News Releases

From the March 20, 2017 Meeting

7.2 Multi-year Business Plan and Budget Framework

Decision

*The committee received the information.

Additional Information

*The purpose of the report was to outline the various components of a Multi-Year Business Plan and Budget (MYB) Framework that need to be developed and receive approval of the Framework in principle.
*A Framework will form the basic structure and guiding principles for multi-year planning and budgeting.
*A policy sets the groundwork for an MYB process by establishing guidelines, responsibilities and direction.
*A defined process will increase the transparency of the process as well as ensure a seamless delivery of the MYB.
*A new document will be developed for the delivery and presentation of multiyear plans and budgets with increased emphasis on targets, outcomes and service levels.
*The implementation plan has a significant focus on change management within the corporation and includes the formation of an internal project team to ensure the successful implementation of this initiative.

From the March 6, 2017 Meeting

7.1.2 Transfer of Unpaid Utilities to Property Tax

Decision

*The Committee received the information.

Background

*The Cities Act allows Saskatchewan cities to transfer a tenant’s unpaid utilities (excluding electricity) to the property owner’s tax roll.
*Other cities, governed under the same legislation, have already implemented this ability or are contemplating doing so.
*The City of Saskatoon offers a Landlord/Tenant Agreement that helps mitigate the cost of service disruptions. 
*As requested by landlords, information is provided to landlords as early in the process as possible.

7.2.1 Corporate Risk Annual Report 2016

Decision

*The committee forwarded the report to City Council for information.

Background

*The Administration has successfully reduced the risk severity of 11 (48%) of its key strategic risks from high to medium, although continued effort will be required to achieve targets.
*The Risk Based Management program sets a positive and proactive risk management culture for the corporation through the adoption of a systematic, practical and ongoing process for understanding and managing risk.

The City is looking for your help to name the infant monkey at the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park and Zoo (Zoo)! Proud parents, Diego and Leah, welcomed an infant female Goeldi monkey on February 6, 2017, weighing in at approximately 56 grams.

“It is always exciting to welcome a new addition to the Zoo,” said Tim Sinclair-Smith, Zoo Manager.  “Both baby and mother are doing well, and now it is time to select a name for the newest member of the troop.”

The Zoo has narrowed the selection down to four potential names, including Evy, Laka, Zoila, and Elena.

“We want our citizens to have a special connection with this monkey and watch her grow throughout the years.  We are inviting the public to choose the final name by voting from the potential options,” says Sinclair-Smith.

To submit your vote, visit saskatoon.ca/zoo from Friday, April 28, to Thursday, May 11.  The winning selection will be publicly announced on Friday, May 12.

The Goeldi and her parents are located in the monkey enclosure in the Kinsmen Children’s Zoo exhibit.  Citizens are encouraged to come and experience the cuteness for themselves.  The Zoo is open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. until the end of April, and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. beginning in May.  Additional information regarding the Zoo can be found online at saskatoon.ca/zoo.

This past winter, the City of Saskatoon conducted a number of public engagement activities to gather ideas about how we can improve our lived experience of winter in Saskatoon. A total of 770 people and 48 groups representing various sectors of the community provided feedback.

“We found from our engagement that people are very interested in making Saskatoon a great winter city, and we truly did receive a “blizzard” of ideas on how we can bring more energy to the winter season,” says Brenda Wallace, Director of Environmental & Corporate Initiatives. “So our next step is to review the engagement results with members of the community, see what is realistic in terms of actions, and begin the process of creating a Winter City Strategy that will benefit our economy, our residents and visitors to Saskatoon.”

Now the City is inviting the public to attend a community workshop to help shape the creation of a Winter City Strategy. The workshop will share the public engagement results. It will also include a discussion of priorities and ways everyone can work together to support new and existing winter initiatives. The session will also feature presentations by City-sponsored delegates who attended the Edmonton Winter City Shake-Up Conference in February.

The workshop will take place on Thursday, April 27 from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Royal Canadian Legion Saskatoon Branch 63 located at 606 Spadina Crescent West.

For more information on the Winter City Strategy, visit Saskatoon.ca/wintercityyxe.

From beginning to mid-May, the City will take action to control cottony ash psyllid.  As outlined in a report to City Council late last year, the pest is affecting trees in Saskatoon’s downtown area, business improvement districts, and surrounding neighbourhoods.

“Large numbers of psyllids were detected in trees planted within concrete cut-outs in our central business areas, which have been particularly susceptible,” says Michelle Chartier, Superintendent of Urban Forestry and Pest Management.

Cottony ash psyllid is a non-native yellow/green pest first identified in Saskatoon, in 2006, on black and mancana ash trees.  Native to central Europe, the insect has made several appearances in North America, including recent infestations in North Dakota, Minnesota, and Alberta.

“Cottony ash psyllids are most easily recognized by the damage they create, such as browning, yellowing, and curling around leaflets, and the presence of white cotton within the leaflet,” Chartier says.  “Heavily infested trees will often lose leaves, with the remaining leaves twisted into a corkscrew shape.”

