Meeting cancelled
The June 10 committee-of-the-whole meeting is cancelled, so council can interview candidates for the chief administrative officer position.
The competition closed in April with 79 applicants submitting their resumes for consideration.
That’s 34 more applicants than in 2011, when Peter Waterworth applied and accepted the position.
Waterworth announced his resignation in February—two years after he joined the municipality.
In light of his decision, the municipality earmarked $30,000 in the 2014 operating budget for the recruitment of a new CAO.
Waterworth will remain in his position until August.
Rough winter for new trees
The 104 Douglas fir trees that were planted along the rail line last spring are experiencing stress from a long, dry winter.
Coun. Dwain Wacko expressed his concern for the trees at the May 13 committee-of-the-whole meeting, and requested an update on the trees from the municipality’s operations director.
“There are a lot of those types of plants experiencing stress this year,” explained Bruce Thompson, at the May 20 meeting. “The planting process was done correctly, given the soil conditions we have here and we believe [the stress is from] a very dry, frozen winter.”
The new fir trees were planted as part of CN EcoConnexions’ From the Ground Up program. Jasper was one of 25 communities to receive a $25,000 matching grant to green an area along CN’s rail line.
The trees were planted in May 2013.
Thompson said the operations department will continue monitoring the trees, and he noted that the irrigation system is now on.
New equipment for ops department
The operations department has a new toy on the way.
By the end of June, a valve actuator will be arriving in town, helping staff to turn off waterlines that are too tight for the staff to manually open and close.
“This is the number one and most exciting thing for us,” said Operations Director Bruce Thompson, who enthusiastically explained how the actuator works.
“We had a demo in town a few weeks ago ... and we happened to have a waterline leak at the time, which was convenient, I suppose.
“We were out on the information centre lawn and we were able to actually move some valves that we weren’t able to do so manually by ourselves. It was really enlightening for the staff and it was something they wouldn’t have been able to achieve.”
According to Peter Waterworth, the town’s chief administrative officer, if the actuator opens six valves that weren’t openable by hand, it will have already paid for itself.
The waterline valve actuator is just one piece of equipment that the operations department is purchasing this spring. There are also tenders being issued for a garbage truck, a tandem dump truck, two skid steers and a number of large garbage bins.
Saving money on benefits
Following an external review of the cost of its staff benefits, the municipality has realized $72,000 in savings.
That’s a savings of $6,000 a month.
“We were approached by a competitor that basically wanted our business,” explained Martha Fleming, manager of human resources, “and they went to the market for us to look at benefit costs less than what we’re paying right now.
“They did that and they did come in lower.”
So, Alice Lettner, director of finance, went to AMSC—the municipality’s current benefits provider—and it agreed to match those rates for 24 months.
Prior to the savings, the municipality was spending about $35,000 a month on staff benefits, which include life insurance, dental and family coverage.
“Not all of those costs are our costs, though, because our employees do pay some of those benefits, as well,” said Lettner.
Mayor Richard Ireland, although pleased with the savings, expressed concern that AMSC hadn’t already provided the municipality with the best possible deal.
“Yes,” responded Lettner, “I think we have expressed our disappointment that they don’t seem to review things in our favour until we actually ask questions. My belief is that as a member they should be working on our behalf, however, I guess we have to ask the questions.”
Nicole Veerman
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