News Releases

Tonight at the 2014 Badge, Shield and Star Dinner Doreen Brown, Scott Wright and Gord Thompson will all receive awards for their outstanding contribution to emergency services in Saskatoon.

Doreen Brown will be presented with the Badge Award by Saskatoon Police Service Chief Clive Weighill. Doreen is being honoured for an exemplary life of service to her community. After a long career at St. Paul’s Hospital in Saskatoon, Ms. Brown has played an integral role as the Volunteer Coordinator for the Saskatoon Police Service Volunteer Program. She has consistently made a special effort to get to know the volunteers and ensure that the police service is well represented at every event. Doreen has limitless energy and patience when coordinating people and tasks and always makes sure that every event is well staffed and supported. It is said that Saskatchewan is known for volunteer spirit. Ms. Doreen Brown is one of the people who have helped create that reality.

Scott Wright will receive the Shield Award from Chief Dan Paulsen of the Saskatoon Fire Department. Scott is being honoured for his leadership roles in search and rescue in Saskatoon in particular but also throughout Canada. Scott was a founding member of Saskatoon Search and Rescue. He has held a variety of leadership roles in the organization and remains an integral part to this day. Scott has also been the president of Search and Rescue Saskatchewan Association of Volunteers (SARSAV), the Secretary and now Vice-President of Search and Rescue Volunteer Association of Canada (SARVAC) and the chair of the CSA Technical Steering Committee for the development of GSAR Standards in Canada.

The Star Award will be presented to Gord Thompson by Dave Dutchak of MD Ambulance. Gord has a long history of partnership with MD Ambulance. Over the last number of years, he has delivered joint training sessions to rural fire departments and first responder groups across Saskatchewan. He was key in implementing the 310-5000 telephone number, a 911 system for rural residents surrounding Saskatoon. Over the years, Mr. Thompson has attended hundreds of calls as a first responder with the City of Warman where he currently holds the position of Fire Chief of the Warman Fire Department. 

TU-209

Beginning at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, April 9, 2014, there will be lane restrictions near the Idylwyld Drive Overpasses at 19th Street for bridge inspections:
- Idylwyld Drive northbound will be limited to one lane from 1st Avenue to just over 19th Street
- Idylwyld Drive southbound will be limited to one lane over 19th Street
-There will be no access to Idylwyld Drive southbound from 1st Avenue.

It is expected the work will be completed by 3:00 p.m. that day, weather permitting and barring any unforeseen circumstances.
The City thanks everyone for their patience.
Drivers are reminded to allow extra time when travelling through the orange zone, watch for pedestrians and work crews, and for everyone’s safety, please obey all detours, signs and barriers.
Know before you go! Find up-to-date traffic detour information at www.saskatoon.ca/go/traffic and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

As negotiations with civic unions and associations continue, the City would like to provide the public with an update on the progress of all its contract negotiations so far.

“I think the negotiations have gone exceptionally well,” Director of Human Resources Marno McInnes says.  “We have resolved some very complex issues with most of our bargaining units already and we look forward to fruitful discussions in the near future with those units with outstanding matters to discuss.”

Firstly, no job action on the part of the City or any of its unions or associations is happening right now.  For public clarification, if a union or association holds a strike vote, it does not trigger immediate job action.  A formal notice must be served by either party prior to that.

The City has offered all of the nine civic unions and associations the same proposal on wages and pension matters.  Five of those nine have already settled on that offer, while talks continue at the four remaining bargaining tables.

A crucial element to negotiations in the current round of contract offers is a deal to manage the sustainability of employee pension benefits.  The City is pleased to report eight out of nine bargaining units have ratified the wage and pension component of this offer.

“The deal offers competitive wage increases and more importantly, agreement on how to keep the pensions viable,” McInnes says.  “This was a serious challenge that both the employer and employees were facing and we’ve arrived at a solution.”

For more City of Saskatoon Public Service Announcements, News Releases, Traffic Detours and Service Alerts, visit www.saskatoon.ca or connect with the City of Saskatoon on Twitter and Facebook.

Starting at 9:30 a.m. on April 8, 2014, the Idylwyld Freeway southbound curb lane from Ruth Street to Lorne Avenue will be closed while Saskatoon Light & Power crews work on street lights.

