Town of Lumsden Meeting Highlights - Dec 15 2020
Lumsden Town Council - Verne Barber, Jenelle Brennan, Ashlee Longmoore, Rhonda Phillips, Jim Rawlings, Bryan Matheson, Byron Tumbach
Covid at Lumsden High school
Councillor Verne Barber, who is also a Prairie Valley School Division (PVSD) Board member, provided the latest Lumsden High school COVID information to Council. At the time of the meeting, he reported there hadn’t been another COVID positive case since December 3, adding the final tally was 15 students, two staff members and one bus driver. Barber reported the high school is on remote learning until January 4. He said there was a lot of debate, and he received a lot of phone calls from parents asking why Regina was going on remote learning the week prior and the week after, but they weren’t. Barber noted the numbers for their school division, which includes 39 schools in the division, didn’t warrant it. He said that aside from Lumsden and Southey, the numbers are relatively low. In comparison to the Regina School division, which has 59 schools, 41 of those schools have had at least one case.
He added that in Regina, substitute teachers had notified the school division they weren’t willing to go to work as they didn’t want to risk a 14-day quarantine over Christmas. Because of this, the school board felt they had no option but to go to remote learning. Barber reported the Regina School Division extended Regina’s remote learning one week past Christmas. The extension is because they are very concerned with the lack of compliance over the Christmas holidays and the potential number of cases they may face if they were to return in the first week.
He noted that PVSD had that discussion as well. However, they have decided to rely on students and teachers to do the right thing and hoped that they wouldn’t have more positive cases coming back out of the break.
He added that he was so pleased that they didn’t have a single case out of Lumsden Elementary, mostly because it’s the second-largest school in the division. He said it was a real pat on the back to the parents, teachers, and others involved there that they could get through it.
Safe Restart
There was discussion around allocating money received for the Safe Restart Program, a federal assistance program administered by the Province.
As a result of COVID-19, many community groups suffered a shortfall in revenues in 2020 and requested funding from Council. The Mayor said that he was of the opinion that the Town did not need to give money to River Park because they had a smaller year. He informed the Council that River Park had never made money until the Town invested in the building and improved the camping area. The Mayor said, as a result, the park began to generate profit, and it was decided to put the profit into a reserve fund, which the park would use for improvements. He said the intention was never to ensure the reserve had a minimum amount of money in it. Several councillors agreed.
Council also discussed the shortfall at the Hall and how and when it would be best to bring it to the breakeven point.
The Town received a total of 108,809 in safe restart funding from the federal government. The money so far has been allocated 20k to the rink, 7,300 in extra costs. Council decided to transfer the remaining funds into a reserve until they see what bills will need paying in the coming months.
Joint Administration Committee
Councillor Barber reported on the joint administration committee meeting on December 9 between the Town and RM. The meeting was the first the group has had in a year, and the committee committed to meet more frequently.
The committee completed an inter-municipal grant review. The RM makes grants by way of contributions to the Town to use the Town’s infrastructure such as landfill, recycling, a capital fund for the rink, library, and fire department. Several programs are cost-shared between the municipalities. Councillor Barber said there was a good discussion around recycling and the recycling fees. He noted the Reeve appeared somewhat annoyed that Deer Valley had gone to curbside pickup for their recycling as there would not be as much revenue generated because there wouldn’t be as many homes contributing. This item was the only area where there was a slight change from the review. Town Council made a motion they review the inter-municipal grants.
The committee also recommended the adoption of the fire department five-year plan and that both municipalities set aside funding for upgrading the telephone system in 2021.
He reported the most productive conversation with the RM was around the possibilities of purchasing new land for the construction of a new municipal building. He noted the RM partners were very excited at the prospect of sharing the costs of buying land. He felt they could be counted on the RM to be partners on purchasing a property. Council agreed that if the budget permits, to budget 100,000, when the time came, they would have funds available to buy land.
Municipal Office Closed
Like many workplaces having to make alternate working arrangements during COVID, the Municipal office has been closed to the public. Four staff remain at the office, coordinating work for those working from home. Staff remain available via telephone and email. There is also a mail slot for bill payment.
Lighting
The CAO received information from SaskPower and the costs to put lights in at Fawn Ridge. There has been an ongoing discussion at council meetings related to lighting, including lighting at Fawn Ridge. Councillor Phillips noted that infrastructure such as lighting is the developer’s responsibility and that if the purchasers are not paying for lighting and the Town decides to put in lighting, they are assuming that cost. She added that the Town currently pays $28,000 per year for street lights and with the carbon tax increase, the cost will only increase. She noted there are other areas in Lumsden where they didn’t put in lights.
Councillor Rawlings added there is another dark area from James Street to Schandre Estates. He noted that if the Town initially forgot to put lights in, it is their responsibility to put in some form of lighting, as it is too dark and a safety hazard. The Mayor said he wants to consult with residents.
Council meetings are open to the public for observation. The next meeting of the Council is January 12, 2021, at 6:30 pm. Due to COVID-19, contact the municipal office in advance to find out how to view the proceedings.
Jennifer Argue, Civic Reporter, LMT - Local Journalism Initiative reporter
Note: These reports are abridged for content