During the Beiseker council meeting on May 11, Mayor Ray Courtman motioned that the Village reduce councillor fees for in-town committee meetings.
Presently, a councillor who attends a half-day in-town committee meeting (roughly three hours) receives $100, while for a full day meeting (about six hours), a councillor is paid $200. Courtman motioned to drop these fees by 25 per cent to $75 and $150 respectively.
“I hoped that we could reduce our council fees to show the people that we are trying to lower expenses,” Courtman said. “That we are operating in good faith.
“I believe that we should be doing our part.
Courtman’s motion was defeated by a 3-2 vote.
“Unfortunately that motion never passed,” said Courtman. “I regard this position as a volunteer position anyways.
“I don’t do (this job) because I want to get paid, I do it because I enjoy doing it and think I’m helping out the village.”
Courtman explained he and one other councillor would not claim as much as the council is allowed to for an in-town meeting.
In-town committee meetings include any of the village committees that councillors are part of that represent the Village council, such as the library or recreation boards.
Council approves bylaw
Beiseker council also unanimously passed its mill rate bylaw for 2015.
Mill rates for residential homes will see a decrease of 0.28 from 12.03 in 2014 to 11.75 this year. Non-residential buildings will see an increase this year of 0.23 from 13.20 in 2014 to 13.42 in 2015.
Council did all three readings required in council during the meeting on May 11. All three of the readings and the vote required to have a third reading during its meeting were passed unanimously by council.
Utilities on the rise
Beiseker council carried a motion by Deputy Mayor Al Henuset that will see an increase in utility rates of $4 per bi-monthly billing cycles.
According to Henuset, the cost of garbage collection will rise from $22 to $23, recycling pickup will go up to $8 from $6 and sewage cleanup will raise $1 from $28 to $29, which leads to a grand total of $60 from $56 every two months.
“I’m a believer in user pays,” said Henuset. “We haven’t put the rates up for the past couple of years.”
The motion was carried by a 3-2 vote, with Councillors Warren Wise and Karen Ursu in opposition to the motion.
