Members of council were still smiling in the aftermath of the raising of the Treaty 6 flag at City Hall June 21 when they met for a regular meeting June 25.
The flag-raising ceremony coincided with National Indigenous Peoples Day.
Councillor Kent Lindgren described the impact the flag-raising had on people in North Battleford.
“Going back to my office, seeing the response, it is powerful what that flag raising did,” said Lindgren.
He said it means a lot to the community, and was “thankful we decided to do that and made it happen.”
Mayor Ryan Bater echoed those sentiments. He added that while it was “easy to look at that day and think of that as the climax of something, but really I think we should remember it is just the beginning.”
In other remarks at the meeting, council welcomed the announcement North Battleford would be one of two Saskatchewan centres receiving a permanent Crime Reduction Team.
The team is operating provincially and will focus on hot spots and prolific offenders. Seven CRT employees, including five officers, will be placed in North Battleford. Also included is a crime analyst and Counillor Greg Lightfoot also noted that addition will make a big difference.
While Mayor Bater noted they are not be members of Battlefords detachment, it is welcome news because they are being strategically placed here and will be operating within the region.
“We’ve always said that in order for us to address crime and safety we have to do it on a regional basis,” said Bater. He thanked the province for that investment.
Other items from the meeting included the presentation of the 2017 audited financial statements and supporting schedule, which was adopted by council; presentation of the fire, CSO, Leisure Services, Utility and Infrastructure reports; and authorization was given to administration to prepare a zoning bylaw text amendment that would permit car washes in the C4 district and crematoriums as a discretionary use in the Arterial Commercial Zoning District. That zoning bylaw amendment will come back to council at a later date for first reading.
City Hall now moves into its summer schedule for July and August with only one regular council meeting each month and with planning committee meetings discontinued until September. The next regular council meeting is on July 16.
