The Town of Carlyle's regular council meeting was held on Wednesday, Oct. 2, with many important discussions to be had.
Dickens Committee working towards best festival yet
Dickens Committee chairperson, Shelley Slykhuis, attended the meeting to open a line of communication with the town about this year's Dickens Festival. With much positive feedback from the last 10 years, Slykhuis, did explain that there was one repetitive complaint from last year. With the rain on the Friday night last year, Saturday morning was literally a skating rink in town and Slykhuis asked if together they could find a solution.
The town responded that it was easily solvable if rain strikes again this year through promptly spreading salt and sand since most people park and are then on foot for the day.
Slykhuis said that the lantern program, which had intended to be a one year project turned into a five year venture, as the last three lanterns will be placed this year. Next on the agenda will be a Victorian style carriage with a 3D life sized horse to be displayed year round at West Park. Similar to the Moose in Moose Jaw or the Mountie in Redvers, it would be a way to display Carlyle's unique identity.
Another idea brought forth was the idea of benches along Main Street to tie the Victorian era theme together even more. Many people look for a place to sit during the parade and though council and Slykhuis spoke about problems with benches in the past, they feel that the issues which had been associated with them are no longer a problem.
Injury prevention at high school
In regards to an injury at the local high school involving a fire hydrant, council members performed a preliminary look into different avenues to make the area safer. Two options have been brought up including a pyramid cage from Sask Power, which would still make the hydrant accessible to the Fire Department, or a red padded fire hydrant jacket. Both options were discussed and the town has decided that the next step is to speak with the principal of Gordon F. Kells and the Fire Chief to discern the better option to promote safety while keeping the hydrant easily accessible.
Number of vehicles on Hwy 13 being counted
A vehicle counter was placed on Hwy 13 at bequest of Alderman Roy Olmstead. Olmstead's hope is that the Dept. of Highways will find a need to construct passing lanes to help alleviate the stress of driving on the very busy highway.
Play park concerns
Two weeks ago in the play park west of Pharmasave, The Observer had spoken with concerned parents about the trash found in the park. Jenn Sedor on the Beautification Committee took her concerns even further explaining that the sand in the park sometimes hides shards of glass and over the years Sedor has found other unsavoury items, which should not be in a children's park, including alcohol bottles and dog feces.
Over the years it has become difficult to find someone to open and close the park each night, it has therefore simply been left open during the summers lately. Sedor and Olmstead brought forth a couple of ideas to help make the play park safer. This includes the installation of a light, which would illuminate the area at night thereby preventing deviant behaviour such as drinking there. Also relevant would be the installation of a rubber playground surface as sand is no longer recommended for playgrounds.
These ideas have been put forth and will be addressed in the future as youth and their safety is important to the council.
Main Street signage to be replaced
Street signs along Main Street are in need of being resurfaced and even replaced. In response to this need, Sedor inquired about possibly making the signage a little fancier as a way to add to the atmosphere of Carlyle's reputation connected with Dickens Festival. Seeing as the lantern project spearheaded by the Dickens' committee went over so well, the town has decided to look into costs and possibly find sponsorship to help bring this idea to fruition as Dickens' has become a destination event across Canada and benefits the community greatly.
Household hazardous waste
Town members discussed options regarding the disposal of household hazardous waste, which brought up the household hazardous waste day held by the town in the past with no one stopping to drop off any items. Hazardous waste includes batteries, light bulbs, paint cans, and more. The town suspect's people are simply tossing this waste into the garbage, but are unsure of how to rectify this. One idea is to look into bringing a SARCAN to the town; however, the last time it was researched it was discovered that Redvers' SARCAN had a monopoly in the area because it is a franchise.
This research was done a number of years ago meaning the rules and regulations may have changed concerning the situation. Council members simply feel that if people must to drive to Redvers for this service there may be many who dispose of items improperly.
LED sign proposed
An LED sign was proposed by Brad Grimes, in a written request, to be placed on top of the Carlyle town sign facing east and west. Discussion resulted in the decision to deny the request as it is a very busy corner and an LED sign at night would be quite bright. This would distract drivers at an important intersection and create an unnecessary danger. The town does recognize the value of this type of sign, referring to Bear Claw Casino's sign and its benefits, but the council members felt that the proposed location was not ideal.
Golf cart crossing sign to be placed
According to a town bylaw golf carts are able to cross hwy 13 on 4th Avenue. The Carlyle Golf Club has now requested "Golf Cart Crossing" signs to ensure the safety of their patrons.
Carlyle Sports Arena request
The Carlyle Sports Arena asked for the town to pay for the janitor's monthly wages this year as a way to save money in order to renovate the change rooms. Town deliberated, but ultimately decided they were not in a position to assist the rink due to current budget restraints. In addition to this the town felt it was unfair to support one organization over all others which could use the help.
Transfer station concerns
The transfer station was also addressed as concerns had been raised when one of three bins was removed and not replaced. The remaining two bins were overflowing and the town found people had decided to simply dump their trash on the ground. The town will contact Regens in order to see what happened to the third bin and why the remaining two hadn't been emptied.
