News Releases

Starting at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, May 7, 2014, Saskatoon’s Emergency Measures Organization (EMO) tested the entire database of the NotifyNOW system. Data collected during the test indicated that by 11:25 a.m. more than 14,000 people confirmed they had received the message by either replying to the text message or email, or by pressing 1 on their phone.

The Saskatoon EMO appreciates everyone’s participation and feedback on the test including media assistance in getting the word out that a test would be happening. EMO received many positive phone calls following the test, including ones from people stating they were expecting a phone call.

“When an emergency happens, we need to know the system works and works well. The best way to prepare for an emergency is to do a test like this, identify possible kinks in the system and then solve them,” says Ray Unrau, Director of Emergency Planning. “We got lots of good feedback from residents and we can’t thank everyone enough for their participation.”

On Wednesday morning we were able to test the system in a non-emergency situation to make sure that the infrastructure was in place to distribute a large number of notifications. In this area as well, the test was successful and SaskTel infrastructure was able to handle the volume of calls generated by the system.

This was our first ever test of the NotifyNOW system and as expected there were a number of lessons to be learned. Some of those lessons are about the call display for telephone calls needs to be a trusted and distinctive name or number and that we need to continue our outreach to ensure  entered contact information is correct. As always, emergency preparedness education will continue throughout the City, and will incorporation information about NotifyNOW.

The Saskatoon EMO would like to remind residents to consider whether they received the notification in the best possible way. For instance, if you are often gone from home for long periods of time, receiving emergency notification on your landline may not be the most effective way for the City of Saskatoon to reach you during an emergency. By signing up, residents can customize how they receive messages to ensure that they are notified as soon as possible. Residents can sign-up by going to saskatoon.ca, clicking on the NotifyNOW logo and completing the sign up process. NotifyNOW allows you to enter up to 10 methods of contact and up to 10 addresses that you would like to receive emergency notifications about, for example your child’s school or elderly parents home. For step by step information about how to sign up please go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qak-iNP8J_8&feature=youtu.be

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

City urges residents to avoid ticket and towing

City-wide residential street sweeping begins Monday in Holiday Park and is expected to continue for the next six weeks. City and contract crews will be working seven days per week to quickly move through the neighbourhoods each day. 

Approximately $605,000 of additional funding is dedicated from the road levy this year for sweeping programs including the spring sweep blitz and the accelerated residential area sweeping. This allows for additional equipment, contractor resources and maintenance support so that neighborhoods and major roadways can be cleaned quicker, and commercial and business areas will be cleaned more frequently.

Parking Enforcement
In order for sweepers to effectively clean the streets from curb to curb, parking enforcement and tow truck relocating will be used for the entire program.  New Yellow No Parking signs and relocation towing were piloted during a smaller scale fall sweep and will be rolled out city-wide to prevent people from parking on scheduled streets.

The new yellow No Parking sandwich board signs and matching yellow paper signs will be posted at the entrance to scheduled neighbourhoods and along streets at least 36 hours in advance of the sweeping.  Vehicles that remain on the street at 7:00 a.m. will be ticketed $100 under the new Street Maintenance parking bylaw and will be relocated to a nearby street or neighbourhood. If your vehicle is relocated, you can find the new location using the Find My Vehicle! application.

Neighbourhoods with grid streets will be swept in two phases - three days apart – to make parking available for vehicles that need to move.

School Zones
For the safety of students and the convenience of parking for school visitors, school zones will be swept outside the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.  Sweeping will occur up to two days in advance of or following, the neighbourhood’s scheduled date.  School zone boundaries are marked with a 30 km/hour speed limit signs. Watch for no parking signs along these streets when sweeping is scheduled.

If poor weather delays sweeping, the neighbourhood will move to the end of the schedule and new No Parking signs will be posted in advance to notify residents.

A schedule, Frequently Asked Questions and map of neighbourhoods is available at Saskatoon.ca under the Building Better Roads icon.  Drivers are reminded to be patient and to drive carefully when they encounter slow moving street-sweeping vehicles.  You may also contact the 24-hour Street Sweeping Hotline at 306-975-2476 or streetsweep@saskatoon.ca

 Members of the public are invited to attend a commemorative event as the City of Saskatoon joins municipalities from across the country to reflect and honour the commitment made by the men and women who served in Canada’s military in Afghanistan.

