Flin Flon City Council chambers were brightened on Tuesday, Jan. 19 when two youngsters, Sam and Rebecca Moore, attended the Flin Flon city council meeting.
The children’s father, John Moore, said the kids were curious about what happened at a council meeting, so he brought them to watch the proceedings.
Mayor Cal Huntley welcomed the family with enthusiasm. “I’m pumped that we’ve got some young people who are interested,” he said. “You guys are the future of running this place.”
Sam piped in with a few thoughts of his own, noting that he hoped to run for mayor one day, and asking about the role of council. When Coun. Karen MacKinnon asked him to identify his favourite thing about Flin Flon, Sam said, “That there are no wars here.”
Chief Administrative Officer Mark Kolt suggested that any youth interested in politics should consider taking part in the Youth Parliament of Manitoba, a mock parliament held each December in the Manitoba legislature. Kolt’s son, Brandon, has participated in the program twice.
Trout Festival
Huntley, along with Mackinnon and Coun. Ken Pawlachuk, attended the Trout Festival annual general meeting on Thursday, Jan. 14 at Kin Hall.
Huntley noted that the previous year’s executive would be staying in place “for the most part.”
Huntley also confirmed that a City of Flin Flon staff member would be taking over the accounts payable and bookkeeping tasks for the Trout Festival, as requested by the festival committee, following an audit of last year’s records.
In previous years, the festival’s accounting has been managed by a committee treasurer, but the committee is currently lacking a volunteer for that position. Banach and other committee members also noted that the liability and responsibility of keeping the festival’s books was too much for volunteers to shoulder.
“It was a well-attended meeting,” Huntley said of the AGM. “I think you’ll be hearing some good things from them,”
Snow clearing
Council was asked if there was any follow-up with regard to snow removal concerns that were raised by three residents at the Jan. 5 council meeting.
Snow crews plowing snow into driveways and possible inefficiencies were key issues raised.
“We are reviewing our internal processes to make sure that we do it as effectively as we can,” said Huntley.
He added that he was passing along the concerns council had received, and continues to receive, though some complaints cannot be fully addressed.
“We are never going to change people’s driveways being blocked by the sand truck when they are opening up the main arteries. That piece of equipment doesn’t have the ability to do anything but that, so it’s annoying,” Huntley said.
He added that when possible, the grater could be used to mitigate the problem of blocked driveways.
“It’ll never be perfect, but we are going to do the best we can possibly do with the resources we have,” he said.
Contributions
Council carried a motion to fulfill a request from Manitoba Crime Stoppers to make a donation of $0.10 per person residing in Flin Flon to defray the costs of the organization’s website and administrative expenses.
Council also agreed to donate $700 to Flin Flon and District Chamber of Commerce to help support the Communities Gala 2015, which was held October 15, 2015.
Council will renew its membership in the Flin Flon and District Chamber of Commerce for 2016, at a cost of $350.
