Saskatoon City Council, complete with six new councillors, gathered in Chambers Wednesday for its first regular business meeting since the civic election.
Winter Navigation and Warming Centres
As its first order of business, council approved that $200 thousand be taken from the Reserve for Capital Expenditures to partially fund the new Winter Navigation and Warming Centres capital project.
Paired with $1 million from other levels of government, local organizations and private donors, this money will fund staffing, maintenance and services provided out of Saskatoon’s two warming shelters. Emergency Response Manager Pamela Goulden-McLeod broke down how the money will be allocated.
“For December 1st to March 31st, $630,000 for the evening and overnight (women’s) location at Saskatoon Indian and Metis Friendship Centre, $365,000 approximately, December to March, for St. Mary’s (men’s overnight warming shelter), and $100,108 for Sawēyihtotān,” an addictions support services group ran by the Saskatoon Tribal Council.
Councillor Bev Dubois suggested that the money be taken from a separate, inactive reserve instead, called the Vacant Lot and Adaptive Reuse Incentive Reserve, as it holds unused money, but the motion failed as it did not receive a seconder.
Snow Removal Progress
During question period of Saskatoon City Councils first regular business meeting since the civic election, several councilors inquired about snow removal progress.
Terry Schmidt, General Manager of Transportation and Construction, says snow grading on the priority street system are expected to be complete by later today.
He says the next priority will be removing the snow that has been piling up on meridians and in parking lanes.
“We are seeing, with the volume of snow that we got, that we are using some lane width now with some of the snow piling up in the medians and the boulevards on our priority streets, and there are concerns with safety at some of our intersections. We will be mobilizing crews tonight to start the priority street system snow removal, as well as the downtown BIDs and the school zones.”
He adds that there were some mobility concerns from emergency personnel during and right after the storm, but they were addressed as soon as possible.
Weeds
Saskatoon’s new city council also directed City Administration to report back on weeds in public greenspaces and potentially look into using herbicides to contain them.
Councillor Zach Jeffries proposed the motion, citing that weed run rampant in several neighborhoods in his ward, such as Aspen Ridge and Evergreen.
“We do see in many other cities across Canada, some sparing and responsible use of herbicides in certain areas where the other methods to contain weeds have been unsuccessful, and that’s what I have an interest in.”
Councillor Scott Ford added that the report should be extended to include boulevards, or ‘weed beds’ as he called them. Councillor Randy Donauer echoed Ford’s remarks, stating that in the coming weeks, he will have a separate motion targeting boulevard maintenance.