Earlier this year, as the last of Canada’s troops made their way home from Afghanistan, Prime Minister Stephen Harper declared May 9, 2014 a National Day of Honour and on May 5, 2014 City Council resolved that the City would join municipalities across Canada in observing a concurrent moment of silence.

His Worship Mayor Don Atchison will be speaking at 11:25 a.m. on Friday, May 9 in the Civic Square which is located at the south side of City Hall.  The ceremony will include a lowering of the flag and two minutes of silence. 

For Release: Wednesday, May 7, 2014

This morning starting at 9:00 a.m. City of Saskatoon’s Emergency Measures Organization sent out a test message to everyone currently in the database. That includes everyone who has signed up AND everyone listed in the SaskTel 2013/2014 phone book.

If you have received the message please know that it is legitimate and a necessary step in ensuring that the City of Saskatoon is able to notify residents during an impending or escalating emergency.

When you receive the test, listen to the entire message and then, if possible, follow the instructions to confirm that you received it.

The purpose of the test is to introduce citizens who may not have heard of NotifyNOW to the new alerting system and to test the accuracy of the data.

Saskatoon’s Emergency Measures Organization is excited to move this project forward. The initial test is part of the process and will provide us with important technical information while demonstrating to individual residents what a targeted mass notification would sound like and how they can expect to be contacted.

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

The Neighbourhood Level Infill Strategy (Strategy) made recommendations to address concerns regarding infill development that is currently occurring in established residential areas within Saskatoon. The Strategy recommended amending the development standards contained in the City of Saskatoon’s (City) Zoning Bylaw No. 8770 for primary dwellings (one-unit, two-unit, and semi-detached dwellings), and small multi-unit dwellings (up to four units) on corner lots.  The Planning and Development Division is proposing changes to the Zoning Bylaw that will ensure that these types of infill development are more compatible with existing residential development.

Residents are invited to attend a “come and go” open house to learn more about the proposed bylaw regulations, including development standards, design guidelines, and the approval process.  Civic staff will be in attendance to answer questions, gather feedback, and provide materials.

Open House for the Proposed Regulations for Primary Dwellings and Small Multiple-Unit Dwellings on Corners Lots
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
City Park Collegiate – Student Commons
820 9th Avenue North

Following the open house, background and information materials will also be available on www.saskatoon.ca, click “I” for Infill Development Strategy, along with the opportunity for residents to submit comments online.
The Strategy is one component of the overall Growing Forward! Shaping Saskatoon project to help guide investments to accommodate Saskatoon’s growth to half a million people.

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.

- 30 –

The City of Saskatoon today launched a city-wide public awareness campaign urging motorists to respect work zones as crews start repairing and maintaining city infrastructure this summer. The Respect Work Zones campaign will run from May to September, asking citizens to do their part to ensure the safety of work crews during the construction season.

“Our recently announced $50 million Building Better Roads Plan is the most aggressive program of road construction, road repair and road maintenance in Saskatoon’s history,” said Chris Hallam, Director of Construction & Design. “To complete this work, we need everyone to make safety a priority and respect the construction zones where our crews will be working.”

Building Better Roads, which coordinates a variety of construction projects means more construction this year than last and at times will result in up to 110 active work zones each day. According to Hallam, respecting work zones will allow the crews to focus on the job and safely complete this summer’s projects.   

“We care about the safety of our employees and everyone who uses Saskatoon’s roads,” said Hallam. “If everyone does their part, plans ahead and respects construction zones, we will be able to work through the 2014 season safely and successfully.”

Motorists can avoid delays and plan their commutes by clicking on the “Building Better Roads” button at saskatoon.ca and scanning the locations of current and future road projects.

The Respect Work Zones campaign is launching during North American Occupational Safety and Health Week (May 4-10) which promotes the importance of safety in workplaces, homes and communities.

While durable pavement markings have been used on roadways throughout Saskatoon for a number of years, in 2014, as part of the Building Better Roads campaign the City of Saskatoon is expanding the use of durable pavement markings to more high traffic roads.

