The May 2 meeting of the Carlyle town council proved to be exciting, as council decided to move ahead with the planned-for sewer trunk line on the south end of town, despite the fact permission for borrowing is still pending.
At the meeting, Councillor Michael Lothian wore a pink shirt to show support for the anti-bullying day activities that had taken place earlier in the day.
As initial agenda items passed, discussions paused during the Chief Administrative Officer's report to consider some matters involving road repairs and improvements.
Specifically, quotes were received to replace curbing in some residential areas of the town.
Quotes for both cement and macadam replacements were received, and after discussions regarding the quoted prices, council decided to table the matter for further consideration at the next meeting.
Further discussions arising from the CAO report was regarding the establishment of a by-law enforcement officer.
The job of the individual would be to issue municipal fines for by-law infringements within the town.
Previously, it was decided to have town workers fill the role, however one individual who had attended training for the role decided to withdraw from the position.
Due to this, council determined to leave the position open for the time being.
Discussing the impact of the provincial government's decision to cancel the practice of municipalities offering deductions on property taxes as an incentive for early payments, the Chief Administrative Officer offered to council the possibility of pre-authorized payments being set up for the town.
The system would have monthly payments withdrawn from participant's accounts, based on the previous year's tax rolls.
This program would allow the town to better budget monthly expenses due to the amount of income being known exactly, and would relieve the rate payers of having to pay their entire tax bill in one lump sum.
It was decided to pursue further information about a pre-authorized payment program.
In member reports, the mayor delivered information regarding the Saskatchewan Waste Reduction Council award, and councillor Darrin Grimes reported on the final closing of the SSEER offices.
It was also reported by the CAO that the town had yet to receive any of the Provincial Disaster Assistance Payments it had applied for following the flooding damage from last year.
Speaking about unfinished business, the topic of the new sewer trunk line planned to run on the south end of town came up.
While provincial approval for borrowing had yet to be received, a contractor had contacted the town informing them his company would be ready to move ahead in four months or so.
With the rains continuing, the sewer system was running at near capacity, so the council voted to secure the companies services, despite the lack of borrowing approval.
There were also discussions involving the Carlyle and District Leisure Complex.
The pool, which had just had its liner removed for replacement, proved to have further issues.
When examining the pool bed and walls under the liner, it became apparent that these foundations had decayed to the point where they too were in need of repair or replacement.
The committee for the pool informed council it would be an estimated $70,000 additional monies to carry out the repairs, on top of the $100,000 the committee had already raised for the liner replacement.
While no decision from the committee was tabled to the council, one of the ideas was to keep the pool closed for this year, to allow further fundraising to address the issues.
The final topic of interest discussed before the council moved to an in-camera session for private discussions was the value of building permits issued for the first four months of 2012.
The CAO reported that a total of more than $5,230,000 in building permits had been approved by council, pointing out that this showed that significant construction within the town was either started, or would be starting near future.
