OUTLOOK - The town council of Outlook met for a regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday night, April 24. Present was all of Council; Sharon Bruce, Bob Stephenson, Kyle McLeod, Ryan Husband, Justin Turton, and Kevin Grotheim, as well as Mayor Maureen Weiterman and Chief Administrative Officer Kevin Trew.
The meeting was broadcast on the Town of Outlook's official Facebook page.
A number of topics and items were discussed, including the following highlights.
Bylaws
Council discussed three bylaws, including Bylaw 08(2023) Zoning, Bylaw 07(2023) Community Planning, and Bylaw 02(2024) Road Closure.
The Zoning bylaw had underwent some minor cosmetic and language changes after the last council meeting, which CAO Trew noted don't affect the intent of it. After some brief discussion, Council passed and carried the second reading of the bylaw.
Moving to Community Planning, it was said that Council was waiting for a third reading of the bylaw, therefore no action was taken on it at this meeting, but it's expected to progress soon.
Arriving at the Road Closure bylaw, Councillor Turton recused himself from the discussion due to a possible conflict of interest as this particular bylaw is connected to the work to be done between the Riverbend Co-op gas station and the Broderick Garden Centre, as discussed before at recent council meetings.
After some discussion regarding what steps another involved party may have to do to prevent impeding on the involved area, Council passed and carried the first reading of the bylaw.
Reports of Administration, Staff and/or Committees Requiring Decision
Councillors McLeod and Grotheim recused themselves as the rest of the room discussed making non-arm's length payments; one each for McLeod and Grotheim related to mileage for attending the recent SUMA convention. Both of them were carried and passed by Council.
As well, another payment was passed and carried to Riverbend Industries for the payment of a distribution pump.
Unfinished Business
Discussion then moved to the town grader, which had been discussed before at length at previous meetings. Trew reminded everyone that Council had decided not to borrow money in order to purchase a used grader, and instead had opted to get the town's existing grader repaired, which carried an estimate of between $20,000 and $25,000. Now, the quote has been increased to an area of between $35,000 and $40,000 in order to make the necessary repairs to the grader.
Trew has since learned from ag dealer Brandt that two 2019 graders were turned in by the City of Saskatoon at the end of their leases, and it was suggested that maybe the Town would like to purchase one of these graders as opposed to moving forward with the extensive repairs to the current one.
Trew had presented this information to Council in order for them to know what other possibilities there may be in regards to the town's grader situation, which saw the 1994 John Deere equipment break down in February of this year.
Discussion turned to whether the Town should consider purchasing one of the 2019 graders, with an impressive price tag of just over $200,000, or continue moving forward with the repairs to the existing one.
"Fix it," Councillor Grotheim said. "We don't have $200,000."
"The other ones were a little more costly," said Councillor Bruce, referencing previous newer grader models that the Town obtained information on. "There kind of comes a tipping point; the old one is 1994, and we're putting in a quarter of that amount into the old one."
Councillor McLeod noted that he'd spoken with people who told him that there's likely a reason why companies look to get rid of graders at such a deal of a price, implying that there may or may not be something at fault with them. Grotheim added that it could be because the system's may have been worked hard.
Council debated the price points and played devil's advocate with a number of scenarios involving the grader, both the current existing one and one of the 2019 models for sale.
Councillor Husband says it comes down to pricing, meaning the dollar amounts related to the repairs needed on the current grader could always jump up to a large degree, eventually even meeting half the price of what one of the new machines is listed at.
Councillor Bruce, who had previously voted to fix the current grader, now wondered if things could reach a point where the Town was wasting money on machinery that couldn't be saved.
"There comes this point of throwing good money after bad," she said. "Is it going to cost us more money to fix this thing that already looks like it's on its last legs?"
Bruce then agreed with McLeod on the notion that there has to be a reason why the 2019 models are being offered for such a low price. Trew shared that a viewing of the equipment could be arranged if that was something that Council wished to do, should that be contingent on whether or not a purchase would be pursued.