The cost of the annual road painting program is $800,000 per year. In 2014, an additional $500,000 will be spent on durable markings that can last between 7 and 10 years.

To minimize traffic disruptions all work will be carried out between 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.

This week, durable pavement markings will be installed at the following locations:

- 1st Avenue South between 20th Street East and 24th Street East

- Central Avenue between 107th Street West and 110th Street

- Circle Drive eastbound between Warman Road and Attridge Drive on ramp

Durable markings will also be installed on other high volume roadways following rehabilitation work through the construction season.  Further updates will be provided as the season progresses.

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 traffic detour information on our website at www.saskatoon.ca/go/traffic. You can also follow us on Twitter @cityofsaskatoon and with #betterroads and like Saskatoon City News on Facebook.

The Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park & Zoo switched to summer hours on Thursday, May 1, 2014.  The extended hours mean that the Forestry Farm Park gates will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and the Zoo will be open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.  The last person will be admitted to the Zoo one hour before closing.  The public is reminded that the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park & Zoo is a pet-free park.
Watch for new animals arriving this year at the Zoo, including a new feature animal in the PotashCorp Ark exhibit, which houses animals never seen before in Saskatoon. 
For more information, please visit www.saskatoon.ca/go/zoo.
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.

- 30 -

For Release: Monday, May 5, 2014

Starting at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, May 7^th, Saskatoon’s Emergency Measures Organization (EMO) will systematically test the NotifyNOW system. The purpose of the test is to give residents the opportunity to better understand the NotifyNOW system, to let people hear what a message will sound like and to encourage people to sign-up.  

“The test will give the EMO a vital opportunity to evaluate the features and functions of the NotifyNOW system in a non-emergency situation,” says Director of Emergency Planning, Ray Unrau.

The test notification will start at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, May 7^th and will send notifications throughout the city one quadrant at a time. Everyone with contact information linked to an address within that quadrant will receive the test notification message. After a short pause, the process will be repeated until the notifications have been sent to the three remaining quadrants. We expect the testing period to last most of the morning.

“It is also important to give an opportunity for residents to familiarize themselves with what a notification will sound like,” Unrau says. “By taking part in the test, residents will have some familiarity with the process and be ready to respond appropriately in a real emergency situation.”

The test will use information currently entered into the NotifyNOW database. That includes publically available information from the 2013/14 SaskTel phone book as well as contact information provided by residents who have signed up.

“Once the test is complete we ask that residents take note of how they received the notification message and whether the message was delivered the most effective way,” Unrau says. “For example, if they got a voice message on their home land line but would prefer to receive a text message on their cell phone they would need to sign-up or sign-in to NotifyNOW and update their account.”

We also expect that some residents will notice that they did not receive the test notification. In those instances, we will ask them to create an account by following the prompts on saskatoon.ca and provide their preferred contact information so we can reach them in the future.

Saskatoon’s Emergency Measures Organization is excited to move this project forward. The initial test is part of the process and will provide us with important technical information while demonstrating to individual residents what a targeted mass notification would sound like and how they can expect to be contacted.

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

-30-

Drinking Water Week is May 4 to 10, 2014; a time to reflect on the critical role that water plays in our daily lives and the quality of life we enjoy.  

“Saskatoon tap water is safe and healthy,” says Reid Corbett, Director of Saskatoon Water. “We are able to consistently deliver high quality water to our customers.”

The average person in Saskatoon uses 230 litres of water per day (5 year average). Using water responsibly reduces our impact on the environment as the energy required to treat and distribute drinking water is associated with a significant amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.  Implementing simple water conservation practices can save energy, reduce greenhouse gases, and protect our water supplies.

Water Conservation Tips:

- Water the lawn once a week and avoid watering during the heat of the day or during windy times.

- Repair leaky faucets and toilets immediately.

- Run your dishwasher or washing machine only when you have a full load. This can save as much as 1,875 to 3,000 litres every month.

- Use low-flush fixtures such as water-saving shower heads and ultra low flow toilets.

Be Water Wise!  For more information, visit www.saskatoon.ca and click on “W” for Water.