Chartier says City-owned trees have been examined and marked with colour codes to signify the action that will be taken to lessen the infestation of psyllids and preserve the natural beauty of the business districts.

• White-marked trees will receive injections of an insecticide to try to prevent further damage and spread.
• Green-marked trees will be removed and replaced with a different species not susceptible to psyllids, including:  52 trees downtown, 14 in the Broadway area, 10 in Riversdale, and 29 along 22^nd Street.  Short-term parking restrictions will be in place in the work area.

“Cleanup, including stump removal and backfilling of topsoil, will be coordinated after tree removal.  During this time, safety measures will be placed around the tree stump area to avoid any possible tripping hazards,” Chartier says.

At home, the best approach to avoid cottony ash psyllid is to keep your ash trees in good health.  Water between rainfalls, protect your trees from root or trunk damage, and avoid the use of herbicides or excessive salts in the soil near trees.

For more information, please visit saskatoon.ca/cottonyashpsyllid or call 306-975-3300.

The Bridging to Tomorrow project, which includes the construction of the North Commuter Parkway and new Traffic Bridge, is halfway complete. At the North Commuter Parkway, all girders, which support the bridge structure, are in place on the west half. Now that they’re set, the berm can be moved from the west side of the river to the east side, where construction of the third and final pier and girder installation on the two remaining east spans can begin.  

“Everything is moving ahead as planned as we reach the halfway point of our three year construction schedule,” says Dan Willems, Special Projects Manager, Major Projects & Preservation. “With the early spring weather, roadway construction for the twinning of Central Avenue north of Attridge Drive will resume next week and so will construction of the new median, sound walls and landscaping.”

At the Traffic Bridge site, structural steel installation of three of four bridge spans is now complete. Willems says work on the trusses for the final span will be completed over the next couple of months.

“The Traffic Bridge is right on track and work is also continuing on the south side of the river where the Victoria Avenue retaining wall and other retaining walls around Rotary Park will be built throughout spring and summer.”

The North Commuter Parkway will support the transportation needs of northeast Saskatoon residents who work in the Marquis and North Industrial Areas. The Traffic Bridge will support the growing city centre by allowing drivers, pedestrians and cyclists to cross the South Saskatchewan River. It will resemble the original bridge, but will be wider to accommodate larger vehicles like fire trucks and Transit buses.

Both bridges remain on track to open in October of 2018.

Bridging to Tomorrow project updates, including detailed monthly summaries, links to live cameras at each bridge site, and quarterly video updates, are available at saskatoon.ca/bridging.

In person, anyone can watch Traffic Bridge progress at the River Landing viewing area. North Commuter Parkway construction can be viewed from the Meewasin Trail just east of the cul-de-sac at the north end of Kinnear Avenue (north of Silverwood Golf Course). 

The City of Saskatoon is launching an opportunity for interested citizens, schools and businesses to participate in the development of an open data sharing program.

“The City collects a vast quantity of high-quality information and data as part of its ordinary working activities,” says Pat Hyde, Director of Service Saskatoon. “As part of a growing city committed to open governance and transparency, we believe there are huge potential benefits by making this information and data open and accessible to the public.”

Community engagement will help to determine what the community’s priorities are for the program.

Starting today, a survey is available online to allow interested citizens, schools and business to provide input for the program design.

“Information from the survey will be used to develop in-person engagement sessions that will help determine program priorities and resource requirements to manage the open data,” Hyde says.

More details about improvements to the open data sharing program will be announced as Service Saskatoon incorporates the results of the citizen input engagement processes being launched today. For more information, visit https://goo.gl/XE6V0j.

Service Saskatoon and the Open Data initiative support the City’s goal of Continuous Improvement. It will leverage technology and emerging trends to reach our goal to provide great citizen experiences at every level.

The Governance and Priorities Committee (GPC) today approved a wide-ranging plan to address a sudden multi-million dollar hole left by the recent provincial budget cuts.  The committee today approved a tax increase of 0.93% added to the existing 1.62% increase (following the March tax policy decision) which delivers an overall 2.55% municipal tax increase.  That means for an average house it amounts to $43.80 per year or $3.65 per month over the 2016 City property tax bill.

“In the longer term, we’re looking for ways to both find further cost savings and looking for further revenues,” says Mayor Charlie Clark. “We want to really engage in an ongoing negotiation with the provincial government about what the future’s going to look like.”

With reassessment and the City’s recently shifted its tax policy, the overall tax impact on residential property owners would have been 1.62%. But because the province abruptly ended its Grants in Lieu of Taxes for SaskPower, SaskEnergy and TransGas property on city land, the City was required to find ways to address this budget cut.

