The first council meeting of 2014 was held Jan. 13 in the boardroom of the Village of Neilburg/RM of Hillsdale office.
Present were Mayor Ernie Ducherer, administrator Janet Black and councillors Greg Bowes, Mike Fouhse and Susanne McDuff. Councillor Aaron Gibbons was absent as he was on vacation in Mexico.
Council remuneration for 2014 was discussed. "I'm not here for the money," declared Mayor Ducherer, indicating he was willing to continue with the status quo. The mayor had been receiving $65 for each meeting he attends. Councillors received $60 per meeting. In addition, there was a $175/per diem rate with mileage set at 52 cents per kilometre.
Ducherer also noted, if they did vote for a raise, much of the increase would be gone due to income tax.
Councillor Greg Bowes disagreed, and argued there was enough aggravation involved with the position that he needed an additional $10 per meeting. Bowes later backpedalled and responded to the mayor's comment saying that he wasn't "in it for the money either," but he felt there was an increase in the cost of living that needed to be addressed.
Ducherer suggested many things a councillor does are on a voluntary basis and "That is why we have the kind of community we do."
Black noted council in Paradise Hill received $45 per meeting and in Marsden the tariff was $50 per meeting. In Marsden, however, council members also received a supervision allowance of $50 per month. She also noted council members were not required to pay tax upon any mileage cheques they might receive.
Despite the disagreement over whether a raise for council was justified, Fouhse made a motion to up the payment for each meeting by the $10 that Councillor Bowes had requested. The motion carried, making the new pay rate for meetings $75 for the mayor and $70 for councillors.
At the December council meeting, council had voted to give Black a 2.5 per cent raise as of Jan. 1. They also gave water treatment plant operator Garry Nuspl a 3.5 per cent raise as of the New Year. Wages for Henriette Therien, who manages the seniors' apartments, remained unchanged.
The winners of the Christmas lighting contest were announced. Matt and Nicole Ryall were the winners of the top prize of three months' free water and sewer. Della and Lyle Thom were the second place recipients with two months' free services. Brian and Tracy Vanderhook were the third place winners with one month of free utilities as their prize. The council from the Village of Marsden were the judges for the local contest.
Don Rutherford, insurance representative from Rutherford Agencies, came and gave council an indication of the costs for insurance for the coming year. Due to revisions and adjustments some buildings will cost more to cover while others will cost less. In the final analysis, the total will be approximately $1,000 less than the premium for the previous year.
Former council member, Maurice Therien was named as the village representative to both the Municipal Health Holdings Board and the Highway Health Holdings Committee.
Although there are bylaw enforcement officers who reside in closer proximity to the Village of Neilburg, council agreed to continue to employ Ron Klassen of Delisle as the bylaw enforcement officer for the village. Mayor Ducherer and Administrator Black signed an agreement to this end at the meeting.
Ernie Ducherer and Barrie Elchyson will be the representatives from the village on the Neilburg Fire Board.
Faye Hewko will be the village representative on the Regional Lakeland Library Board. Librarian Sharon Schempp will be retained and will also do the janitorial duties for that facility for an additional sum of $1,110 per year.
Mike Fouhse was selected as the deputy mayor for 2014.
Holm Clements Kwong Raiche will be the village auditors.
SaskTel has advised high speed Internet service will go up by approximately $5 per household as of February.
The date of the February council meeting was changed due to the SUMA convention which will be held in Regina from Feb. 2 to 5. Instead of council holding their regular monthly meeting on the third, it will be held on the second Monday of the month, Feb. 10.
