KAMSACK — Salary increases, appointments for 2026 and a response to changes in recycling and garbage collection concerned Kamsack town council at its regular meetings in December and January.
In keeping with its agreement with CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees), town council ratified wage increases of about five per cent for one year for its employees. A similar increase was approved for non-unionised workers and members of council.
Named deputy mayors for 2026 were: Councillor Robyn Tataryn, January and February; Councillor Easton Moline, March and April; Councillor Darren Kiitsch, May and June; Councillor Brian Kirkpatrick, July, August and September; and Councillor Onastasia Eliuk, October, November and December.
Regular meeting dates were set at the second and fourth Mondays of each month, except July, August and December when only one meeting is to be held each month.
All members of council, along with the chief administrative officer and assistant, were authorized to attend the 2026 Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association convention in Regina, April 12 to 15.
It was agreed that the Town of Kamsack would continue to sponsor a scholarship of $500 to a Kamsack student registered with the Suncrest College and another for a student who graduates from Kamsack Comprehensive Institute in the 2025-26 term and plans to attend a post-secondary school in the fall.
Council decided to move its insurance policy from HUB Insurance to ACE Real Estate and Insurance Services, effective Jan. 1.
The Kamsack Volunteer Fire Department was directed to purchase an automated external defibrillator from AED Advantage and five oxygen tanks.
Council appointed the following organizations and persons: Myer Norris Penny of Moosomin, auditor; Rosowsky Law and MLT Aikins of Regina as solicitors, depending on the issue; Miles Hutchings of Yorkton, building inspector; and Joe Kozakewich, Tyson Leis, Walter Lesiuk, Clint Raffard, Vincent Bailey and Hudson Bailey as hunters within the town.
Vincent Bailey and Hudson Bailey of the RM of Keys were named the pest control officers, while the board of revision and the development appeals board are Western Municipal Consulting, with members from Miota.
Mayor Beth Dix and Barry Hvidston, the chief administrative officer, were named representatives to the Regional Emergency Measures Operations meeting in Canora Jan. 22.
It was agreed to enter into municipal firefighting agreements for a three-year term with: the RMs of Cote, Sliding Hills and St. Phillips; Village of Togo; Cote First Nation; and Duck Mountain Provincial Park.
Council decided to contact Yorkton Auction to place town-owned tax title properties for sale by auction.
The community has about 150 lots available for sale, including five with houses, Hvidston explained. It is expected the auction will be held at the end of August or at the beginning of September and will be done online. Advertising the sale is to begin this spring.
Due to the successful completion of a Level 1 water treatment operations course, Christopher Simon was moved to a Level 2 water treatment classification within the union contract.
More than three hours of council’s four-hour meeting of Jan. 26 were devoted to the provincial recycling program, garbage and recycling fees and transfer station fees, Mayor Beth Dix explained.
In the second of a three-phase program, the provincial government is taking away the residential recycling program from municipalities such as Kamsack as of June, she said. Asked to select either to allow the government to operate the program on the municipality’s behalf or become involved in a waste authority, council decided to select the former option and allow the government to conduct the program. By doing so, the government would tender out the work to prospective bidders.
Why put an umbrella under an umbrella was the consensus of council, Hvidston said.
In 2025, the municipality paid $70,000 more than what was collected from utility bills for garbage and recycling, he said. Commercial properties paid $5,610 a month for garbage and recycling, while the expense was $15,733. Residential properties paid $25,230 a month in utility bills, for a cost of $15,359, and the community was told Ottenbreit Sanitary Services would be increasing the cost of residential waste and recycling to approximately $22,000 per month and about $24,000 per month for commercial.
Currently, commercial garbage bin costs increased from $5.24 per cubic yard per lift in 2025 to $10.23 per cubic yard per lift in 2026, while commercial recycling increased from $10.24 per cubic yard per lift to $10.68. This represents from $31 to $61 per pickup, depending on the size of the bin, he said. Council is looking into whether or not to remove the commercial waste and recycling costs from the monthly utility bill and bill the companies directly based on the amount of pickups each business requires and the size of bins they have.
Some bins are full, while some have very little material in them, so it may be advantageous for a business to be more accountable for the number of times a bin is picked up instead of the weekly pickups that are currently occurring.
Because of the change in strategy, council has agreed to hold a public meeting on Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. in the OCC Hall to discuss the situation.
The meeting will be of interest to all residents, especially to the businesses in the community, the mayor said.
With the new transfer station having been opened, it was decided the municipality would continue with a ticket system that had been used at the garbage dump, but because of rising costs, instead of $5 per ticket, the fee will be increased to $15 a ticket. A car would need one ticket and a half-ton truck, two tickets. Trailers and other vehicles will be required to purchase tickets according to their size.
Regarding the regional EMO (Emergency Measures Organization), council confirmed its support of the plan and agreed it should contain smaller pods of four or five municipalities working together. Kamsack would be in a pod that could include the RMs of Cote and Calder, Togo and Kamsack.
In the community’s first Christmas Donation Campaign, in which persons were able to select groups within the community to receive donations, the Kamsack Playhouse received $325 and Eaglestone Lodge received $400 through the campaign.
“We weren’t sure how the program would work,” Mayor Dix said. “This year was a test year, but we’ll advertise the program before Christmas again and maybe make additional arrangements for other groups to participate.”
The Town of Kamsack received a Community Safety Initiative grant through SGI for $18,000 for the purchase of three digital speed signs, which are to be placed across the boulevard from the Petro-Can outlet; on the boulevard east of the community across from Sherlock Storage, and on Highway No. 8 north of Park Street.
A Government of Saskatchewan Community Rink Affordability grant of $10,000 was received, which is to go towards operations of the skating and curling rinks at the Broda Sportsplex.
Council is seeking legal advice with regard to the leaking roof at the Broda Sportsplex, Hvidston said. The roof was tinned in 2022 but is now leaking. An investigation will reveal where and why the problem erupted.
“It’s really bad,” Dix said, describing the damage seeping water has created along the interior walls of the building.
