At their regular meeting last week, Rocanville town council sat down with Trevor Bearance to talk about creating an emergency plan for the town in the event of a disaster.
Bearance has been named the EMO co-ordinator for the town and is responsible for creating an emergency plan.
“I appreciate you trusting me with this, I have some experience with such things when it comes to disaster planning and training,” Bearance said.
Bearance says that most of his experience with emergency planning comes from planning for schools.
The RM of Rocanville has provided the town with an emergency plan model.
“You never want to use it, but when you have to use it you want to avoid all the trouble you can,” said Bearance.
Bearance asked the council what disasters they thought could impact Rocanville. Council says that flooding is one of their largest concerns after heavy rainfall impacted the town in 2014.
Fires were another concern brought up by the council. With high winds, the councillors noted how quickly a grass fire can spread. Tornados were also brought up as a factor of concern.
Bearance said he wanted to ensure council was included in the planning process and council decided to have Bearance create a plan and return to them with a rough draft when completed.
Rocanville pool ready to open
The Rocanville indoor pool has been given the okay to open by the health inspector.
The pool will be open to the public in April following Covid-19 guidelines.
Council discussed the purchase of a new air exchange system for the indoor pool, noting that the current one no longer does its job properly.
Rocanville’s rec director noted they received quotes for a new air exchange system from two different companies, and council discussed the quotes and what kind of air exchange system the pool would need the most.
Concerns were also raised by the rec director in regards to the rafters of the pool, noting that there may be damage to them due to the humidity that has built up with the lack of air exchange.
Council says they will be sending someone to inspect them.
There were also concerns around the foundation of the indoor pool and a potential void beneath it.
An inspection was conducted on the foundation and it was found to be in working order, but council decided an inspection will need to be conducted to see if there is a void beneath the pool.
The pool is also waiting on parts to install a water meter.
The town has applied for the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) in hopes of being approved for a grant through the program to use toward the pool. ICIP will provide more than $896 million in federal funding for all types of Saskatchewan infrastructure projects over 10 years until 2028.
If approved, the federal government covers 40 per cent of the cost of projects, and the provincial government covers up to 33.33 per cent of the cost of projects.
Council pays for car damages
Following an incident earlier this month where one of the town-operated bobcat units struck a vehicle while clearing snow, the Town of Rocanville has decided to pay for the damages.
A complaint was lodged at the meeting last week about the damages by the owner whose vehicle was struck.
Council decided to pay the $1,800 in damages to the owner.
Town to inspect drainage at trailer park
A complaint received about snow removal led to a discussion about drainage in the trailer park.
An individual lodged a complaint about a pile of snow not being removed from the trailer court, noting that when the snow melts it become a problem for the area, which led to a discussion about a recurring issue of drainage from that part of the trailer court.
Town council discussed different ideas on how to provide drainage to the area, noting that it could be a difficult task as the trailer court is low.
Council elected to send the town foreman to the trailer court to assess any potential solutions to the drainage issue.
Town considers purchase of half-ton
Rocanville Town Council discussed issues with their current half-ton truck, regarding the town foreman’s reports that the truck was not running.
Council decided to take the truck to a mechanic to see if the issue can be resolved before replacing it.
Council will be considering the purchase of a second-hand vehicle if the current vehicle is too costly to fix or cannot be repaired.
New council briefed on taxes
Members of Rocanville Town Council were briefed on how property taxes within the town worked, as many of the councillors are new to council as of the last municipal election.
Due to a high minimum tax in Rocanville, nearly all properties within the community—residential and commercial—pay a flat tax of $1,700 in property taxes per year.
With the budget to be discussed before the next scheduled council meeting, members of council will need to decide to keep the current tax structure or change it.
Council leaned heavily in favour of keeping a flat tax in town.
