OUTLOOK - The town council of Outlook met for a regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday night, April 9. Present were Councillors Kyle McLeod, Donna Smith, Sharon Bruce, Kevin Grotheim and Guy Derdall, as well as Mayor Ryan Husband, CAO Kevin Trew, and Assistant CAO Rachel Sillers. Absent was Councillor Andy Long, who appeared via Zoom.
The meeting was broadcast live on the Town of Outlook Facebook page.
A number of topics and items were discussed, including the following highlights.
Bylaws
Council held the first reading for a new bylaw known as Bylaw 03 (2025) A Bylaw to Form a Joint Health Committee. It was learned that although physician coverage in Outlook is "scarce" in the spring and for the time being, the number of practicing physicians is set to rise by later this summer, hopefully bringing Outlook's doctor availability to the standard numbers seen elsewhere in the province.
Delegations
Appearing at the meeting were members of the SkyTrail Trailblazer Committee, Con Hammer and Susan Robertson.
Con went over some of the findings, and said that the committee would be providing the Town with intended plans to repair the walkway leading to the bridge, with a tally of costs to be finalized in time for the next council meeting. Con also questioned why the operation maintenance is held separately from the other recreation options in the community. Questioned on this, it was discussed and theorized that there's a difference between what the town owns and operates on its own.
Hammer claimed it would cost approximately $7,000 or less to repair the walkway leading to the bridge, and he requested that the Town provide the apparent $8,000 that had been donated in support of the bridge, meaning this particular project would essentially "be of no cost to local taxpayers".
Hammer believes it's high time that the Town push forward on concrete plans to reopen the bridge, based on his findings and numbers.
"We're 11 years late, but better late than never," said Con.
CAO Trew said the Town was prepared to move on making necessary repairs to the bridge, working with the provided budget that they have, but that the plans wouldn't necessarily mean reopening the bridge once those repairs were completed.
Hammer said that the group would present their proposal and numbers at a future council meeting, if not the next one on the schedule. After which, the group would like to see the Town ultimately make a decision on the fate of the bridge.
Public Works Report
Prepared by Luke Lockhart
Transportation:
- With the melting that has taken place already, we have had to jet a few of our storm sewer mains; as well as pump from some of our problematic areas around town. All storm lines are now open and ready for the rest of the melt.
- This week, we will be transitioning our equipment from “winter mode” to “summer mode” removing wing from grader, cleaning out, and taking sander off of 1 ton, etc.
- As the weather permits, we will be active in pot-hole repair, touching up gravel roads, and getting a start on the street sweeping program for the year as well; back alleys tend to take longer to melt off, however if we can get in any to give them an initial scrape, that will be done too.
Utilities:
- Water treatment plant upgrades are more or less complete; we expect to do a walkthrough with the engineers and contractors within a month to go over any final work required, or any remaining deficiencies.
- Throughout the winter months, we were able to get a lot of work done on our mapping program and asset registry; now that the streets are clear, we will be able to collect most of the remaining map features to finish off the maps, and carry on to integrate this with our infrastructure replacement plan.
Environmental Health:
- Landfill operations are going as normal according to our permit to operate; our compactor was down for a short period of time, but were able to carry on with loader and backhoe. Over the next few weeks, we will be dedicating extra staff to reconfigure the South side of the existing cell to accommodate more waste, and to utilize the entire area of the cell. (where the current driving ramp and south of ramp)
General Public Works:
- We will be starting up our regular compost pick up routine over the next few weeks.
- Our first regular scheduled tree branch pickup is the week following May long weekend. (May 20 – 23)
Community Development Report
Prepared by Megan Anthony
Executive Summary
The Community Development Department is continuously growing and evolving, always learning from experiences and feedback. Efforts are focused on refining our approach and enhancing the spaces and services we provide. With each step, we aim to create a more supportive, inclusive environment that reflects the needs and aspirations of the community, fostering greater connection and growth.
Projects and Tasks
• Program/Event Development
- Kinsmen Park planning
- Explore Program planning
- Beautification planning
- Swimming Pool program planning
- Canada Day planning
- SUMA Golf tournament planning
- Continuing with leisure activities throughout spring/summer
• Social Media & Marketing
- FB Page – rebranding
- Did you Know Series going well
- Going to be creating a “Welcome to the Irrigation Capital of SK” video (Dylan, Megan & Whitt)
- Summer Newsletters & Brochures (will be shared with Regional Park booth as well)
• Recreation
- Curling Ice Plant turned off March 31st, 2025 – ice removed by April 1st; pad cleaned by April 3rd.
- Skating Ice Plant turned off April 5th, 2025 – ice removed by April 7th; pad cleaned by April 11th.
- Kitchen closed April 2nd – cleaned and shut down April 3rd. Will have to do one smaller clean after last rec hockey tournament.
- Swimming Pool Cleaning + Prep started April 14th, 2025.
- All hiring completed by April 7th, 2025.
- Pool Staff: 1 manager, 7 instructors, 3 lifeguards, 2 juniors, 1 cashier = 14 staff
- Kinsmen Park: 1 supervisor, 4 program leaders = 5 staff
- Explore Program: 1 supervisor, 1 program leader = 2 staff
