MOOSE JAW — The City of Moose Jaw is expressing its disappointment with the Rural Municipality of Moose Jaw’s decision to reject its discretionary use application to construct a new landfill north of the community.
The rural council denied the application during its June 18 meeting, saying the proposed solid waste management venue is too close to the city, devalues rural properties, has a negative effect on ratepayers, makes using Highway 2 unsafe, contradicts a study by consultant TetraTech and makes it difficult for future area development.
Because of the process with discretionary use applications, city hall cannot appeal the rural council’s decision.
“While we are disappointed with the decision, we thank the RM of Moose Jaw for considering our application and are grateful for the dialogue over the last year to find a solution to manage waste,” city manager Maryse Carmichael said in a news release.
“Securing a location for a new facility is critical because the ability to safely manage waste at our existing landfill decreases every year,” she continued. “We are currently reviewing options on how to move forward. We will bring a report on the matter to Moose Jaw city council in the coming weeks.”
Ron Brumwell, reeve of the RM of Moose Jaw, told the Express that it’s up to city hall to decide how to proceed now that the rural council has denied the application.
“As far as we’re concerned, the issue is done until there is action from the city,” he remarked.
If city hall annexes the land and brings it into city boundaries, then it would have to apply to the RM to make that happen, Brumwell said. The rural council could deny that application, which means the city could appeal to the Saskatchewan Municipal Board (SMB).
At the provincial appeal level, the city could argue that annexation is in the community’s best interests, the rural municipality could argue the opposite, and the SMB would rule and make a final decision.
When asked whether the city would consider annexing the land, a city spokeswoman said by email, “With the decision happening (just recently), city administration is currently reviewing all our options.”
Gordon Knox, a co-chair of a rural ratepayers’ group that opposes the project, said the group is pleased and “cautiously optimistic” with the denial decision.
Meanwhile, based on the first meeting the committee had with city hall, it is aware of the direction the city can take with this project, he continued. The topic of annexation is not new since city officials mentioned it during that first meeting. Expropriation was also mentioned, but that’s unnecessary since the city has an option on the land.
Knox was surprised that the RM council voted on the application in June since he had hoped councillors would delay the vote until the fall. However, he believes the councillors wanted to conclude this issue quickly and move on.
“What we want to do is get the city kind of off-balance and maybe rethink some of the old dump probability,” he said. “And there’s still this guy with Aspen Innovation Park that will recycle it all. Why is that not a consideration?”
Concluding this issue won’t happen quickly, especially since summer is approaching and municipal elections are happening in the fall, Knox continued. The rural committee wants to see people elected to city council who are more open-minded about this situation instead of “these regressive yes-men and -women that they seem to have on this council.”
“We’ve won the battle, but the war is far from over. We’ll just stay in our foxholes and wait for the next round … ,” he laughed. “(But) there’s a lot to do yet. We’re at the tip of the iceberg still. And if we have to lawyer up, we’ll lawyer up.”
