and the fact that most people these days use mobile phones. It was said that taking them out would save around $1500 a year. However, it was also said that such a service should still ideally be available in the event of an emergency, so options are being explored over possibly reducing the phones to one line, but with two extensions.
The Communities in Bloom ‘Adopt a Planter’ program was adopted and carried.
The idea of an event called a ‘Potato Festival’ is being explored. The event would be held in August and put a large spotlight on potatoes, a heavily-grown crop that is synonymous with Outlook and the surrounding area. It was said that the festival would be something of a companion event to the Harvest Festival put on by the Outlook & District Chamber of Commerce in the early fall. Organizers would ideally look to local potato farms for sponsorship opportunities.
Council accepted the resignation of Maureen Weiterman from the Organizational Pool Committee.
Public Works
The office has received complaints from residents of water quality (taste, colour), so the hydrants have been flushed.
Compost pickup will begin on May 6.
There has been much public interest in an upcoming ‘Free Dump Day’ out at the landfill, which does not apply to those outside of town.
A motion was made and carried to provide some funds for food for a cat that takes up residence at the landfill and is present will Dylan is working, with the feline serving as something of a live-in ‘rat and mouse’ catcher.
New Business
An aerial photography company called AirScapes has offered three various packages to choose from if the Town wanted a new aerial photo of the community. Council declined to have the photo done for now, and may look into it in another year.
Council declined a request for support from the SK 4-H Foundation.
A request from Outlook Elementary School was granted at an event held last week at the school, which saw the Town show off multiple vehicles that are used every day as Kindergarten students were learning all about different transportation.
Councillor Smith will look into fulfilling a request from the Outlook Regional Park pertaining to appointing a member at large. The park is also deciding on its budget for this year, and may have a ‘sizable’ hole to fill finance-wise. Councillor Childerhose shared his beliefs over the importance of the park, and that it should have the support of the Town from a financial perspective. Councillor Applin said she would rather the Town wait until budget talks were had. A motion was made by Councillor Childerhose to support the Outlook Regional Park with $14,000, which was carried in favor.
The start time of the April 24 town council meeting has been changed to 4:00 pm.
Council then moved to in-camera discussions, which included the following topics:
Delegation – RM of Rudy
Review of Questions posed by The Outlook Newspaper
Office Management – Office Hours
Landfill Personnel Report
Water Supply Intake – Long-term and Emergent Solutions
Expression of Interest – Tetra-Tech
