Change is coming to the City of North Battleford’s Leisure Services Advisory Committee, which is being replaced with a new committee with a new name and a revised mandate.
Council has approved a resolution to dissolve the city’s Leisure Services Advisory Committee and replace it with the Saskatchewan Lotteries Community Grants Adjudication Committee.
The changes had been discussed by council members at their Planning Committee meeting a week earlier, and come at the request of both administration and the Leisure Services Advisory Committee itself. The new structure takes effect April 1.
The new committee will meet quarterly and focus solely on adjudication of Sask. Lotteries grant applications.
While it sounds like a dramatic shift, in reality the new committee’s role will be similar to what it was before. The main focus of Leisure Services Advisory Committee, and its predecessor the Parks and Recreation Committee, has been on deciding Sask. Lotteries applications from community groups seeking grants from the annual pool of money available from the provincial lottery operation.
In a memo to council members, Director of Leisure Services Cheryl DeNeire said these lotteries discussions had become the central focus of Leisure Services Advisory Committee meetings lately. She stated there was less need for the committee’s other functions, as the Leisure Services department has expanded its ability to gain feedback and input via social media and other means.
At Planning Committee, Councillor Kelli Hawtin, who sits on the Leisure Services Advisory Committee, said there were many public engagement sessions during the year that provide the public a chance to give feedback on leisure opportunities.
The most significant change for the new committee has to do with its meeting schedule and how it is composed. The schedule is being reduced from eight meetings down to four, and the city will move away from a continuous intake of grant applications towards a quarterly intake.
The committee will consist of two councillors and between four and six members-at-large, serving two-year terms. The mayor is considered an ex-officio voting member and will be counted in determining quorum. The initial indication is that many of the current members-at-large of the Leisure Services Advisory Committee are interested in joining the new committee
The per diem of $50 per meeting for the at-large members is being removed.
One aspect of the Leisure Services Advisory Committee that will be going away is the designated youth representatives by each of the area high schools.
This prompted considerable discussion at Planning Committee about how to continue to engage youth in the city’s decisions. It was noted that youth could still join the new committee as a member-at-large. DeNeire told Planning Committee youth will be able to participate in development of the Recreation Master Plan.
The resolution at council to dissolve the Leisure Services Advisory Committee and replace it with the Saskatchewan Community Grants Adjudication Committee carried unanimously.
Here are some of the other highlights from the Feb. 25 council meeting in North Battleford.
City council has voted to discontinue their Employee Home Computer Purchase Program for city employees. It had been initiated in 1997 to help city employees purchase their own personal home computer through an interest free loan of up to $1,800.
In those days computers cost thousands of dollars, but the price of home computers has declined considerably since then and Android and iPad tablets cost even less.
For those reasons it was decided there was no further need for the program. It runs until June 1.
There is also change coming to the city’s policy for alternate work arrangement for out of scope employees. The new policy provides additional clarification to eliminate the misuse of lieu time, with capping of lieu time at no more than 40 hours in an employees bank unless approved by the city manager. Council passed the new policy unanimously.
The city has voted to award the water chemicals tender to ClearTech Industries. Tendering its water chemicals business is something the city has not done before and this move saves the city roughly $7,000 in freight charges per year.
In proclamations, March 1-8 has been declared Francophonie Week in North Battleford and there is a flag raising scheduled for Friday, March 1, at City Hall at 11 a.m. Also, March 11 has been declared World Plumbing Day in the city of North Battleford.
The next North Battleford council meeting is March 11.
