The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor City Hall has agreed to release the final bill from a professional development trip that one resident finds disconcerting. This comes at the request of Blair Sapergia, who, while appearing before council last week, reiterated his concerns about a trip to Halifax that involved five council members. Sapergia, a regular at council meetings since mid-March, asked if the overall cost of the early June trip was available. It was not immediately at hand, but Municipal Administrator Mark Kolt said that arrangements could be made to provide the figure. Sapergia, who has been posing a series of questions to council, then faced one of his own from Coun. Bill Hanson. Coun. Hanson asked Sapergia if his wife went on taxpayer-funded trips when she was a trustee with the Flin Flon School Board. Saying that she indeed did, Sapergia added that he is not opposed to all trips "but this one seems a little excessive." Travel The trip saw five of the seven council members travel to Halifax for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities' Annual Conference and Municipal Expo. The Reminder recently requested and obtained costs for the trip, but they were incomplete because not all bills had been turned in. The costs at that time were $8,398, meaning the final tally is likely to surpass $10,000. A $10,000 expenditure would represent 0.09 per cent of the city's $10.74 million in scheduled expenditures this year. Mayor George Fontaine previously defended the trip, saying he suggested as many councillors as possible try to attend a municipal conference early in their terms in order to become better educated. He stressed that council would not attend every municipal conference in such numbers. Highlights Other highlights from the council meeting: Council reviewed a letter requesting funding of $2,500 for the 2011 Culture Days festivities to be held in late September and early October. Organizer Crystal Kolt wrote that the funding would cover the costs of the Flin Flon Fun and Film event to take place at the Hapnot Theatre. Council had no comment on the request, referring it to the Finance Committee for further deliberation. Councillors reviewed a letter encouraging them to "demand more" from CBC for northern Manitoba. Thompson resident Doug MacPherson pointed out that the broadcaster regulator, the CRTC, is seeking input on the proposed renewal of CBC's broadcast license. Council referred the letter, which recently appeared in The Reminder as a letter to the editor, to the Committee of the Whole for further discussion. Council referred to the Finance Committee a request to provide $700 to the Communities Gala to be held Oct. 13 by the Flin Flon and District Chamber of Commerce and Community Futures Greenstone.
