Highlights from the Dec. 10 regular meeting of Creighton town council:
Council voted to support an application for grant money to fund two infrastructure projects.
The first project would replace a portion of the sewer main and sewer force main between the water treatment plant and the water booster station.
The second project would replace the raw-water supply and return line between the raw-water pumphouse and the water treatment plant. It would also replace a portion of the water main between the water treatment plant and the water booster station.
Though council’s motion made no mention of how much these projects would cost, it hopes to secure funding from the federal government’s $10-billion Provincial-Territorial Infrastructure Component program.
Council authorized SaskWater, the province’s commercial Crown water utility, to prepare the application and administer the projects on behalf of Creighton.
Council voted to provide a $17,077 grant to the Flin Flon Recycling Centre in 2015.
That amounts to $11.40 per resident, the same as in 2014.
The motion came at the request of centre administrator Deb Odegaard, who said that for the second straight year there is no need to raise the grant.
In a letter to council, Odegaard said the centre has experienced a slight drop in cardboard, indicating that household recycling is increasing faster than cardboard.
“This is a recent trend,” she wrote. “We believe this reflects the free curbside recycling services available to your residents since May 1.”
Taxpayer Steven Harrison appealed his tax bill and his continued receipt of water and garbage bills even though his property does not receive those services.
In a letter, Harrison called his $900 bill “unreasonable” and asked council to justify it.
Town administrator Paula Muench said taxes on the property in question – a warehouse – have already been adjusted.
Council referred Harrison’s letter to the committee level for further review.
Council referred to the committee level an invitation to attend an upcoming workshop on regional waste management, garbage transfer stations and landfill information.
The workshop, slated for January in Prince Albert, is being held by the Saskatchewan Environmental Industry and Managers’ Association in partnership with the Saskatchewan Ministry of the Environment.
Ald. Don Aasen said it would be a good idea for someone from council to attend.
A 2009 study co-funded by the province found that a single landfill could service Creighton and its neighbours.
The study recommended a landfill be built about 20 kilometres east of Creighton to service Creighton, Denare Beach, Pelican Narrows, Sandy Bay and Deschambault Lake.
Annual capital and operating costs were estimated at nearly $700,000, a costly amount for small communities, particularly since provincial support for landfills does not include capital expenses.
In response to a request for an additional streetlight at the trailer court, Mayor Bruce Fidler said he wants to take a wait-and-see approach.
Fidler said three lights in the same vicinity are currently inoperable, so concerns around lighting may be resolved once they are working again.
He said he would like to wait for those lights to be fixed before making a decision.
Council reviewed a letter from the Phantom Lake Golf Club’s Jamie Webber, who thanked the town for a $100 donation that allowed the club to recently move several loads of railway ties to the golf course.
The ties will be used to help build up tee boxes, walkways and driving range areas at the nine-hole course, Webber wrote.
Webber wrote that the donation helped pay for the gas needed to haul
the ties.
