The latest meeting of Carlyle Town Council saw a delegation of concerned parents visit to express their worries over the proposed CN transload facility.
Normal business passed quickly at the start of the council meeting, however the seats in the council room filled quickly as members of the Gordon F. Kells' and Carlyle Elementary School's School Community Councils filed in to address council as a delegation.
By the time the delegation was ready to be heard, 15 parents and teachers from the two schools were in the chamber.
Addressing council first with questions about the CN proposal for the town, the questions quickly shifted to what steps the town was taking to block the project.
"Speaking for the group, we would like to know what the town has done so far," said Tammy Riddell, one of the SCC members in attendance. "This is in the interest in the safety and well being of the students."
Members of council took turns explaining the steps the town had thus far taken in dealing with CN, culminating in their e-mail of Jan. 10, 2012, in which council issued a flat 'no' to the proposal for the crude transload facility CN was proposing to build in town.
"At SUMA (Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association) we spent hours going from booth to booth," Councillor Darrin Grimes explained. "We were trying to find the licensing body for a project like this."
Grimes continued to explain that there seemed to be some confusion about whether this was a provincial or federal jurisdictional issue, and the only body that seemed to have some interest in perhaps looking into it was the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment.
"They seemed a little interested when we spoke with them about the possibility of water contamination," Grimes said.
This did not seem to meet with the approval of the delegation however, and they urged that the council take a more active stance, beginning with the town contacting CN to see whether they had shelved the plans or not, as no one knew with any certainty about whether CN planned to try and push ahead or not.
It was explained to council that the impact, especially on the schools, would be very disruptive.
As an example, the designated evacuation site for GFK was CES, and likewise, if CES had to be evacuated, the plan at present was to move the students to GFK.
The sentiment of the parents was summed up nicely by one.
"There is no way I would have any of my kids going to schools like that," said Tanya Robertson of her concern about CN building the proposed facility.
The delegation departed with the assurance of council that they would maintain an open line of communication about the issue, and council also urged all concerned people to write letters to CN, the Minister of the Environment, the Honourable Dustin Duncan, as well as the federal member for Souris-Moose Mountain, Ed Komarnicki.
Following the departure of the delegation, council turned its attention to the continuing development issues facing the town.
With the new water plant, and the town expansion from residential and commercial development, a new sewer main, to run east-west on the south side of town, is needed.
Also discussed was the plan to add an additional cell onto the lagoon for waste management.
The estimated cost of these projects is $2.6 million, and council confirmed they would move ahead with application to borrow the funds.
With the 2012 budget in the works, the costs for utilities will be re-worked to meet the financial obligations the loan would entail.
The proposed rate changes have yet to be approved in the budget, and they would also need further approval from the provincial government before coming into effect.
