Water quality was one of a long list of items highlighting the June 11 council meeting at North Battleford City Hall.
The 2011 Water Quality Report shows the City of North Battleford water treatment plants provided potable water that met or exceeded all guidelines set out by Saskatchewan Environment.
When asked by Mayor Ian Hamilton to give a summary on the report’s findings, director of public works and engineering Stewart Schafer simply said “our water quality is good.”
In other business, no one appeared before council to oppose the closing of a public walkway between 2109 and 2111 101st Cres. A resident had asked to purchase the walkway which is adjacent to their property. Administration will now prepare the bylaw to permanently close the walkway, subject to the applicant agreeing to purchase it for $15,000.
Delegations that attended Monday’s meeting included the Battlefords Boys and Girls Club. Executive Director Sheri Woolridge updated council on the club’s programming and future plans, including their need for a new building to serve their growing client base.
Ryan Bater, Battlefords Tourism Development manager, presented the organization’s marketing 2010-11 marketing report. That presentation included numbers on information requests, website hits and visitor guide reach.
During the announcements and inquiries portion of the meeting, Coun. Grace Lang gave councillors an update on the ridership at North Battleford Public Transit now that the new routes were up and running. She reported that they had 733 riders throughout the month of May, or approximately 32 riders a day.
She noted ridership is on the rise, as April showed 625 riders or 26 riders a day.
“I think the ridership is going up, people are figuring out how it works,” said Lang of the changes at public transit.
Councillor Brad Pattinson inquired whether the parking restrictions to allow the street sweeping on the 1000 block of 106th Street, near Battlefords Union Hospital, could be changed from the afternoon to the morning on Wednesdays, to accommodate those visiting during visiting hours at the hospital. Director of Public Works Stewart Schafer said his department will look into it.
Councillor Ray Fox highlighted National Aboriginal Day celebrations June 21, with the wide variety of activities taking place in Central Park near the North Battleford Public Library.
City Manager Jim Toye recognized Fox for his appearance at the recent CAMA conference they both attended in May.
Coun. Ron Crush was among the councillors who attended the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Conference in Saskatoon recently. He called it “invigorating” and pointed to the infrastructure themes, relationships with upper levels of government and the workshops with respect to urban reserves as highlights.
Mayor Hamilton proclaimed June 24 to 30 as Multicultural Week in the city of North Battleford.
The next meeting of city council is Monday, June 25 at 8 p.m.
