Here is a rundown of the other items at North Battleford city council meeting July 17:
Building permits boomed for the month of June in the city of North Battleford.
According to the permits report presented to council Monday, 17 permits were issued for $11,757,100 for the month, up from 16 permits for $2,139,400 issued for June 2016.
The big item was one new commercial permit $10,500,000. City manager Jim Puffalt confirmed this is the one for the hotel project, the Comfort Inn and Suites on Carlton Trail.
Overall, permit values are now up for year to date. A total of 65 permits have been issued for $15,875,925 compared to 67 permits issued for $10,887,900.
The city of North Battleford, along with Loraas Environment Services, is planning to hold a community awareness barbeque and recycling awareness event later on this year, likely in September.
The event is to educate the public on acceptable items to go into the blue roll-out carts. Lately, non-recyclable material such as waste, compost, Styrofoam, and textiles have been found, among other items. Holding an education campaign is considered preferable to alternatives such as issuing fines or refusing to pick up blue boxes.
The city has passed a resolution to adopt the audited financial statements for 2016. The statements were presented at the previous meeting and will now be submitted to the province by the end of August, a requirement by the Cities Act. It will also be posted on the city’s website.
In new business, a Water Meter Dispute Policy was presented and accepted at council; it is meant to provide a process to resolve disputes when a water bill is different from what was expected. This was approved unanimously.
The second item of new business is that council is providing support for comments of Ryan Shepherd, the city’s appointed building official, which are being submitted to the province of Saskatchewan on the national building code adoption.
City Manager Jim Puffalt notes the comments include a number of concerns that have been expressed about some of the changes. Council has voted unanimously to support and forward the comments to the province.
In proclamations, Mayor Bater has proclaimed the week of July 24 to 30 to be Battlefords Pride Week in the city of North Battleford. A flag-raising of the Pride flag is scheduled for next Monday morning, July 24, at City Hall.
The next North Battleford council meeting is Aug. 21.
