MOOSE JAW — Residents will find out later this summer what city hall’s next steps are with constructing a new landfill and addressing the municipality’s future garbage needs.
City officials were thrown for a loop after the Rural Municipality of Moose Jaw voted on June 18 against the City of Moose Jaw’s discretionary use application to construct a new solid waste management venue on 156 hectares (390 acres) of land about one kilometre north of the community.
The rural council voted no because the proposed project was too close to the city, devalued rural properties, had negative effects on ratepayers, made using Highway 2 unsafe, contradicted a study by consultant TetraTech and made it difficult for future area development.
City manager Maryse Carmichael told reporters several days later that the project’s team would resume discussions about a location, while she was confident that the process would not return to the drawing board entirely.
Carmichael also said that three teams were leading the project, including one team to address the technical details and another to determine the best location. She did not disclose whether the city planned to annex the land but did not rule that out.
Meanwhile, the city had signed an agreement with the family of a rural resident on whose land the new landfill would be constructed. This agreement was set to expire on June 24, but Carmichael said the agreement was now terminated as it was contingent on approval from the RM.
Speaking to reporters after the recent city council meeting, the city manager gave an update on when taxpayers could expect more information about the project.
“In the next two months, we will have a report back to council,” Carmichael said.
She also reiterated that three project teams were committed to working on the initiative and ensuring there would be a landfill in the future.
Traffic bylaw
During the council meeting, council approved updates to the traffic bylaw, with the big change being the reduction of speeds in school zones to 30 kilometres per hour from 40 kilometres per hour, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week.
City crews will start replacing almost 600 signs this summer through the Safe Routes to School Project, including 120 signs in school zones.
Meanwhile, police will provide a “grace period” and use education to inform motorists about the changes instead of automatically distributing tickets. However, once September arrives, they will start penalizing drivers.
Of note, the fine for speeding in school or playground zones is $170, plus $8 for each kilometre per hour over 30 km/h.
During the media scrum, Carmichael said the city would phase in the changes, with the new speeds going into effect once crews erected new signs.
“And, of course, we won’t be able to do every area in town at the same time,” she stated. “… it will come into effect when a specific sign is up.”
Building official
Also, during the meeting, councillors appointed Stephanie Mitchell as a class 1 building official, allowing her to handle all duties of reviewing and inspecting structural projects.
“… when we had the (Stadacona Street) apartment issue, the building official from the city was part of the team that went in to confirm the state of the building itself,” said Carmichael.
The city manager thought it was great that Mitchell went through the city’s career coaching program, which sees employees start in other positions — sometimes in part-time roles — before discovering “a new passion” and wanting to switch roles or departments. Mitchell was working in finance at the time and began taking courses to become a class 1 official.
Furthermore, many employees — especially at public works’ city complex — have worked for the city for 20 to 30 years, with some starting as labourers before becoming managers.
“So it’s a great evolution for the ones that want to (take the career coaching program),” Carmichael added.
