Tonight will be the official swearing-in of the newly elected Town Council. Mayor Lance Allen and Councillors Emella Waiser, Dennis Leahy, Tyson Migneault, Bentley Gibson, Dennis Kirk, and Nasser Zanidean will take an Oath of Office. The oath includes agreeing to perform the duties of office, disclosure of conflicts of interest, and agreeing to comply with a code of ethics and rules of conduct.
Two projects that will likely be a focus for Town Council during this four-year term will be dealing with the recommendations from the Gull Lake Water Treatment Feasibility Study and the paving of the Centennial Place Subdivision.
The most important project will be dealing with the elevated levels of Trihalomethanes (THM) in the Towns water supply. Ensuring the safety of the town's water supply will have to be a top priority. The report was clear that a new water plant will have to be built at some point as the current plant is near the end of its useful life expectancy. The town does not have the ability to build a new water plant on its own as the high cost far exceeds the town’s financial capabilities. Obtaining a provincial/federal grant is the only viable option available if the town is to construct a new water plant. In order to be grant ready, council will need to look at increaseing water rates, so we can meet our financial obligation (30% of Cost of Construction) of any future grant we may receive.
When the Centennial Place subdivision was built past councils recommended paving the subdivision through a local improvement once 75 percent of the lots were sold. The subdivision has now reached that threshold, and paving is likely to be considered by the new council at sometime during their term.
When subdivisions are built municipalities typically recover the associated costs through the sale of the lots. In the case of the Centennial Subdivision, the prices of the lots were reduced a number of years ago to stimulate growth in the subdivision. This price reduction meant the cost of paving would have to be recovered through a local improvement.
I still have an active interest in local politics, and look forward to seeing the new council build on the progress of all of the previous councils.
Blake Campbell
Gull Lake Events
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