The Council for the Town of Churchbridge is looking into repairing the playground structure that was previously located at the Churchbridge Public School. At the moment, a portion of the playground is still usable but another portion will need to be demolished as it will not pass safety standards. A Canadian Playground Standards representative talked to the town regarding the structure after a photo was sent to them for analysis. There are two legs of the playground structure that need to be built. The parts will then have to be load tested or stamped by a certified engineer.
Potash tax revenue sharing – A letter will be brought to SUMA on behalf of the municipal area group that met late in 2019.
On behalf of the municipal area group the following communities express their concern with the decommissioning of Mosaic’s K1 & K2 mines. With K1 & K2 being decommissioned, and with the intention of K3 being the sole reference point for municipal tax revenue sharing calculations, communities surrounding the mines will see a substantial drop in funding. Our communities are proposing that an amendment can be made to combine K1, K2 and K3 to act as one entity. This would lesson the burden of our communities affected by the revenue sharing. We do not believe the mines should be considered decommissioned or separate from K3 as all three mines are linked by a conveyor belt and the mills and K1 and K2 will still be in full production. The salt piles and mills will still remain at the two mine sites and will still be utilized by Mosaic for the purpose of processing potash from K3. Therefore they should be considered as an extension of K3 when determining the central reference point for calculations. As a collective, the group recommended a central reference point, with an equal distance to and from each mine, should be used to determine potash revenue sharing. Councillor Thies mentioned “potash tax revenue sharing is unique in North America. Other places do not have it”.
The Churchbridge town Foreman is away temporarily as of February 6th. Other Public Works staff are in training or are signed up to attend professional development courses to learn skills necessary for the foreman job.
Railway company, CP asked the Town of Churchbridge to do tests and more measurements by hiring a third party to complete them. Measurements and a diagram were sent to CP but they asked for it to be laid out differently.
The town received a grant from SGI for traffic safety. The grant will go toward another speed sign with the location still being determined.
There will be a municipal election later this year. Council discussed if candidates should submit a criminal record check before running for a position, but the idea was decided against.
Council gave a reverse osmosis (RO) pilot update. The pilot will resume January 21st in the water plant. An apparatus must be built and from there the timeline is three months to complete the detailed design, 3-4 weeks for project tendering and 3-4 weeks for the contractor to mobilize to the site and begin construction. The target date is winter or spring of 2021. The town checked with rural farm residents living south of town and residents mentioned they would like higher operating pressures. There will be an increase in pressure on the raw supply line but pressure will be unknown for sure until pilot testing is completed and the water treatment equipment is selected.
Tourist booth modifications – Tara and Jeff Becker were approved to put remaining campground funds toward the tourist booth. The goal is to create a base on the bottom of the gazebo which would allow the structure to move to its new location near the horseshoe pit.
Churchbridge Players drama group is interested in storage. A letter was drafted stating they can place a storage unit on the south side of the town shed if they follow all applicable bylaws in place. The Players are hoping the agreement can last for 10 years and a resolution will be passed by council; the resolution was carried.
Snow removal at the daycare was discussed. It was requested that the party in charge of the snow removal contract could snowblow the school and daycare areas earlier in the mornings. 4am is what the previous policy said so there is a standard set allowing the contractor to begin before 7am. Council discussed safety being a priority and it would be beneficial if the area could be cleared before frequent traffic begins each morning.
The Potashville Music Festival is checking to see if the piano could be tuned before the music festival. The town paid the tuning fee previously and will do so again.
Council discussed reserve account transfers in the meeting. They proposed a portion of the recreation capital be withdrawn from the playground donation and dugout replacements earlier on in the year and added to the reserve, which amounted to $6250. The unused $5000 from culverts and drainage can also be placed into reserve. After expenditures and donations for the cemetery $3667.97 surplus that can also be moved into reserves. $5000 withdraw for hall repairs was discussed previously. $20 000 put aside to create a reserve to dredge a lagoon but it does not have to be done for 2-3 years; this was put in reserves.
An amendment was made to the Open Fire Bylaw . The act originally stated “Fire Prevention Act” but has been renamed to “Fire Safety Act”; motions were passed to have the third reading and pass the motion in order to align with the updated act.
Cemetery bylaw update. Three different bylaws being repealed as a new bylaw consolidates all the amendments into one bylaw. A discussion arose regarding the portion of the bylaw stating “cremated remains on one burial plot. A maximum of one interment of cremated remains per one burial plot”. Councillor Thies asked, “Is this enough, or more than enough? …Why just one?”.
Consolidated of Operation of Vehicles and Parking bylaw. Updated signage with civic addressing were installed around town, but a couple of places were found that should be changed or updated; the motion for updated signage was passed.
The zoning bylaw was amended. Council discussed appropriate setbacks for garages and sheds currently and what the measurements will be in the future. Any structures built before the bylaw amendment will “grandfathered” in if they do not meet the new proposed measurements. The measurement topic was tabled for future discussion.
The Investing in Canada’s infrastructure Program topic had Council discuss two funding streams for infrastructure community investment programs. The town’s landfill decommissioning was approved through this funding stream. No applications will be put in this year as Council mentioned they won’t be able to fund new projects.