On Monday, March 22, 2021, Mayor Bill Johnston called the regularly scheduled council meeting of the Town of Churchbridge to order with all council members present.
The council began by reviewing the agenda before Councillor N. Thies made the motion to accept the agenda as amended; motion carried.
Moving forward the council reviewed the Minutes of the March 8, 2021, Regular Meeting before Councillor Gosselin made a motion to accept the Minutes as reviewed; motion carried.
Reports
The council standing reports were next to discuss Protective Services. Councillor N. Thies gave a short report to the council to the rest of the council including discussion OH&S regulations with the town maintenance department, there is a concern about brin lines at the arena possibility being exposed and a safety issue, the fire department hasn鈥檛 received a dangerous good list from the railroad that goes through town for a couple of years.
Environmental Development Councillor Gallant took part in a seminar concerning composting, unfortunately, it was not useful to the town.
Planning and Economic Development was next with N. Thies, he discussed possibly having a Halloween walk in the park.
Recreation, Culture and Health was next with Councillor Antosh-Cusitar met with the recreation board for a meeting and informed the council of her findings.
Administrator Report with CAO Paridaen was next with her report to the council, the fire extinguishers will be recharged, a public meeting is scheduled April 8, 2021, Cedar Crescent Project will cost $339 542, there will be a $117,000.00 shortfall council needs to decide to do part of the project or take out a loan this will be tabled post-budget meeting, static planning has been updated, the coin monument was discussed next before Councillor Antosh-Cusitar made the motion to get the coin monuments sandblasted and clear coated by parkland Manufacturing and Perception Autobody doing the work. Councillor Vaughan suggested the council give money to the Communities in Bloom Committee to allocate funding where they wanted; motion carried.
Information for the reverse osmosis update included that there was a diesel spill on-site and ECM needed to clean it up; it was a minor spill but it was reported. The installation of the pump is delayed due to the concrete floor needing a 28-day cure that ECM was unaware of at the time when they wrote the tender. The town has not received any suitable waterworks personal resumes. Webinars were discussed next and whether or not enumeration is required; it was decided to not receive remuneration for webinars. Firearms Bylaw Amendment was next to be discussed and was tabled to the next meeting. A budget for 2021 was discussed and the budget preview was reviewed by the council. There will be a budget meeting closed to the public on March 29, 2021. Councillor Gosselin made a motion to accept the Administration Report; motion carried.
Correspondence
The council reviewed the correspondence received by the town including; 2021 TransCanada Resolutions asking for resolutions of the town's request for the twinning of the Yellowhead Highway as well as a safer crosswalk across the highway. Councillor R. Thies made a motion for a safer crosswalk at the Highway 16 & Highway 80 junction; motion carried. Councillor Gallant made a resolution to develop a turning lane by the cemetery; motion carried. Access Communications - concerning new services offered for the town鈥檚 residents and a proposal from Antler Acres. Councillor R. Thies made a motion to file the correspondence; motion carried.
Accounts
The council reviewed the List of Accounts for Approval before Councillor Antosh-Cusitar made the motion to accept the List of Accounts; motion carried.
New Business
The council discussed the Bylaw Enforcement for the 2021-2022 period. With a cost of approximately $4606 for the next year at $49 per hour, Councillor R. Thies made the motion to accept the agreement; this started a major discussion and Councillor R. Thies withdrew the motion. Councillor Antosh-Cusitar began by asking how much work the bylaw officer has done. There were 117 鈥渁ctions鈥�, such as warnings or orders to remedies done by the officer. Councillor Antosh-Cusitar feels there needs to be a better way to handle bylaw infractions that is less confrontational and promotes better council/ratepayer relations. Councillor Gosselin agreed with other councillors that we can鈥檛 have town staff doing bylaw enforcement for safety concerns. Mayor Johnston is split on the issue; he sees a need for bylaw enforcement but feels we need to communicate with the public. Councillor Vaughan made a motion to table the Commissioners contract; motion carried. There will be a future article on the Bylaw Enforcement in next week鈥檚 edition.
The RO upgrade was next to be discussed concerning the Change Order Lift Station, there was an approximately $10,000.00 difference in the original tender, Councillor R. Thies made the motion to go with option 2 that the council reviewed; motion carried.
RO Upgrade WTP - Saskpower, the council reviewed this and decided to Councillor N. Thies made a motion to accept Saskpower鈥檚 recommendation; motion carried.
There was a request to purchase a lot in town (lot 437 Vincent Ave W). Councillor Antosh-Cusitar made a motion to sell the lot for $5000; motion carried.
Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation Association Courses were discussed next as the town staff are looking to take additional courses. Councillor Antosh-Cusitar made the motion to accept; motion carried.
Contract Administration was next to be discussed. Councillor Vaughan brought up that administration, staff and 鈥渆xperts鈥� should have a set amount for contract changes; this suggests 2% up to $10,000 of expenditure within the budget. Councillor Vaughan made a motion to change the policy manual to allow administration to be allowed to make contract changes of 2% up to $10,000; motion carried.
Borrowing Bylaw Landfill 2021-001 was discussed by the council. This bylaw concerns the loan to cover the costs of the landfill decommissioning. The council reviewed this bylaw before Councillor Gallant made the motion to have first the reading; motion carried.
Next, the council reviewed Westview Road and the possibility of getting a calcium coating; it will be added to the list to be the calcium road list.
The COVID Canada Restart fund was next to be discussed. There has been a total of $23,591.87 handed out from the $53450 leaving an additional $29,000 to allocate; tabled to the budget meeting.
Councillor R. Thies made the motion to move in-camera; motion carried.
The Town of Churchbridge has received an updated project schedule for the Reverse Osmosis (RO) commissioning. The project commissioning has been pushed back to June 15.
