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Saskatoon Fire - News Releases
Saskatoon’s Green Network provides sustainable habitat for people and nature.
February 5, 2020 - 7:45am
- Preparation of education material to promote understanding of the Green Network, including biodiversity and urban agriculture
- Collaboration with Meewasin to coordinate with their programs
- Review opportunities for community grants and incentives for green projects
- Green space management planning and engagement
Saskatoon’s Green Infrastructure Strategy (Strategy), which forms the vision, actions, initiatives and mapping for Saskatoon’s Green Network is now complete.
Green infrastructure creates a network of natural, enhanced, and engineered assets that protect, restore or enhance green space. Saskatoon’s green spaces are under pressure from urban growth and increasing stress from climate-related impacts such as invasive pests, flooding, heat and drought. When the quality of green space diminishes, ecosystem services such as fresh water, storm protection and air quality are at risk.
“As Saskatoon continues to grow and our climate changes, we must look to strengthen the Green Network by improving the condition of our green spaces, partnering with the community, and nurturing relationships between people and nature,” says Jeanna South, Director of Sustainability. “This Strategy outlines how, by integrating Green Infrastructure into the system of urban fabric and creating a comprehensive green network, Saskatoon can better provide resilient municipal and ecosystem services and high quality environments to live, work, learn and play.”
Through research, engagement, and analysis of the findings, the Strategy proposes a series of 15 actions, each with associated tasks for implementation. The next step for Saskatoon is the development of a Green Infrastructure Program to carry out the actions presented in the Strategy, including:
The Green Infrastructure Strategy supports the Strategic Goals of Asset & Financial Sustainability, Quality of Life, Environmental Leadership, and Sustainable Growth.
For a complete list of the 15 Strategy actions, to read the Strategy, or learn more about Saskatoon’s Green Network, please visit: saskatoon.ca/greeninfrastructure.
“Strong financial management a key credit strength:” City retains ‘AAA’/Stable credit rating
February 4, 2020 - 11:11am
- The City’s management team is described as “experienced and qualified to effectively enact fiscal policies and respond to external risks.”
- “Management accountability is strong and financial policies are prudent.”
- The City’s has a “lengthy track record of passing budgets before the start of the fiscal year with minimal variations from budgeted revenues.”
- With “exceptional levels of liquidity, (the City’s) debt burden is expected to remain around current low levels of just under 40% of consolidated revenues.”
- Saskatoon’s strong economy has supported “budgetary balances leading to large operating surpluses more than sufficient to fund (the City’s) capital agenda.”
The City of Saskatoon has again received a favourable endorsement from S&P Global Rating Services, which today reconfirmed the City’s ‘AAA’ credit rating with a “stable” outlook.
“We’re pleased and excited to receive our ‘AAA’ rating today,” says Kerry Tarasoff, Chief Financial Officer. “This year’s introduction of the City’s first Multi-Year Business Plan & Budget Planning process has supported our fiscal transparency, and our ongoing commitment to improve our financial management practices as we plan for Saskatoon’s future.”
Noting Saskatoon’s diverse economy and observing the City’s “strong operating surpluses and financial management,” S&P Global Rating Services today reaffirmed ‘AAA’ long-term issuer credit and senior unsecured debt ratings on the City with an outlook that is ‘stable’.
Key points within the February 4, 2020 S&P Ratings Direct® Report are:
“Maintaining the City’s ‘AAA’ rating is important as it supports our confidence in our budgetary decisions for Saskatoon’s bright future with continued and steady growth,” Tarasoff says. “We remain confident in our ability to minimize debt as we undertake long-term planning for infrastructure to support our great quality of life in Saskatoon.”
The full report entitled “City of Saskatoon Ratings Affirmed At ‘AAA’; Outlook Remains Stable” is available on the City’s website saskatoon.ca.
Sutherland properties under Precautionary Drinking Water Advisory
February 4, 2020 - 4:11am
Approximately 400 properties in the Sutherland neighbourhood experienced a water outage and lower water pressure in the evening of February 3, following an issue with the primary water main on 102nd Street W at O’Neil Crescent. These properties are on a Precautionary Drinking Water Advisory issued by the Water Security Agency and Saskatchewan Health Authority and should boil their water until notified.
There were two separate water main breaks that caused the water distribution system in the area to depressurize. The water main breaks occurred on 102nd Street W at O’Neil Crescent, and Packham Avenue affecting approximately 400 properties south of 108th Street W.