Committee approved recommendations on principles that included:

• Keeping any property tax increases to a minimum and service levels up; maintaining jobs; City Hall salaries are frozen and the snow and ice levy won’t be collected this year.
• Adjusting all options – how we spend, and the cash collected in fines and fees; more money will go to taxpayers from the City-owned water and waste water utilities.  Parking ticket fines will go from $20 to $30.
• Back-filling the provincial budget hole without dipping into reserves.

The GPC today also received information which outlined Provincial downloading and transfer payments on the City.

Several City Councillors want clear answers on the role and use of reserves and more detail on the perception that City reserves have been built on the back of provincial government revenue sharing.

“Revenue sharing goes to support everyday operations,” says City Manager Murray Totland. “Those are the direct services to citizens such as snow clearing, road maintenance, police and fire service.”

Totland stresses the provincial cut is not a one-year shortfall – it is a permanent operating budget adjustment that requires back-filling by ongoing funds. Taking funds from a reserve would be a one-time solution which would have to back-filled in 2018 and future years to come.

“The reserves are not to cover our day-to-day operating expenses,” Totland says. “Pulling money out of our reserves just transfers this problem down the line and leaves us to deal with unexpected situations out of our operating budget.”

The City has about $140 million in the reserve, of which $21 million is used each year in capital and operating budgets.  If the City was to only use the reserve funds to deal with the ongoing impacts of the recent provincial budget, all of the reserves would be depleted in seven years.

“So at the end of seven years, we wouldn’t have the reserves to pay for all the major projects that they currently fund,” Totland says. “And in seven years, we still would not have a long term solution to pay for the provincial budget shortfall.

“We wouldn’t have anything in our savings account to pay for projects that keep our roads, leisure centres, outdoor swimming pools, or parks in good working condition.”

Find more on the provincial budget funding impact on our website.

From the March 13, 2017 Meeting

7.1.2 North Commuter Parkway and Traffic Bridge Construction Update

Decision

*The Committee received the report as information.

Background

*At the Traffic Bridge, Graham Commuter Partners has completed demolition of the final components of the original bridge and has now completed all of the new piers, both abutments, and erection of Span 4, the southernmost span of the bridge.
*At the North Commuter Parkway, construction of Pier 1 and Pier 2, the west and centre in-river piers, is complete. Erection of the girders for Span 2, the west-centre span, is underway.

7.1.3 Highway 16/Boychuk Drive and McOrmond Drive/College Drive Construction Update

Decision

*The Committee received the report as information.

Background

*The design for both interchanges has been progressing well and PCL Construction Management Inc. has started doing preliminary site work at both locations.
*The construction of detour roads will begin in April 2017 and the detours are anticipated to be in effect for June 2017.
*The street lighting along College Drive is scheduled to be in place before June 2017.
*The Administration is developing transportation plans for each location to minimize impacts to commuters and communicate transportation alternatives.

From the March 13, 2017 Meeting

6.1.2 2017 Goals and Objectives – Saskatoon Environmental Committee

Decision

*The Committee received a memo pertaining to goals and objectives of the Saskatoon Environmental Advisory Committee as information.

Background

*The 2017 Goals and Objectives of the Saskatoon Environmental Advisory Committee are outlined in this memo.

7.2.2 Diversity and Inclusion Annual Report 2016

Decision

*The Committee forwarded the report to City Council for information.

Background

*The City continues to work toward closing the gap between the workforce population statistics and the goals set by the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission for all four equity groups including Aboriginal People, Persons with Disabilities, Visible Minorities, and Women in Underrepresented Occupations.
*The Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan priorities for 2017 have been identified and grouped using the “Diversity and Inclusion Solutions Framework” developed by LaRoche & Yang (2014). This framework enables us to categorize specific action plans using the common links between them to support the City’s Strategic Plan.

7.2.5 Hydropower Joint Ownership Project With Saskatoon Tribal Council

Decision

*The Committee recommended to City Council:
-That the Administration be directed to prepare a Memorandum of Understanding with the Saskatoon Tribal Council that outlines a joint ownership model to begin a feasibility study for a hydropower station in Saskatoon.
-That the Memorandum of Understanding be brought forward to the Standing Policy Committee on Environment, Utilities and Corporate Services, and City Council for City approval.
-That the report of the General Manager, Transportation & Utilities, dated March 13, 2017, be forwarded to the Saskatoon Environmental Advisory Committee for information.

Background

*Saskatoon Light & Power has explored the feasibility of a hydropower station at the Saskatoon weir.
*Joint ownership of the project between the City and the Saskatoon Tribal Council will bolster all aspects of the project and benefit both parties. A partnership will strengthen applications to senior governments for rates and capital contributions, and the combined resources of both agencies result in a stronger project team during the investigatory and construction phases, should the project proceed to construction.
*The project provides an opportunity for the Saskatoon Region and the Saskatoon Tribal Council to realize economic and social benefits.
*Earlier stakeholder and community engagement shows support for a green power project at the weir that maintains its visual beauty, serenity and natural ecology. Continued engagement is planned as part of a new feasibility study.