OUTLOOK - The town council of Outlook met for a scheduled meeting on Thursday night, February 10. Present were councillors Justin Turton, Bob Stephenson, Sharon Bruce, Ryan Husband, Kyle McLeod, and Kevin Grotheim, as well as Mayor Maureen Weiterman, Chief Administrative Officer Kevin Trew, and office clerk Crystal Fisher.
The meeting was broadcast on the Town of Outlook's Facebook page.
A number of topics and items were discussed, including the following highlights.
Bylaws
A motion was made and carried to hold the second reading of Bylaw 03(2022) Snow Management Bylaw. There is a change to be made before the bylaw's third reading.
Motions were made and carried to hold the second and third readings of Bylaw 04(2022) Administration Bylaw.
Motions were made and carried to hold the second and third readings of Bylaw 05(2022) Tax Incentives and Penalties Bylaw.
Delegations
Appearing at the meeting was Cst. Jesse Kimball of the Outlook RCMP, who spoke about the Town's intended Bylaw 02(2022) Anti-Bullying and Harassment Bylaw. Cst. Kimball explained that every local school in the district is assigned an RCMP liaison, and she herself serves as the liaison for Dinsmore Composite School. She said that from her perspective, teachers in this area appear to be "at their wit's end" in some cases when it comes to addressing bullying as their control is said to be limited.
Kimball has experience with such a bylaw as it was implemented in Esterhazy, where she was previously stationed, and it was said to have been received well. She feels that a lot of Outlook and area kids feel alone as police rarely if ever receive complaints of bullying and harassment.
"We're here to serve the community, and we want everyone to feel safe in the community," said Kimball.
Such a bylaw would give the RCMP some power in pursuing incidents, it was said. A lot of kids have support systems at home, but there's a percentage who don't and the bylaw would be something that supports them.
Council discussed it and agreed that people needed an avenue to discuss incidents without feeling judgment. Adults today recognize that the advent of social media has somewhat "transformed" bullying, as it doesn't just stop at the end of the day when school wraps up.
The bylaw had its second and third readings and was carried.
Also appearing at the meeting was Connie Achtymichuk of the Outlook Community Garden Committee, who thanked Council for the Town's support of the garden that's currently located on Selkirk Street. She attended the meeting because the committee would like to move the garden, citing a desire and a need for more space in order to expand. Such a move would allow the group to rotate crops better, Connie said.
The committee has explored other possible sites for the garden, which will remain where it is through 2022. They're also looking to plant fruit trees between McKenzie Street and the river for everyone to enjoy, and also looking at other ways to include the community, such as getting schools involved. As for potential future locations of the garden, Achtymichuk said the committee's favored spot is on the piece of land that's located on the south side of the Civic Centre.
Councillor Bruce shared that the garden has become a big hit with the community, with many senior citizens especially loving "when the harvest comes in".
It was said to be a matter of time before the garden's current location is sold as a vacant lot, and Achtymichuk was unsure if the garden had liability insurance, but said they had been applying for funding opportunities.
The large, circular grassed area on Tufts Crescent was also brought up as a potential location by Council.
New Business
Discussing the 2022 SUMA convention (Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association), it was said that two of the councillors and Mayor Weiterman had chosen to attend, as well as Administrator Trew, and a motion was made to approve all who chose to attend, and Councillor Grotheim was added to the list of voting delegates.
Council then discussed their next few meetings, making the decision to move three of them to Tuesday evenings in order to make Wednesdays free due to the Outlook Ice Hawks' game schedule, which includes league playoffs and provincial action. A motion was made and carried to move the next three meetings to February 22, March 8, and March 22.
