Town of Lumsden Meeting - January 12, 2021
Council for the Town of Lumsden met for their first meeting of the New Year on January 12, 2021, over Zoom.
An Interesting Week for Public Works
Public Works and Utilities Superintendent Jeff Carey provided his report to Council. He described an interesting week with a blocked sewer main on Kelly Avenue caused by debris in a manhole. He said it was fortunate because the sewage built up and ran out the top without causing anyone problems before they caught the block and easily fixed it. Carey also reported that the day of the meeting, there was a large water main break on Kelly Avenue, which had already been repaired. He described the hole as 18 feet deep and was the largest break he had ever seen.
Hall Booking Dominoes
Chris Exner, Community Coordinator, spoke to an issue surrounding hall fees occurring due to COVID-19 regulations. He explained the town has a lot of hall bookings. However, when a booker sees a new date open up, the booker is rescheduling their event in the hopes the COVID-19 regulations may change by the latest date to allow more attendees for their event. He said these changes are causing a domino effect with the other events because they then also do a date change for their event. As a result of these changes, he explained, there is an administration cost and would like to deter it from happening.
Mayor Matheson reminded Council that the town was fortunate to have insurance cover the cost of an event they had double booked in the past. He said he was concerned that this could occur again with these changes as it makes it difficult for staff, and he felt the town should deter the practice.
The town has a cancellation charge, but there is no date change fee. Councillors discussed potential fees of $100-$200. Councillor Rhonda Phillips weighed in on the discussion, saying that these are difficult times where people are trying to make plans, so they book the hall and then when the COVID restrictions change to limit the people, this isn’t the booker’s fault. She suggested the Council be reasonable to assign an admin fee and that it shouldn’t be onerous. Council decided to leave it to Administration to recommend a fee.
Christmas Spirit to Continue
The town’s Christmas lights were due to be taken down the day after the meeting. Mayor Matheson brought forward a request to Council that asked that the Christmas lights be left up to provide a little more brightness to people’s lives. Council was supportive of this as they noted the cost would be nominal to the town, and the benefit of leaving the lights up would outweigh the cost. Council supported a motion to leave the lights up until at least the end of February.
Navy League Cadets Coming to Lumsden
David Stillborn, a Navy League midshipman out of Regina, presented as a delegation to Council to establish a Navy League Cadets program branch to the Lumsden region. He explained that he would like to bring the program that teaches teamwork, citizenship, ropework and maritime knowledge with kids ages nine to eleven.
He explained the first step to establish a branch would be to establish sponsorship with a community group. He explained that sponsorship would be the encouragement to join the community and would not mean financial support as the Navy League conducts its fundraising. He explained the program would be for fifteen 9-11 year-olds. The program would include camping, snowshoeing, and other skills dependent on the instructors’ skill sets. The program would also teach community service and the history of Canada’s military past. Council passed a motion to provide a letter of support.
Council Meetings are open to the public for observation. Due to COVID-19, meetings are being conducted over Zoom. To receive a Zoom invite, you can contact the office. The next meeting is on January 26 @ 6:30 pm.
Jennifer Argue, Civic Reporter, LMT - Local Journalism Initiative reporter
Note: These reports are abridged for content