There was a nasty surprise at Wadena’s community hall on New Year’s Day – a flood.
“We did have a pipe that froze in the kitchen at the hall,” said Ferne Hebig, the town’s administrator. “There are some damages, thankfully not crazy amounts, but enough that we have to make an insurance claim for it.”
The town is waiting for an insurance adjuster to assess the damage.
Except for the kitchen, the hall can still be used.
“Anyone who has booked it [the kitchen] has been notified that it's not available currently,” Hebig said.
Grant writing workshop
A workshop hosted by the town aims to help nonprofits secure funding.
“We do have a lot of nonprofit groups that do a lot of grant writing and could use a little bit of assistance with that, so we’re just putting together a grant writing workshop,” Hebig said.
The workshop will begin with a presentation, followed by a hand-ons portion where participant can get assistance on any grant applications they’re working on.
“It seemed to be a need of the community, so we're trying to fill it,” Hebig said.
The workshop will be held at the Wadena Community Legion Hall Jan. 24 at 5 pm. Registrations are needed by Jan. 21.
Council pay
Council is reviewing its pay in the face of federal tax changes.
Before the new year, civic politicians used to not pay taxes on one-third of their council remuneration.
Hebig said council is looking at how to deal with the issue.
“I just basically provided them with a list what a whole bunch of other communities are doing, what their populations are, how many times a month they meet and kind of what they're paying their council just so they can have an idea of what's the status quo right now.”
Boarders allowed
Council voted to change Wadena’s zoning bylaw to allow homeowners to receive boarders.
The change was made at the Jan. 7 council meeting. It comes after a resident wrote a letter to council, saying that they have to keep sending short-term workers to Humboldt, Foam Lake or Yorkton and that they have a spare bedroom they could rent.