After some further discussion, Councillor Turton made a motion that the Town pursue the purchase of one of the 2019 graders, and Councillor Husband asked if it could be subject to a third party review, to which CAO Trew said it could. Mayor Weiterman then presented the motion, that the Town move forward in purchasing one of the new-to-the-Town graders, but only on the condition that the Town has a third party inspect the machinery. Councillor Grotheim requested a recorded vote.
In favor - Councillors Bruce, Turton, Husband, Mayor Weiterman
Opposed - Councillors Grotheim, McLeod, Stephenson
The motion was passed.
New Business
Discussion moved to a targeted sector support grant, which CAO Trew is a cost-share grant program where money is taken out of the municipal revenue sharing program instead of giving it to every municipality with the intention of supporting projects that strengthen municipalities' core operational capabilities through increased regional cooperation. The grant application closes on June 7th and Trew believes that there is some opportunity for the Town to participate. Trew noted that a lot of the conversation that came out of the recent WaterWolf meetings in the village of Elbow had to do with governance training; in particular, a man named George Cuff, who specializes in such work. Trew noted that he'd seen Cuff speak before and he "was great" about what he discusses.
Trew further noted that the RM of Loreburn and the Village of Elbow would like to partner with the Town of Outlook and apply for the targeted sector support grant, should the Town choose to move on such a venture.
After some discussion, including Mayor Weiterman noting that any such presentation would likely take place after this fall's civic election, Council voted in favor of pursuing the grant funding and having a presentation done by George Cuff.
Discussion then moved to a new updated logo for the Town, with a few examples presented to Council with the idea to "freshen up" the logo. Trew noted that the Town logo is something that's come up in conversation since he started working in Outlook, and he'd love to see some kind of logo that tells people right away, "That's Outlook".
Trew was looking for approval from Council to refresh the Town's logo, and it was decided that he'd go back and work on it before bringing it back for any official decision.
Assistant CAO Report
Prepared by Assistant CAO Rachel Sillers
I have continued to work with our Auditor on the 2023 Financial Statements, cleaning up small items. The draft Financial Statements for both Joint Protective Services and Joint Health Committee have been prepared and are awaiting review and approval, as a reminder those require approval from their respective boards in order for that information to be consolidated into each Municipality’s financial statements.
“Asset Retirement Obligations”. For us this new standard requires future expenses that would/will be incurred related to legal obligations to retire or decommission assets related primarily to Landfills and Municipal Buildings containing asbestos. Since we have completed a substantial amount of work at our Landfill recently, we have all the required information and documentation for recording future costs. However, we will have to pursue asbestos testing for all municipal buildings (that haven’t previously been tested) somewhat immediately in an effort to have the results prior to our 2023 financial statements being finalized, to meet the reporting requirement. Update: testing has been completed as of April 12, 2024 and we are awaiting test results and remediation reporting to forward to our Auditor.
I am working on revisions to the 2024 Budget and 10-year Capital Plan. As we’re nearing towards the end of Q1 the plan is to distribute a financial/budgetary control report to the Executive Team at the end of Q1 to allow them to suggest changes to their respective department budgets. Once we have reviewed the changes as a team we will present a revised draft to Council for review and discussion. By that time, we will also have the revised figures from Municipal Revenue Sharing and other Provincial grant program that we receive funding from. Update: The Executive Team has reviewed their respective sections of the Operating Budget for 2024. We have also moved some items around on the 10-year Capital Plan. However, we’re still awaiting decision on some unanticipated Capital expenses, specifically the grader.
We have continued to work on website updates and changes, including developing a payment portal to accept online payments through our website. It is still in the testing phase but should be available to the public starting in May. We are also proceeding with the expansion of the Team Outlook area of the website, including pictures of staff and Council scheduled to be taken on May 8th by a local photographer, more details to follow.
Our new office server is scheduled to arrive in May, due to the server being completely replaced we will not have access to our network or municipal programs during the switchover. We will advise the public of the disruption of services on the date of installation once scheduled and confirmed.
