The Town of Castor’s water system continues to make gains, council heard during the Sept. 12 meeting.
As of July 31, losses for the Town of Castor water system sat at nine per cent, the lowest level since 2010.
According to chief administrative officer Christopher Robblee, 2010 is as far back as the surplus/loss records go; those amounts weren’t tracked prior to that.
Still, it is good news for the town.
On the gas side of utilities, things remain positive as well.
Since changing to the new calculator the surplus on the gas system has remained consistently around three per cent, a number which won’t be as likely to have the municipality flagged for audit.
Unfortunately, that is where the good news ends with the utilities. According to Robblee during his report, one of the town’s water pumps failed a few weeks ago and needed repair, and a sewage pump has failed that is un-repairable.
“We’re looking for a replacement somewhere,” said Robblee.
The water pump repair, which was electrical in nature, has since been fixed.
Physician
One of Castor’s three physicians, who comes in from out of town, has basically been in limbo since the town lost the use of the locum house earlier this summer.
“(The physician) has no place to stay,” said Mayor Richard Elhard.
“He’s basically homeless in Castor right now.”
According to Elhard, the physician has been sleeping in empty patient rooms at Castor’s Our Lady of the Rosary Hospital of late, but that the situation is not sustainable.
Physician recruitment requested the Town of Castor pay $300 to $500 a month to fund the physician a rental accommodation in the community. According to Elhard, the County of Paintearth has been approached and is on board as well.
Elhard also noted that the accommodation could, if needed, possibly be used by locum’s as well.
CCTIF approval
The Town of Castor has presented a grant to the Battle River Economic Opportunities Committee (BREOC) under the Climate Change Innovation and Technology Framework (CCTIF).
The grant would allow for funding of work at both the Lion’s and Golf Course campgrounds. In order for the town to access the grant, they need to have the money to pay for the work before hand then have all the funds reimbursed.
According to Robblee, the grant has been tentatively approved, but before any more forward motion can be done on the project the town must supply proof of funding.
“This will come back to you,” said Robblee.
Coun. Don Sisson motioned to provide proof of financing for the campground work.
Vaccine Policy
Town council has reversed its contentious vaccine policy.
The policy was brought in during the pandemic and required all staff and contractors working for the town to have proof of Covid-19 vaccination.
Originally slated to be discussed in open session, council moved the discussion into a closed meeting citing privacy concerns.
After council returned to the open meeting a vote was called on whether or not to keep or scrap the policy.
According to Elhard, the vote was as “close as you can get.”
Council narrowly voted to scrap the vaccine policy in a vote of four to three.