The town council of Outlook met for a scheduled meeting on Wednesday night, April 12. Present were councillors Donna Smith, Maureen Weiterman, Kyle McLeod, Maureen Applin, and Floyd Childerhose, as well as Mayor Ross Derdall, administrator Trent Michelman, assistant administrator Laurie Lemon, recreation director Jordy Jones, and superintendent Luke Lockhart. Absent was councillor and deputy mayor, David Simonson.
A number of topics were discussed, including the following highlights:
- Delegates from Atana Management gave a presentation to council on a capital asset management plan, which council was enthused about exploring and saw the need for it in the immediate future.
- As well, a delegate from Simply Ag Solutions gave a presentation on recycling grain storage bags and the organization's collection program, which has been growing exponentially in the last few years.
- Former town superintendent Rick Pederson was also a visiting delegate, on hand to go over some of his thoughts on drawings and plans related to the new swimming pool project, as he may serve as a project manager on the pool as a representative for the Town. It was said that the location of the pool site may produce some issues, as the high water table affects the area, and another concern would be the amount of dust coming in from the bus road, meaning it's possible that there would be a constant need for cleaning if that wasn't rectified in some form. Mayor Derdall asked Pederson to go over the pool plans and share his thoughts with council, stating that he felt strongly about having someone familiar with construction as a possible manager of the project for the Town.
- The Rec Report shared that fencing had been put up at the SkyTrail because the mezzanine entrance area was showing further signs of deterioration.
- The Museum was looking for the Town's financial help in hiring a summer student, seeing the need for someone to be present at the location because of the anticipated volume of visitors in Outlook this summer due to it being Canada's 150th. Council agreed that the move would be beneficial, and a motion was carried to provide the Museum with $3,000 to help cover the cost of wages.
- Administrator Michelman said he met with Dr. Carmen Millham of the Outlook Veterinary Clinic to further discuss what options are available in regards to the stray cat program in town, with a positive outcome being the hope in the immediate future.
- The Superintendent Report shared that all has been done to bring the town street sweeper up to par, with Lockhart hopeful that it can pull off an entire sweep of the town before likely repairs are needed on the ailing machine again.
- A motion was carried to replace a number of hydrants in town.
- On the topic of providing funding to the Outlook Regional Park, a discussion was had on exactly how much to provide, seeing how the swimming pool is no longer a working attraction. Council was curious about the park's overall budget, and wanted to know what precisely their provided funding - typically around $14,000 - would be used for. A motion was carried to give the park the funding.
- Councillor Applin informed council that she recently had a meeting on a Canada Day float, and was looking at incorporating a number of flags on it to show how multi-cultural Outlook has become in recent years. A motion was carried to give Applin $2500 to assist with the float for the Canada 150 parade.
- An invoice for fire services of over $19,000 to the Martens family of the Outlook area was reduced in a show of compassion due to the tragic circumstances surrounding the fire, which claimed the life of Gordon Martens. With the reductions, the bill was sliced almost in half to just over $10,000.
- A motion was carried to draft a letter to companies asking for funding for the proposed new fire hall in Outlook, to be looked at as something of an investment on the part of possible donors, such as the hall providing bays for any company's emergency equipment.
- A motion was carried to register the Town of Outlook's logo to prevent its unsolicited personal usage.
