Water damage forces repairs in Rosetown pool basement, insurance claim denied

EAGLE STAFF

Town staff have removed drywall and other materials damaged by water and will re-finish an area in the swimming pool basement.

An attempt to get the renovation work covered by insurance was denied because the town’s insurer doesn’t “cover damage due to seepage,” said a report from Kelli Emmons, the recreation director.

A trailer filled with damaged drywall sits outside the local pool. Water leaking in damaged the interior of the pool’s basement, home of the Rosetown Handgun Club’s shooting range. Photo by Ian MacKay

Mould grew on the walls and ceiling of the basement’s handgun shooting range and Emmons believed it was due to ”rain water and drainage,” her August report said. Staff replaced some downspouts but she thought that water was also leaking in through seams in the pool deck, suggesting it might need work in 2026.

Town staff worked to strip the area, Emmons said in a report to the Nov. 17 council meeting, hoping to have “demolition and repair completed as soon as possible” so that the Rosetown Handgun Club members can return to using it, she indicated.

“Our staff have gone in and done all the removal and remediation of everything,” said Amanda Bors, the town’s acting chief administrator, during the meeting. Emmons was on holiday.

“I think they have it pretty much all cleaned up now” and they’ll work on “putting it all back together” as soon as possible, Bors said.

Drywall, ceiling tiles and insulation needed replacing, Emmons said in a September report.

The gun club typically resumes using the basement in September, had already lost two months and the town will have to adjust the club’s rent for 2026 to make up for members’ enforced absence, Bors said. The rent for 2025 was fully paid, she said.

Emmons also reported that people had been writing on walls at the AGT Centre, causing staff to “clean up the vandalism instead of completing tasks for the rink and ice.”

A gate to the sports grounds appeared to have been hit by a vehicle and no longer closes properly, she added, suggesting that work will be needed in the spring. The civic centre was also broken into, Emmons wrote.

Councillors also learned that the administration office had three new computers and a new server installed.

The Board of Revision had met to consider assessment appeals and Bors expected a decision by the Dec. 1 council meeting. Residents had paid 84 per cent of their property taxes - about the same as last year at the corresponding time - and work was underway in preparation for the annual audit, she said.

Staff at the municipal clinic had been told by personnel with the Saskatchewan Health Authority that it would supply locums during October but they didn’t arrive, a report said. One doctor has left, another moved to the Rosetown Medical Group clinic and two were studying for and writing exams under the provincial recruitment plan, the report said.

Two locums worked at the clinic during November, Bors said. It had two physicians at the time, one considered a locum, she said.

”We’re looking for more (physicians),” councillor Greg Carlson said.