ROCANVILLE — It’s a tribute of honour and distinction in towns across the province, having a sign in your home community recognizing significant contributions. From her report to Rocanville Town Council, Administrator Tanya Strandlund noted such a sign is being planned to recognize Rocanville’s own Jessica Campbell, who made history as the NHL’s first female coach, hired by the Seattle Kraken at the beginning of July.
“We have met with Jessica Campbell, and we’re going to be doing a billboard in honour of her accomplishments,” Strandlund confirmed, noting the timing of the installation as being perhaps later this year, possibly next spring.
Before the new role with the Kraken, Campbell spent two seasons as assistant coach with Seattle’s AHL team, the Coachella Valley Firebirds. When she joined the Firebirds in the 2002-23 season, she also became the first female coach in that league.
Her journey also took her to Germany, working as assistant coach and skills coach with the Nuremberg Ice Tigers while also working as assistant coach for the German men’s national team at the 2022 World Championship.
Though her storied career has taken her across — and even out of —the country, many locals still recall when Campbell played for the Rocanville Junior Tigers in her minor hockey days, or even her time with the Melville Prairie Fire in the Saskatchewan Female AAA Hockey League.
Delegation from building inspector
Darren Cuthill appeared as a delegation before council to make them aware that he is now a residential building inspector.
“He’s a local farmer, and he got his building inspector license,” said Strandlund. “We were just having a conversation with him in regards to what it would look like if he was to become our building inspector for residential properties because he’s not certified for commercial or industrial just yet.”
To have someone onboard with local knowledge and close by were noted as major advantages.
“In rural communities, you kind of trust your own,” Strandlund said. “Just opening up that conversation to move forward with a potential proposal.”
Water Treatment Plant work approved
An additional work quote came before council regarding the Water Treatment Plant.
“Council has approved TMH Electrical’s additional work inside the water treatment plant for $14,000,” Strandlund confirmed.
A secondary item from TMH Electrical was a flow meter installation quote, which council decided was not something they would go forward with at this point.
“We might look at how to put in something like that in the future we can, maybe,” Strandlund said. “I'm going to ask them if they can put a flange in for a future flow meter install. But the flow meter itself was going to be $16,000—a little over our budget this year. We do have a meter in our water treatment plant anyway. This would just be in addition to that and give a little bit more information, which they will probably want, but for now, we’re good.”
Gopher control
Council approved a quote from Abell Pest Control for $1,700 to curb the number of gophers around town.
“We are going to get some gopher control at our soccer field and ball diamonds, and on Cameron Crescent,” confirmed Strandlund.
Reservoir cleaning
A local company will be handling cleaning of the reservoir at the Water Treatment Plant.
“While we’re doing our big water treatment plant project, we have to get our reservoir cleaned,” Strandlund said. “We got a few quotes, but we’ve decided that KCH Operating is going to clean our reservoir for us.”
The reservoir will need to be drained for pipe replacement to happen, but before the plant goes back online, the reservoir needs to be cleaned and sanitized.
Traffic safety grant approved
Expect to see safer crosswalks by the school soon, helped along with a successful application to the SGI Traffic Safety Fund.
“We were approved for $32,755, and we are going to be putting up some solar-powered crosswalk systems by the school to help keep our kids safe,” Strandlund said.
Transfer station key holder policy
A new policy regarding who can have keys to the transfer station is now in effect. As outlined by the agreement, local businesses can obtain a key to the transfer station for an annual fee of $100, plus $50 deposit.
“They have to be a local business owner that would need potentially after-hours access,” Strandlund explained.
