The town council of Outlook met for a regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday night, June 10.聽 Present in the room were councillors Kevin Grotheim, Kyle McLeod, Maureen Applin, Floyd Childerhose, and David Simonson, while Donna Smith was present via teleconference.聽 Also present were Mayor Ross Derdall and Administrator Huguette Lutz.
The meeting was livestreamed on Facebook, and also recorded for later broadcast on Outlook鈥檚 community channel with Access Communications.
A number of topics and items were discussed, including the following highlights.
Communications
Council had no issues with a request from the Outlook Legion Branch #262 to hold a parking lot Bingo event, provided they adhere to distancing guidelines.聽 A motion was made and carried to honor the request.
A letter sent by resident B.J. Williams created some discussion on the water restrictions recently enacted by the Town.聽 Specifically, the letter referred to the 12-hour 7:00-7:00 timeframe span that some residents claim isn鈥檛 suitable for watering.聽 Councillor Childerhose said he believed they weren鈥檛 giving some people enough time to water and that it 鈥渋sn鈥檛 working for people鈥� according to complaints coming into the town office.聽 It was said that perhaps the wording of the restrictions isn鈥檛 clear enough and that the guidelines mainly relate to watering lawns.聽 Councillor Grotheim suggested gathering some concrete water data and statistics from the plant to see the numbers and where there is major usage.聽 Council elected to make clarifications to the restrictions where needed.
Council honored requests from the Walk This Way program and the Kinsmen Club, both related to usage of the Civic Centre.
Reports
Administrator Lutz posed the question to council if they had ever considered implementation of a minimum tax, and explained the difference between a base tax and a minimum tax.聽 After some discussion, it was determined that Lutz will come up with some possible scenarios in regard to such changes to taxation (residential, commercial) which Mayor Derdall said would then require in-camera meetings to ultimately make a decision.
On the topic of Public Works, it was said that the work done on Cameron Avenue looks good and the crews were commended for a job well done.聽 As well, the Free Dump Days have been working out very well, and it may be recommended to take place at the same time every year.
Unfinished Business
The draft of the Town鈥檚 Emergency Response Plan clocks in at just over 250 pages, and it was tabled in order to be looked at in a Protective Services Committee meeting.
As well, discussion on the Mann Street Neighbourhood Concept was tabled to a Planning and Development Committee meeting.
New Business
Two tenders were received for sidewalk work in front of Golden Acres on Selkirk Street.聽 The first tender was from DLN Construction and came in at $14,464.00 + taxes, while the second tender was from Hank鈥檚 Concrete and came in at $12,915.00 + taxes.聽 A motion was made and carried to go with Hank鈥檚 for the work.
Council entered into in-camera discussions, with the following items on the agenda:
- Land
- Legal (Zoning Bylaw Public Meetings)
- Personnel
