MOOSE JAW — Contractor Alan Wallace has been helping city administration create a new Official Community Plan (OCP), and with recent changes at city hall, he will also help guide planning and development.
During its Sept. 9 regular meeting, city council voted 6-1 to appoint Wallace — owner of Wallace Insights and a professional community planner — as the temporary city planner to ensure the City of Moose Jaw maintains its status as an approving authority as per the province’s Planning and Development Act.
Coun. Kim Robinson was opposed.
Besides the OCP project, Wallace is also working with British Columbia-based company Carpere Canada on its Valley View Centre redevelopment initiative.
It is necessary to appoint a registered professional planner as the official city planner following recent changes at city hall, which saw the planning and development department and its operations be subsumed into the newly formed community services department, city manager Maryse Carmichael said.
Moreover, a temporary planner is required while the city recruits a new manager of planning and development.
The Act requires the appointment of a city planner, while that position serves an important function within the city, she continued. A registered city planner develops plans and recommends policies for managing land use, physical venues and associated services.
“Leaving the position vacant may slow down or pause development projects in the city. It should also be noted … that council will cease to be an approving authority if the position is vacant for six months or longer,” Carmichael said.
The city manager noted that administration hopes to post the position soon, while it is finalizing the terms of reference for the job now that human resources personnel are back from summer break.
City hall currently has two junior planners, but they are ineligible for this position because the person needs to be a registered planner and these two employees don’t yet have that official designation, she said.
Carmichael added that the city will pay Wallace — a former city planner for Saskatoon — a maximum of $3,000 per month with money from the planning and development budget within the community services department.
Robinson pointed out that the city had a certified planner in director Michelle Sanson but fired her following the departmental reorganization, while he assumed city administration had a plan to replace her but also suggested it didn’t. He also wondered if Wallace was the only option available.
“Further, it’s my understanding we have six months to find somebody. I don’t know that we have any (urgency) required for any (upcoming) projects,” he said. “We (also) recently turned down a $50-million (housing) project, so I don’t think anything can be much slower than turning down (big initiatives).”
Wallace was administration’s No. 1 choice for several reasons, including his experience, his involvement with the city’s OCP project, and his knowledge of city activities and projects, all of which ensure a “seamless transition,” said Carmichael. Also, leaving that position vacant was not an option.
“We are here to promote the city (and) grow the city,” she continued, pointing out that council had just discussed the installation of modular homes and would discuss development in West Park. “For all those projects, we need a city planner.”
City hall has two junior planners, and while they are inexperienced, they are gifted, Carmichael added. It will be to their advantage to have Wallace as a mentor over the next few months until a full-time permanent city planner comes on board.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, Sept. 23.