The work should be completed and restrictions lifted by 2:00 p.m., weather permitting and barring any unforeseen circumstances.   

Know before you go! Find up-to-date traffic detour information at www.saskatoon.ca/go/traffic and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

The City of Saskatoon (City) announces the 2014 recipients of the Jack Adilman Fund Capital Grant for Amateur Sports Organizations.  Through his estate, Jack Adilman (1920 - 1992), a prominent businessman, sportsman, and tireless supporter of amateur sport in Saskatoon, provided a bequest to support the future of amateur sports.  From this bequest, the City established this grant in 2011 and has awarded a total of $349,030 since its inception.

Thirteen organizations applied for funding, with requests totalling $480,268 of support for projects worth in excess of $1.4 million.
Based on available funding, a total of $157,030 was awarded to the following amateur sport organizations:

• Marian Gymnastics Club Inc. – for asset acquisition – $14,650;
• Mayfair Lawn Bowling Club – for facility upgrades – $10,000;
• Saskatoon Amateur Softball Association – for asset acquisition – $14,335;
• Saskatoon Cricket Association Inc. – for facility upgrades – $11,250;
• Saskatoon District Sports Council – for asset acquisition – $11,470;
• Saskatoon Fencing Club – for facility upgrades – $7,400;
• Saskatoon Lions Speedskating Club – for asset acquisition – $57,400;
• Saskatoon Racing Canoe Club – for asset acquisition – $18,525; and
• Saskatoon Ultimate Disc Sport Society – for asset acquisition – $12,000.

For more information about the Jack Adilman Grant, visit www.saskatoon.ca (look under “G” for Grants).
For more City of Saskatoon Public Service Announcements, News Releases, Traffic Detours and Service Alerts, visit www.saskatoon.ca or connect with the City of Saskatoon on Twitter and Facebook.

TU-206

Spadina Crescent East is closed between 21st Street and 22nd Street while crews work on a water main. Motorists are advised to use 4th Avenue as an alternate route.

Restrictions are expected to be lifted by 12:00 noon on Thursday, April 10, weather permitting and barring any unforeseen circumstances.

Drivers are reminded to allow extra time when travelling through the orange zone, watch for pedestrians and work crews, and for everyone’s safety, please obey all detours, signs and barriers.

Know before you go! Find up-to-date traffic detour information at www.saskatoon.ca/go/traffic and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Starting at 8:00 p.m. on Monday, April 7, westbound traffic on Circle Drive from Attridge Drive to the Circle Drive Bridge will be restricted to one lane until 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday, April 8. The restrictions are required to allow crews to remove in-road traffic monitoring sensors. The City will continue to record traffic volumes on an hourly basis throughout the year at eight permanent City-operated stations. 

Motorists are strongly advised that delays are expected. Traffic will be directed to the curb lane and speed reduced to 60 kilometres per hour. 

Drivers are reminded to drive with extreme caution as workers will be onsite throughout the night, allow for extra time when travelling through the work zone and for everyone’s safety, please obey all detours, signs and barriers.

The City of Saskatoon thanks motorists for their patience and cooperation.

Know before you go! Find up-to-date traffic detour information at www.saskatoon.ca/go/traffic and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Starting at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, April 7, 2014, 20th Street will be closed between Avenues B and C while crews work on a water connection. Through traffic on 20th Street is advised to use 19th Street or 21st Street. 
The work is expected to take two days to complete, weather permitting and barring any unforeseen circumstances.
Drivers are reminded to allow extra time when travelling through a work zone, watch for pedestrians and work crews, and for everyone’s safety, please obey all detours, signs and barriers.
Know before you go!  Find up-to-date Traffic Detour information on our website at www.saskatoon.ca and follow us on Twitter, Facebook or our City Blog.

After the first year of implementation, the City of Saskatoon’s (City) Housing Business Plan has supported the creation of 629 new attainable units in 2013, exceeding the target set by City Council of 500 new units per year.

