KAMSACK — Kamsack council is changing its animal control bylaw so that it is less breed-specific.
Before, the bylaw banned pit bull terriers, American pit bull terriers, pit bulls, or any other dog that is a mixture of one of those breeds. Mayor Nancy Brunt told the Kamsack Times Jan. 26 the bylaw has been updated to ban aggressive animals in general rather than specific breeds.
“That is to eliminate the ‘breed-specific’ in there and, change it to an aggressive animal,” she said. “Any animal can be aggressive. It is not very specific. A pit bull can be the most loving dog around and a Chihuahua can chew your ankle off. So regarding it being specific, most municipalities have changed that.”
There was also a delegation to council expressing concerns about the vet clinic, prompting discussions about its relocation within the town.
Crowstand assessment
A noteworthy point was the decision to hire Alton Tangedal from Alton Tangedal Architect Ltd. to assess the Crowstand Center building's condition. The purpose is to determine whether it requires demolition and, if so, what salvageable components could be repurposed or recycled. The mayor emphasized the need to wait for Alton's report before establishing the Crowstand’s status.
“So it's up in the air. It's not what people keep saying, ‘Is it condemned?’ No. It is not condemned, we have to have it figured out, it is close to having a study done, which is the responsible thing to do.”
Resignation
Lyle Romaniuk resigned from the council and due to this, concerns were raised regarding having a byelection.
“Because it is within one year of an election we do not have to hold a byelection,” she said. The next municipal election is scheduled for Nov. 13. “We're not doing a byelection. And we are perfectly legal to run with five councillors instead of six.”
Union contact and Facebook
Mayor Brunt touched upon a policy change to the Facebook page commenting policy and the implementation of an anti-violence policy following discussions on union matters. The council signed a three-year union contract, effective Jan. 1. Regarding Facebook, Mayor Brunt said, “Due to the Town of Kamsack (Facebook) page being an informational page and not meant to be a debating forum, comments will be turned off. They can share our page and if I share it, people comment on it on my page. I deal with it in that circumstance. So this way it keeps it civil.”
Council chamber lighting
Other topics covered in the meeting ranged from council remuneration to office lighting upgrades. The council considered the replacement of fluorescent lights with more energy-efficient LEDs to address reported health concerns.
Mayor Brunt went into the change in further detail.
“You will notice that we have an issue with office lights in here [the council chamber] and all the other offices. These fluorescent light bulbs are causing health issues with people. They hum and they flicker. Which, if you've ever sitting in this chamber. you’ll see how different they all are. But at the end of a council meeting, everybody leaves with a headache and our staff are getting headaches, so it's a health reason so we're replacing old lights. We're replacing them with LEDs, which are much more energy-efficient, so we will recoup our expenses very quickly already. This is a benefit to staff and the taxpayers.”
Mayor Brunt finished by saying, “We're very happy we've got all our new staff in place. Now everything is working very well.”
