Redvers Town Council: Redvers Town Council Fire ban in effect for Redvers

April 12, 2021, 2:59 pm
Spencer Kemp, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

During their regular scheduled Redvers Town Council meeting on Wednesday, council discussed imposing a fire ban for the town of Redvers.

Because of dry conditions, municipalities across Saskatchewan and Manitoba have put fire bans into effect.

With high winds and dry conditions, a small flame can quickly grow out of control if unattended.

Council voted unanimously to impose a fire ban in the town of Redvers. The ban is effective immediately.

Bulbuck resigns as HR chair
Mayor Brad Bulbuck resigned his position as chair of the HR committee.

Bulbuck asked other members of Redvers Town Council if any would like to volunteer to take up the position as chair of the HR committee.

Councillor David Pryde volunteered to take over the position as chair of the HR committee. Councillor Derek Soroka and Councillor Michelle Jensen also volunteered to be members of the HR committee alongside Councillor Ken Thomas.

Bulbuck says he will make sure the new committee members and chair are all properly trained for their new positions.

Council passed a motion to accept the new members of the HR committee as well as accept Bulbuck’s resignation.

The town’s HR committee is an advisory committee to council.

Parking changes on Railway Avenue
Council discussed issues with angled parking on Railway Avenue, at the corner of Railway Avenue and Broadway Avenue south of Reflections.

Larger vehicles that park at an angle on Railway Avenue block the stop sign for and conceal pedestrians as well.

Council proposed to change the parking on Railway Avenue to parallel parking, which would solve the issue of concealing the stop sign and pedestrians.

Because parallel parking taking up additional room, council will allow customers coming to Reflections to park in front of the town office to make up for the lost spots. The owners of Reflections had no objection.

A motion was passed to put signage on the street and change parking on Railway Avenue from angled parking to parallel parking.

New garbage cans for Broadway St.
Council discussed the purchase of new garbage cans for Broadway Avenue.

Council discussed the purchase of six new bins that would be placed on Broadway Avenue and potentially at the ball diamonds as well.

Council also discussed the purchase of two metal benches as well that would aid in council’s efforts to beautify Redvers and prepare it for Communities in Bloom 2022.

Council passed a motion to get a quote on the garbage cans and benches which will be added into the 2021 budget.

Milestone awards for town employees
A new set of milestone awards were discussed for town employees.

As a way to reward loyalty, Redvers Town Council elected to create a milestone system that would reward long-term employees of the town.

Council elected to reward employees with gift certificates to any business in Redvers.

Rewards would start at $150 for five years of service, then $250 for 10 years, $750 for 20 years, $1,000 for 30 years of service, and $1,500 for 35 years of service.

Council passed a motion to implement the milestone awards.

Budget tabled until next meeting
The town is planning to pass its budget at the next council meeting, scheduled for April 21. Mayor Brad Bulbuck says the town was waiting until the provincial budget was passed so that the town knows what it will receive in revenue sharing.

With it being an assessment year, and some properties being assessed higher, and others being assessed lower, if the town keeps the mill rate the same, taxes will go up for some properties and down for others.

The town is going to look at a few different mill rate scenarios in order to try to keep taxes as close to the same as last year as possible.

Assistant CAO Tricia Pickard is going to present council with a few different scenarios to review before passing the budget.

Street sweeper broken
The town’s street sweeper is down and needs repairs. With the repair bill estimated at around $15,000, Redvers Town Council is going to look at a few different options for the sweeper.