The recently released Annual Report on the 2013 – 2022 Housing Business Plan indicates that the City has slightly exceeded the target for each of five housing types identified in the plan, with the exception of entry-level housing where the results were double the City’s target:

The City is also reported to be on track to achieve its housing targets for 2014.  To date, a total of 378 attainable units of various housing types have been approved, with the goal of supporting 480 to 500 units. 

“Housing is not a traditional role of municipalities in Saskatchewan,” says the City’s Director of Planning and Development, Alan Wallace.  “However, the City understood there was a growing deficit of affordable housing in Saskatoon in 2007 and decided to proactively address this challenge by setting an ambitious goal to create 500 new attainable housing units per year, which eventually led to the creation of the Housing Business Plan.”

Approved by City Council in June 2013, the Housing Business Plan contains a variety of incentives and initiatives that support the creation of attainable housing units, which helps increase home ownership rates, with a focus on neighbourhoods where levels of ownership is a concern.

“Adequate housing is an important part of the City’s Strategic Plan and an essential infrastructure for supporting a growing economy and a good quality of life for all residents of Saskatoon,” says Wallace.

For more information on the Housing Business Plan and the work the City is doing in this area, visit www.saskatoon.ca and look under “H” for Housing Initiatives or call 306-975-3340.

For more City of Saskatoon Public Service Announcements, News Releases, Traffic Detours and Service Alerts, visit www.saskatoon.ca or connect with the City of Saskatoon on Twitter and Facebook.

If you drive in Saskatoon, you will have noticed there are significantly fewer potholes this year.  Some of that is due to weather conditions, but the biggest factor is the increase in our snow and street maintenance operations this year as a result of the dedicated road levy.  

Increased snow grading and removal this winter reduced the standing water on the streets that cause potholes.  With less moisture on the streets at the start of spring, crews were able to get out and repair the potholes sooner than last year.  We were not only out there patching sooner, but we were able to patch the potholes that are causing the biggest problems for drivers.  Since its launch March 17, there have been 557 (88 since March 28 news release) locations reported by residents in all areas of the city using the Report a Pothole interactive map.  Up to ten new pothole locations are being reported daily by residents and visitors to Saskatoon from their mobile device or desktop.  

The weather is also cooperating this year with gradual warm weather that allows the ground frost to come out of the ground slowly.  Potholes can be caused by pressure on the asphalt as a result of the ground frost coming out quickly.  The temperature spike expected for next week may cause the frost to move very quickly out of the ground and increase the potential for more potholes.  

Pothole patching crews repaired 350 (103 since March 28 news release) of the larger reported pothole on major streets, plus hundreds of others!  Until the roads are completely dry and the asphalt supplier produces hotmix for our use, the priority is emergency locations and larger potholes in the driving lanes of the high-traffic streets. Beginning mid-April, the Spring Pothole Blitz will address the remaining potholes on higher traffic volume and speed roadways, including arterials, collector and freeway/expressways.  The residential streets will be repaired beginning in May and run in conjunction with the Residential Street Sweeping program.  

About a third of the locations currently reported on the map are another type of issue resulting from completed City or private underground utility work that required an excavation.  These are known as utility cuts and have a temporary gravel/recycled asphalt cover until they can be properly paved once ground frost is gone.  Those on arterial and major streets are monitored and re-grading regularly. Until permanent repairs are made we will be leaving these reported locations as red dots on the Report a Pothole map. 

Severe and emergency locations are addressed immediately by the nearest pothole patching unit.  Large potholes in the driving lane of Priority 1 and 2 streets will be scheduled for repair the next day.  The inspector, along with area supervisors and crews, is also on the look-out for unreported severe/emergency potholes.  The more information supplied by those reporting online the inspectors have, the easier it is to determine the priority of the necessary repairs. The reported potholes, represented by red dots on the map, are updated to green dots at the end of the day they are repaired. 

Please report severe/emergency locations to Customer Service at 306-975-2476 so we can fix them as quickly as possible.  For more information about the pothole and utility cut programs, visit saskatoon.ca and select “P” for Potholes. 

For more City of Saskatoon Public Service Announcements, News Releases, Traffic Detours and Service Alerts, visit www.saskatoon.ca/go/traffic. You can also follow us on Twitter @cityofsaskatoon and with #betterroads and like Saskatoon City News on Facebook.