Thompson city council managed to squeeze a few notable resolutions into another short meeting March 4.
After approving a general 1.9 per cent increase to their fees and fines schedule on Dec. 10 of last year, council still needed to amend parts of this document on Monday to accommodate changes in fees for a couple of services.
They voted to change the maximum prize for a $6 lottery licence from $500 to $600 for the sake of consistency. Previously, a lottery licence for a contest with a prize of $500 or less was $6 and for those above that threshold it was one per cent of the prize value. Under that arrangement, a licence for a lottery with a prize of $501 to $599 would have had a cheaper licence fee than one that was $500 or less. Lottery licence fees for contests with prizes of $600 or greater remain at one per cent of the prize value
Council also approved increasing Thompson Fire & Emergency Services (TFES) rates for the first hour of pumper truck, rescue vehicle and extrication services from $822 to $856 for basic calls and from $1,095 to $1,142 for complex calls.
Director of fire and public safety Mike Bourgon said that these increases are in line with Manitoba Public Insurance rate hikes effective March 1, and council passed this resolution unanimously.
Council also approved covering expenses for Mayor Colleen Smook’s upcoming speaking engagement at the Keewatin Tribal Council (KTC) executive meeting in Winnipeg March 20.
Smook will already be attending several Association of Manitoba Municipalities events in Winnipeg March 18-19, so this additional day out of town will only cost the city an extra $387.72.
Coun. Earl Colbourne said that this spending is consistent with the city’s past efforts to develop good relationships with surrounding northern communities.
“I support this kind of stuff, because the Keewatin Tribal Council is a very big part of our city and if they want to invest in our city I think we should support them and attend their meetings,” he said. “Because we need all the investment into our city that we can get.”
Council passed this resolution unanimously. Coun. Jeff Fountain and Brian Lundmark were not present at Monday’s meeting.
Following the March 11 byelection, Thompson’s next council meeting is March 18 at 7 p.m.
