Neilburg Village Council met Oct. 7 in the boardroom in the RM office. Present were: administrator Janet Black, Mayor Ernie Ducherer and Councillors Greg Bowes, Aaron Gibbons, Suzanne McDuff and Mike Fouhse.
The village council and representatives from the R.M of Hillsdale will seek to find a suitable date to meet to discuss cost-sharing agreements and for long-range planning strategies.
The Village had advertised two lots for sale by tender on L. E. Gibbons Centre Street. These are the storefronts between the co-op grocery store and the SGI insurance agency. Since no response was received, council decided to re-tender them for another month. Posters will be posted on bulletin boards in the village to make the re-tendering known.
Telephone services to several homes and to Manitou Evangelical Free Church was cut when an unknown individual drove down Second Street West with a large farm implement (such as an auger) and pulled the lines down. Council will contact SaskTel and ask that these lines be buried so that a similar outage does not occur. SaskPower will be asked to put their lines higher so as to also avoid this type of problem.
No quote was obtained to cut the poplar trees on the edge of the Village Green Park. This was tabled until the next meeting in the hope a contractor could be found to do the job at a reasonable price and that at least three quotes for the work could be made available.
A report was given that the manhole replacement by the Neilburg Arena, for the new lift station, went well. The asbestos cement that was being removed did not crumble, like it could have, as there was plenty of clay attached to it. The drawings were wrong but that difficulty was eventually resolved when the lines were located. More clay needs to be added to the lift station and gravel will need to be added to the road. A grader will need to be utilized before the job is fully completed.
A resolution was made to pile snow from the Neilburg Arena parking area to a location near where the old water plant once stood. This will be instead of piling it up where it has previously been located. Due to the large amount of snow last year, some homeowners had problems with flooding when the snow began melting in the spring. Hopefully this will alleviate any problems next year.
A request for more keys to be cut for the seniors' housing complex was approved. The lock on one of the outside doors will also be repaired.
Concern was expressed about the large pothole in Railway Avenue East. "Someone will break an axle," exclaimed one councillor. It was decided to get Alvin Nutbrown to come with his equipment to attempt to patch the roadway.
A water leak is suspected in the Neilburg Arena. During the previous month 269 cubic metres of water was consumed, even though it was the off season for skating, hockey and curling. This amounted to $710 of usage. Council was advised a running toilet could generate a bill in the amount of $500. Residents are reminded to ensure their plumbing does not have any leaks to keep their utility costs down.
Council was advised of a municipal planning seminar in Regina, to be held Nov. 4 and 5. The topics to be discussed were infrastructure, regional planning for growth and governance. Unfortunately, no one wished to attend the event to represent the Village of Neilburg, so a delegate will not be sent.
A verbal complaint had been received regarding the disrepair of a garage as the roof is falling in. Council decided that, if the complainant brought forth their concerns in writing, the matter would be handed over to Ron Klassen, the bylaw enforcement officer from Deslile, who has been contracted to assist the village in these matters.