The water was restored to all properties; however, there could be some localized water outages as crews tackle the repair to the individual water main breaks.
“We thank everyone for their patience as we work as quickly as possible to restore water service,” says Trent Schmidt, Acting Director of Water & Waste Operations. “This is the time of year when the frost is gets closer to the depth of our water pipes and we can notice an increase in breaks, unfortunately.”
Crews are flushing out the water system this morning, which could carry into tomorrow due to the size of the area affected. Following flushing, water testing can take another 48-72 hours to confirm the drinking water quality is achieved. Affected properties will receive a green Drinking Water Advisory Lifted Notice when the water quality tests confirm it is safe to drink.
Properties affected are reminded to review the white letter from the Water Security Agency and Saskatchewan Health Authority, and the yellow door hanger from the City delivered to their front door for instructions. Learn more at saskatoon.ca/drinkingwater.
More people continue to choose Transit
January 30, 2020 - 4:27am
Annual ridership has continued to grow year over year resulting in a 2.5% increase in conventional ridership and 2.2% increase in Access Transit ridership.
“I am very happy with this result as it shows that we continue to attract more riders to our system and those who are already using transit are using it more often. I attribute the increase to more reliable and frequent routing along our transit corridors,” says Jim McDonald, Director of Saskatoon Transit.
With a large student base of riders, Saskatoon Transit saw an increase of 2.4% in the number of U of S students taking advantage of their UPass.
“This shows more people, including students at the U of S, are recognizing transit as a viable alternative to driving,” says McDonald.
Contributing Factors:
Increased Frequency
Over the past three years, Saskatoon Transit has implemented three high frequency transit corridors (8th Street, 22nd Street and Attridge Drive/Preston Avenue/ College Drive). These routes offer 10 minute frequency in both directions throughout the day, decreasing the amount of time riders wait for the next bus, accommodating the volume of riders, and increasing the options they have for travel.
Saskatoon Transit has also implemented high frequency routes that run on weekday mornings to help with the volume of riders during that time. These high frequency routes run from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
Conventional Transit travels 8 million kilometers per year and of that 1.5 million kilometers are high frequency corridors and routes.
Real-time Mobile App Adoption
Saskatoon Transit saw more riders adopting real-time transit apps to plan their trips. Approximately 6,000 users per day use the mobile app, transit. Of those who use this mobile app, 14,000 users receive push notification service alerts for their favourite routes. These numbers do not reflect those who use Google Maps Transit or any other mobile trip planning app.
Infrastructure Improvements
Saskatoon Transit purchased 7 new conventional buses in 2019 allowing for the last of the high floor buses to be retired. This was a big milestone, marking a 100% accessible bus fleet. Saskatoon Transit also purchased 11 new buses for Access Transit and made upgrades to 23 bus stops and 2 transit terminals (Confederation and Market Mall) in 2019.
A bus stop audit of nearly 1,500 bus stops was 92% complete in 2019. This audit will be completed and reviewed to ensure bus stops are located appropriately around the city, and to identify what stops need to be prioritized for accessibility and infrastructure improvements in 2020.
Saskatoon Transit experienced an increase in ridership of around two per cent in 2017 (8,678,825), 8.1% in 2018 (9,385,409), and 2.5% in 2019 (9,619,824). Although the increase is not as significant as it was in 2018, McDonald says this increase is pretty remarkable as we saw a decline last year in many of the top 50 transit markets in North America.
“The key to our success is overall improved service, a better customer experience and technology that supports both,” says McDonald. “In order to keep increasing our ridership numbers, we must continue to put our customer first.”
"The changes and improvements we’ve made will support a successful Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in Saskatoon,” says McDonald. “We’re working hard to deliver the kind of service residents expect from an urban, forward-thinking city.”
As passenger demand grows, Saskatoon Transit will continue to provide safe, efficient and economical transportation to citizens and visitors to Saskatoon. We look forward to seeing you on board!
City and CUPE Local 59 reach tentative contract deal
January 27, 2020 - 4:03am
City and CUPE Local 59 reach tentative contract deal
The Bargaining Committees for the City of Saskatoon and CUPE Local 59 reached a tentative agreement on January 24, 2020.
The term of the tentative deal is for four and one-half years expiring on June 30, 2023. Details of the settlement will be released upon ratification by both parties.
The ratification process will begin the first week in February.
CUPE Local 59 is the largest collective bargaining unit of City employees.