MOOSE JAW — City hall normally cleans the streets with its sweeping machines once annually, but the mayor wants to see more cleaning because of the many events that happen from spring to autumn.
During a discussion about the second-quarter financial report during city council’s Sept. 9 regular meeting, Mayor Clive Tolley pointed out the city sweeps streets once and then puts away the equipment.
However, he wondered if city hall could use those machines whenever there was a parade, festival or event — like the Homestand concerts, the toy run and car shows — to help those groups clean up and return the city to a respectable condition.
“It is not something we have budgeted at this time,” said city manager Maryse Carmichael.
“It is certainly something we can look at for 2025 and ongoing for major events, to see if there’s a requirement that we can have street sweeping and maybe budget for six of those events a year,” she continued. “But that is something I would have to discuss with the director of operations.”
Capital projects
The second-quarter report contained information about the status of all major capital projects happening in Moose Jaw. The completion schedules for two projects were listed as being in jeopardy:
- Outdoor pool replacement: The budget for the design phase is $23,862 and $0 had been sent as of June 30, but the report said additional funding was required to continue this phase; no completion date was listed
- Official Community Plan (OCP): The budget for this project is $54,417, and the city had spent $5,176 as of June 30, but the report said city hall had delayed the presentation to council to Q1 2025 because it was waiting for the final mapping information from external stakeholders; the original completion date was this fall
The OCP’s delay caught the eye of Coun. Crystal Froese, who asked city administration why the presentation had been pushed to next year.
“There are some extra information we need to add, especially in the zoning bylaw,” said Carmichael. “So if we are able to present it to council before the (municipal) election (in November), we will, but more than likely not and it will be after budget.”
Events Centre recruitment
Coun. Heather Eby asked about the Events Centre’s recent hiring fair and training event and how those went, considering the venue has a busy fall and winter season planned.
The Multiplex held a job fair at the end of August and roughly 400 people walked through the doors, said general manager Shaunna Fritzler. While the venue requires more workers than normal for daytime events, department heads were also mindful of the upcoming 2025 World Men’s Curling Championship from March 29 to April 6, which required more evening-focused staff.
“We do have a full complement of all our employees we feel we need for the season and did our onboarding (on Sept. 8), so we feel like we’re ready to go,” she added.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, Sept. 23.
