The Town of Outlook's council met for a scheduled meeting on Thursday night, February 16 at 7:00 PM.
Present were all councillors; Maureen Applin, Floyd Childerhose, Kyle McLeod, David Simonson, Donna Smith, and Maureen Weiterman; as well as Mayor Ross Derdall, Administrator Trent Michelman, Assistant Administrator Laurie Lemon, Superintendent Luke Lockhart, and Recreation Director Jordy Jones.
A number of topics were discussed, including the following highlights:
- Assistant Administrator Lemon went over a substantial list of financial reports with council, including tax collection, land sales, capital expenditures, long term debt, waste management, utility operations, and statements of financial activities. In the end, Outlook is left with a surplus of approximately $434,000; a number council was pleased with.
- The recreation report revealed that grants are available if there is an intention by the town to beautify the vacant lot on the corner of McKenzie and Saskatchewan Avenue; the space that used to house the old Bethlehem Lutheran Church. The notion of putting grass in the space was brought up, and there may be talks with Broderick Garden Centre soon about moving forward on those plans.
- The superintendent report revealed that an agreement is now in place for Outlook to begin servicing the village of Broderick for garbage pickup, and Luke is set to appear at a Broderick council meeting on behalf of the town to go over the finer details of the agreement.
- The town may need to look at lifting and repairing, if not replacing sidewalk material, as the recent weather has caused much of it to appear beaten-down and in need of a facelift.
- On the topic of Canada Day in Outlook, particularly the celebration for the country's 150th birthday, souvenirs were said to have been ordered and the parade is looking for entries. The town itself doesn't have a float, and Councillor Applin was put in charge of organizing one.
- DLN Construction Ltd. may be sitting down with council in the near future to discuss a possible partnership on paving jobs, as they are offering to do the work.
- The new pool committee is not in favor of moving the facility from its originally-intended spot located just southwest of the Jim Kook Rec Plex. This stems from concerns submitted to council by a local resident.
- On the topic of the grand piano being moved from the United Church to the Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Michelman went over the agreement, which stated that any intended move calls for notification so that the United Church can plan their yearly schedule around any obligations that require the piano. If the United Church has bookings that require it, it is to stay during the duration of the contract.
- Council acknowledged the recently-released Census numbers that included Outlook's reported population of 2,279, but they did dispute it as there's a feeling that Outlook is likely bigger than the reported number.
- Council noted that they would not be paying an invoice for $1172 from an Outlook couple for some boulevard upgrade work on Selkirk Street, as it was unsolicited.
- Councillor Applin believes Outlook should be prepared for Canada's 150th with a number of promotional items that promote the town, including pins, shirts, hats, and so forth as the town is likely to be hosting a large number of people for the Canada Day long weekend. The topic was tabled for a further discussion at the next meeting.
