KIPLING — An amended quote for the proposed ball diamond shelter was received and passed by Kipling town council during their June 10 regular meeting.
While the money was raised through the annual Bobby Vargo Memorial Slo-Pitch tournament and a generous donation from Kingston Midstream, the Town of Kipling owns the land. As such, the quote would need to pass by council before any work is approved.
“With that donation, they have accumulated enough funds to put up a shelter,” Administrator Andrew Rygh explained.
Previously, a large tent was used for a beverage area, but the desire for a permanent structure prompted the direction of fundraising efforts.
“The last two tournaments, our group was able to put away $80,000, and then Kingston Midstream this spring donated $45,000 to this building,” explained Glen Vargo, father of the late Bobby Vargo and a driving force behind the memorial tournament. “That is what has enabled us to be able to build it.”
The amendment occurred due to the size of the proposed shelter being reduced, now coming in at $123,543.
“We will be using it for the tournament this year,” Vargo said of the shelter. “I don’t know if it’s going to be quite finished, but it’s definitely going to be able to be used.”
He added that one big feature of the shelter will be a cooler room that will keep beverages cold.
“This building is owned by the Town of Kipling,” Vargo went on to explain. “We just raised the money to build it. So the town would be able to use it for any function that anybody wants to use it for. That’s what it’s there for.”
Fly-in fundraiser date change
From her report, Mayor Pat Jackson noted a date change in the date the Estevan Flying School will be coming to Kipling. Initially set for July 6, the fundraiser introducing people to flying will be now held July 13.
“Since they’re doing it to raise money for our airport we should have some council representation,” Jackson said, noting that she will be regrettably unavailable for the event.
The fundraising barbecue has a special component for the Kipling Airport, Rygh told the World-Spectator.
“There is a project that we have lined up to resurface the airstrip at the airport,” he said, adding that organizers are still accepting food donations for the fundraiser.
Admission to the event is $10 for adults, kids 12 and under free, with “Sunrise Aviation offering introductory flights for aspiring pilots.”
“It should be a lot of fun, so hopefully we get a lot of people out there,” said Rygh.
Motions
A motion was made designating Mayor Pat Jackson, deputy mayor Colby Sproat, acting Administrator Andrew Rygh, and associate administrator Christina Weeding on all banking accounts, authorizing those positions to sign agreements once approved by council.
Rygh was further officially authorized as a purchaser on town accounts, and designated as Kipling’s SaskAlert administrator.
Trees to be assessed
The town is hoping to save five spruce trees near the pool, which the town plans to have assessed. Council approved Living Tree Environmental’s quote of $710 to take a look at the trees in question, then present their findings for consideration.
“It’s a precautionary measure to have the inspection done to determine if and what type of remediation is required to make sure we don’t lose those spruce trees,” Rygh said.
The extremely dry summer of 2021 may have impacted the trees, and the inspection will determine whether they are worth saving, or ought to be removed for safety concerns.
“We want to make sure that we don’t lose them,” Rygh said. “There’s 25 in total, and because they provide a windbreak on the west side of the town pool, they’re important to us. That’s why we want to make sure that we look after them.”
Sewage lift station contract approved
Presented with four options from Municipal Utilities, Council decided to enter into a three-year contract allowing for assessment, service work, and cleaning at the sewage lift station.
The first option included assessment and cleaning for one year at $14,050, while the second option locked in a contract for the same rate
“If we accept the three-year contract, the price is a bit higher than it was before,” noted Jackson of the estimated $2,000 cost increase.
The other two options were for assessment only at one year and a three-year contract coming in at $9,900.
Councillor Devin Draper wanted to ensure the contract would include any additional costs, pointing to fuel surcharges as an example. This has been an issue in the past where fuel surcharges have popped up as an additional cost during a contract.
“Seems like this recommendation is pretty solid, based on what he provided,” remarked Sproat.
Town to purchase
water plant compressors
A motion to purchase two compressors for the Town’s water plant was discussed after receiving pricing information from Atlas Copco. After years of service, the town is down to one compressor without a backup system should the operational one also go down.
“There is one that’s failed,” Rygh told council. “You need these compressors—if the compressors fail completely, the water plant’s shut down. Right now, we’re working on one compressor, the second compressor died, the motor’s seized.”
Rygh’s recommendation was to purchase two compressors, giving the ability to transfer between both in the event one would fail.
“With the purchase, you get a one-year warranty, so the need for that service plan doesn’t exist anymore for that one year,” he said.
The current compressors at the water plant are two years past their rated life expectancy, and deputy mayor Sproat made a motion to purchase the new units, which was approved unanimously by council.
Addition to billboard fee schedule
Council approved an update to the portable billboard fee schedule after being approached about future signage coming next month.
“We were approached by SaskTel with InfiNet coming to town, they wanted to put up a portable billboard,” Rygh explained. “They’ll move it in, they just asked us for a spot and if we had a fee that we charged.”
Typically, signage such as the 5x10’ item proposed by SaskTel is charged $100 per month, but staff noticed this was not officially on the fee schedule posted in Town Office.
“All this motion is looking to do is to add that to this schedule,” Rygh said.
Council approved the addition, with anything 10x5’ or smaller being charged $100 per month. Fees for larger advertising would be considered on a case-by case basis.