Community Development Report
Prepared by Megan Anthony
We have been working towards making the shift from the “recreation” department into the “community development” department. We are building capacity within all employees under the community development department which allows each employee to find their niche and really excel in it while still having opportunities to continue learning and growing.
Jim Kook RecPlex:
- Both ice surfaces are out and the pads are cleaned.
- Staff are training for outdoor summer season.
- Drop-in bowling times are being organized for consistent drop in opportunities
- Capital Projects being completed in 2024 include: compressor 2 + motor replacement on the arena plant, sportsgrounds irrigation installation and ball diamond 1 dugout rehabilitation.
- OAS and Town of Outlook are working on an MOU for the Jim Kook Memorial Scholarship.
Tourism:
- The events guide for May-October 2024 has been completed – digital and paper copies will be available. Digital copies will be updated throughout the year with any last-minute additional events or activities that may take place so we will have a QR code on the events guide that links to the digital copy so people can always check for any updates.
Economic Development:
- I am still completing going around to the businesses with the tourism maps as well as some policy incentives that businesses may be interested in.
- I am working on property identification for the HAF funding project.
- Community Safety and Well-being plan has been completed and we are working on finding a time to meet with the consultants as a group one last time to start planning the next steps.
Upcoming Events:
- Paint and Sip night with Janet Akre at the Jim Kook RecPlex – May 4th @ 7pm
- Mothers Day Market in the Park as well as the annual town wide garage sale – May 11th
- Stock Car Races begin May 11th-12th
- Highway 45 golf tournament – May 11th-12th
- The Outlook and District Heritage Museum Prairie Festival – May 24th-26th
- Equinox Theatre Production – May 24th-26th
- Senior Ice Hawks Golf tournament – May 25th
Public Works Report
Prepared by Luke Lockhart
Transportation:
- We have done 1 round of pothole patching throughout town using nearly 20 Tons of patching material to date; we will be doing another round later this week, and into next week to get all holes filled within our capabilities. We have started compiling our contracted patch list for the bigger blowouts, and other areas requiring hot mix asphalt and have been in contact with our local contractor.
- Gravel roads will be graded and graveled in the upcoming week or 2 in preparation for dust suppression to be applied; we are coordinating this with multiple contractors as it is ideal to apply the dust suppression as soon as possible after the roads have been graded.
- We have started identifying sidewalk sections requiring remediation, and have put out a request for pricing to local concrete finishers.
- Tree planting, and seeding has started on the storm water outfalls, but is not complete to date.
Utilities:
- Water treatment plant upgrades are continuing on as scheduled; to date many “parts” have been installed within the plant building; piping, transfer pumps, valves, etc… there is still a lot to do before we put these parts into service but it is moving along quite well. The more visible work on the WTP grounds are ongoing also; they have started digging and shoring for the new external valve vault, and have started to backfill the equilization tank for the backwash water.
We are anticipating work to start up along the west section of the walking trail within a few weeks which will include a section of Cross Street between Railway Avenue, and Park Avenue to be closed to traffic for installation of new sewer and water mains.
- The next, and final phase in the Highway utilities rehabilitation project will be starting up within the next few weeks. This phase includes sewer service replacements to all adjoining residences, and commercial buildings which have not been previously upgraded, as well as a new permanent water supply line to the Veterans Memorial Park. Brunners Construction is the contractor performing these services, with local contractors doing site remediation (paving, concrete.)
Environmental Health:
- Groundwater monitoring report has been completed by Tetratech and submitted to the Ministry of Environment as per our Permit to Operate.
- Landfill operations have been going very well, as the weather has gotten more favorable, we have noticed an increase in traffic.
General Public Works
- We have started compost pick up for the year, we would like to remind folks to please keep trees, and garbage separate from grass and leaf piles.
- We are still waiting on Urban Systems to provide training on the GIS mapping unit, but have been able to set some of our base map and features up online.
- Our first scheduled branch pick up will be the week after May long weekend.
