Shellbrook www.shellbrookchronicle.com VOLUME 101
Chronicle
The Voice Of The Parkland Since 1912 SHELLBROOK, SASKATCHEWAN
FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 2012
PMR #40007604 No. 15
SaskEnergy boring through golf course SaskEnergy is taking a round about way to connect the Shellbrook and Districts Integrated Health Complex to natural gas service -- through the Hidden Hills of Shellbrook Golf Course. SaskEnergy crews began setting up on site at the end of March. William Vandale, Crew Supervisor for SaskEnergy anticipates that the project will wrap up around April 20 but work on the actual golf course portion of the line will likely be finished by the end of this week. However that is completely dependant upon weather and whether or not they receive any emergency calls during that time frame. According to Vandale, spring is prime time for gas leaks and emergency calls take precedence over construction. When the crews are finished, there will be little evidence that they were ever there. Often, gas lines are laid in trenches with extensive excavation involved, which would have been bad news for a golf course that just recently completed a messy irrigation and expansion project. This particular line was sunk into the ground using a horizontal drilling process which allowed the crews to avoid trenching. The only digging required for the process are some holes at set distances where the pipe begins its decent and can be joined to complete the line. In all, the gas line will run along the north side of the first fairway which also involved boring under three tee boxes but will not interfere with any of the irriga-
A crew from Dagg Construction, of Tisdale, works on a pipe that will be pushed underneath the Carlton Trail Rail bed adjacent to the first fairway at the Hidden Hills of Shellbrook Golf Club. The line will eventually connect the Shellbrook and Districts Integrated Health Complex into to SaskEnergy service.
tion lines or heads. The line will run from Second Street West, at the entrance of the golf club,
down the first fairway where the line will take a sharp turn north to cross beneath Carlton Trail rail bed to connect the
new Shellbrook and Districts Integrated Health Complex and adjacent lots to SaskEnergy service.
Hidden Hills golf course set for April 16 opening A poor weekend weather forecast has pushed the opening of the Hidden Hills of Shellbrook golf course back until Monday, April 16 -- a full two weeks earlier than last year. The course has been in playable condition for the past few weeks but a little rain and some snow combined with cold temperatures have kept golfers off of the fairways. “We were hoping to open on the weekend but the forecast is cold. That isn’t good for the course.” said Ritchie. With temperatures so low, the grass isn’t growing and a busy opening week could cause damage to the greens. Since the course can’t open he said he is hoping for some rain before opening day to help provide some much needed moisture for the course. Because of the cold temperatures, the club’s water reservoir is still somewhat frozen so he expects that the irrigation system will be out of use for the next week or so. After a full scale reconstruction in 2010 and some minor changes last year, 2012 will be a very quiet one in respect to course construction. Over the weekend, the club held a volunteer work bee to increase the size of the white and red tee boxes on the second hole to make them less labour intensive. With the size increase, the tee boxes can now be mowed with a riding mower. The only other project on the schedule for
this year is a new, closer seniors’ tee on the seventh hole. Meanwhile, he also expects that SaskEnergy’s natural gas line project, which spans the length of the first fairway, will have little effect on the club’s opening. At press time, the bulk of the work had been completed on the course itself and crews were moving onto the club’s parking lot for the next phase of their gas line installation.
The club also opted to increase green fees and memberships this year in an effort to stay ahead of the rising costs of doing business. A nine hole green fee will now be $22, up from $19 and 18 holes will now cost $34, up from $30 last year. The club also boosted individual memberships from $450 to $500 while creating a 65+ seniors membership which will remain at $450.
Town begins search for new administrator Shellbrook Town Council voted unanimously to accept the resignation of Town Administrator Tara Kerber at their regular meeting Monday night. “She submitted her resignation for personal reasons and Council has accepted her resignation and now we are moving on,” said Shellbrook Mayor George Tomporowski. Kerber submitted her resignation during the last week in March and the April 9 meeting was the first regular meeting of council since receipt of the letter of resignation. Assistant Administrator Kelly Hoare will move into the role of acting administrator while council begins working through the process of finding a suitable replacement. Tomporowski said that the Town will begin advertising
immediately to fill the vacancy. Kerber first served as an assistant administrator under Ken Danger before being promoted to administrator upon his retirement. *** Meanwhile, Council has extended the use of the Town’s photocopier and fax machine to new Shellbrook Housing Authority Manager John McIvor for a monthly fee of $10 while monitoring usage for the first six months to determine actual costs. *** Council approved the Shellbrook Legion’s request for consent to purchase a liquor license for Shellbrook’s 2nd Annual Street Fair August 25.