On the eve of a civic election, the 2012-2016 edition of Creighton town council met for the final time Tuesday.
Two sitting aldermen, Don Aasen and Lorene Bonnett, attended their final meeting before leaving council.
The mood was relaxed at the meeting, which was moved from the normal Wednesday slot so as not to conflict with the election.
Bowls of candy were passed around the table, and jokes were exchanged, but the election could not be ignored. A polling station was set up in the council chambers ahead of Wednesday’s vote.
After the meeting concluded, Mayor Bruce Fidler thanked Aasen and Bonnett for their work.
Each received a hug and a handshake from the mayor. The usually stoic Fidler got emotional when discussing the contributions the two made to council.
SaskTel upgrades
Council received correspondence from SaskTel president Ron Styles regarding the recent upgrade to Creighton’s internet service.
The upgrades are the result of a $30-million rebuild of the company’s northern backhaul network and a $10-million upgrade to its northeastern microwave radio system.
Council had received a letter in September detailing both projects.
“I informed you that, pending internal testing, we would roll out a free speed upgrade to SaskTel Internet customers in Creighton,” wrote Styles in the latest letter. “I am happy to confirm that our testing went well and we were able to increase Internet speeds within the timing we expected.”
Other areas in northeastern Saskatchewan will soon receive upgrades.
“We expect to rollout improved service to Sandy Bay, Pelican Narrows and Deschambault Lake in the first quarter of 2017,” wrote Styles.
Creighton’s download speeds have been boosted to 5 Mbps as part of the upgrade. While this is more than triple the speed of Creighton’s previous service, it is still well below Canada’s average speed, listed by internet testing firm Ookla as 23.4 Mbps.
“The few that I’ve heard from, they’ve noticed a big improvement in it,” said Fidler of the upgraded service.
Traffic offences
Reckless motorists driving in Creighton may soon face stiffer penalties.
Amendments to the town’s traffic bylaws passed first reading at Tuesday’s meeting, and will be discussed further at future date.
If the amendments are passed, 10 traffic offences will see fine increases.
Power turn fines would increase from $125 to $250 per offence. Stop street, stopping, yield sign, four-way stop and three-way stop offences will double, each going from $100 to $200 per offence.
Road closed and vehicle on municipal reserve violations would rise from $125 to $150, and covering loads and spilled materials offences would be $100, up
from $60.
Penalties for several other offences, such as u-turns, illegal parking, bike, skateboard, scooter and rollerblade offences and truck weight restriction violations would remain the same.
Housing nominee
Another board vacancy is opening up on the Northeast Regional Housing Authority.
The term of one board member, Luke Groenen, will expire on Nov. 1. Council is now looking for a replacement.
It’s the second time in three months council has needed to find a volunteer to fill a void on the board. Tracy Koivisto was nominated by council in August to fill one another vacancy.
“They want us to be thinking about another one,” said Fidler. “We just got that, so we’ll start having discussions and trying to round somebody up.”
In addition, another vacancy may be popping up in the next few months. The position currently filled by Colleen Stallard is scheduled to expire on Feb. 8, 2017.
Board members serve three-year terms. Creighton residents Stallard, Koivisto, Tamara Ballentyne and Valery Dixon currently serve on the board, along with Sandy Bay’s Kevin Morin and Eileen Blake of Denare Beach.
Miscellaneous
Council voted to donate $100 to nationwide charity Kids Help Phone. Council donated a similar amount to the service
last year.
Minutes were released from the Creighton Recreation and Parks Board meeting held
Oct. 18. Resurfacing work has been done on the Lions Spray Pool in Creighton, and the board purchased a gas trimmer, riding mower and bagger.
A motion to ban use of the Creighton football field in adverse weather was discussed.
Rec and Parks will also be flooding bunks in Creighton later this winter.
