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Battleford council moving ahead with chamber upgrades

Sep 7, 2017 | 10:00 AM

Town of Battleford’s council chambers will see some improvements now that council has agreed to upgrade its meeting room with newer technology.

The project is estimated at about $7,400, in addition to the costs for SaskTel to install a line and a phone.  

“In the big picture, $7,400 seems like a lot of money, but with the state of construction costs these days…  it’s really not all that much from what it costs to get a fence built,” said Mayor Ames Leslie. 

The work will involve retro-fitting the council table so it can accommodate microphones and have plug-in ports for charging computer tablets and other devices. A conference phone will also be installed.  

Leslie had initially asked for a quote to upgrade the council meeting chambers to support current technology, such as computers, microphones, and a conference phone.   

Council accepted the quote from NRG Efficient Homes Ltd., which had the lowest of two bids received. The project also includes wiring and electrical work.  

Coun. Gordon Yarde said if council puts off the work to a future date the costs will only increase, so he supported the project.

Council previously questioned the estimated price when the issue was first discussed in July, but later agreed it was in council’s best interest.

“It’s a lot of money, but the price is what the price is,” said Coun. Doug Laing. “In the big picture, it’s not a lot of money.”  

Most of the price for the job will cover the retro-fit work, which is costly.  

The mayor pointed out the council chambers also serve as his office – where he conducts conference calls related to town business, so the space needs access to power and to charging facilities.  

“Today, the table has no power access to it. Since the town has gone paperless, where all councillors are using tablets, we don’t have the ability to keep our tablets charged. So if the meetings go longer than the lifespan of the battery on the computer, they lose access to their information,” he said.

He said when the project is done the council table will have various charging ports to meet everyone’s needs.

“It will give us the ability to have a conference phone,” added Leslie. “That way, if a councillor is sick or out of town and can’t make the meeting, they have the ability to still be a part of the meeting and not miss it.” 

The mayor added when the retrofit is complete, council’s microphones will be fitted into the council table too, which will improve sightlines, and also make it easier for people attending meetings to hear the councillors more clearly.

“Every time you are asked to spend money on something perceived as minor or insignificant, as adding updates into an office… it’s always something that is not very palatable, or easy to make a decision on,” Leslie said. “But as we discuss more what the benefits will bring to the town, to the council as a whole, and administration, to bring our meetings up to a different level, I think council were able to see the need for it. Maybe [they were] still not comfortable to spend the amount of money, but in the end they were able to move forward.”

The work is expected to be completed in the next few weeks. 

 

 angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW