By Ryan Kiedrowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The World-Spectator
March 4, 2024
With more electric vehicles hitting the roads, the Town of Redvers has applied for the Earth Day Canada EV Charger grant. The town currently does not have EV charging capabilities and the closest facility around is in Moosomin. 65 km away. From initial quotes the town has received, a single charging station could run as high as $60,000.
“We’ve been looking at EV charger grants for a few years now, and we found this one,” Pickard said. “We wanted to apply for it and hopefully get a couple chargers in our community.”
Over a three year span, Earth Day Canada and Aviva are targeting $3 million in funding for public charging stations in communities across the country. In order to be eligible, the community applying for the grant must be less that 100,000 residents with the project installing new, permanent Level 2 EV chargers. Successful applicants will be announced on Earth Day, which is April 22.
The proposed site as indicated in the Redvers application would be the tourism booth, creating another way for visitors to linger in town, possibly translating into more tourism dollars.
“It’s something that we thought was good to apply for because it’s not going to cost the taxpayers any dollars, but it might attract people to come, therefore everybody gains,” Pickard said.
Communities in Bloom committee members
The Redvers Communities in Bloom committeee now has two members—Heidi Magotiaux and Sandie Quennelle. This will be the first year the community has participated in the beautification program, and is entering at the Friends level, which is non-competitive.
Outdoor AED
In an item arising from the CAO’s report, council discussed the possibility of having an automated external defibrillator (AED) located outdoors. An advantage to such a placement would be access any time for the public should an emergency situation arise. Currently, AEDs are available at facilities around Redvers such as the arena, however there is not one available after business hours which renders the life-saving device inaccessible.
“We discussed that there’s another municipality that actually has one that is outside, but it’s in a heated box. We’re not sure how they do it exactly, but it would be nice,” said CAO Tricia Pickard. “There’s many AEDs around town, but they’re just accessible during business hours.”
Crosswalk repairs
The waiting game continues with regards to repairing the crosswalk at Highway 13. Earlier this winter, the light hanging from the newly-installed crosswalk was struck. In correspondence dated the end of January from the Department of Highways to the Town of Redvers, it was stated that the trucking company reached out to the Ministry to take responsibility for the damage. While the government will work with the company to hash out financial responsibilities, the government did note they will take the lead to repair the light.
The document went on further to state that repairs will be done at the Ministry’s cost and not the town’s cost, however following installation, the crosswalk becomes part of the Ministry’s inventory—putting the onus on them for repairs and maintenance.
“I have been working with the Ministry of Highways and ATS, and hopefully we can get a plan in place that’s suitable for everybody and move forward on rectifying that whole situation,” Pickard said.
Business license fee waived for vendors at homecoming weekend
A resolution by council waived business licenses for vendors at Homecoming Weekend 2024.
“If we’re inviting them and needing them, then they would not require a business license,” explained Pickard. Current business license fees in Redvers are $25 daily, $50 monthly and $100 annually.
“If they’re just coming for the day, it’s just a $25 fee, but we wanted to waive that,” said Pickard. “But if they’re coming for all three days, you know, they may as well buy the $50 one, but council just said, ‘we’re inviting them, we want this weekend to be great, let’s waive that fee’.”
Housing authority board members needed
Redvers Housing is still seeking a board member, seemingly a big challenge to recruit. “It’s still open and available, so we’re hoping that somebody will come forward and sit on that board,” Pickard said, stressing the importance of housing in the community. The commitment is not strenuous with the board meeting once per month.
“You have a housing manager, so he or she would look after a lot of the day-to-day things, so you just have your committee,” Pickard explained. “It’s not a huge commitment.”
Library a cool place
Council approved the purchase of two window-mount air conditioners for the library at a cost of $600 per unit. The cost will be split with the RM of Antler, replacing the outdated air conditioning units currently in the library.
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“It’s up to us to maintain the building and the air conditioner is part of that,” Pickard said.