By Geoff Smith

North Battleford Mayor says amalgamation of Battlefords should be studied

May 18, 2016 | 3:26 PM

North Battleford mayor Ian Hamilton feels the costs and benefits of amalgamating the city and town should at least be studied. But his counterpart across the river is not keen on the idea of two becoming one.

“I personally, and the existing council, (are) not in favour of that whatsoever,” Battleford Mayor Derek Mahon told reporters following the fifth annual State of the Town and City address, a joint speech by the two mayors organized by the Battlefords Chamber of Commerce. Hamilton used his remarks to suggest it’s time to explore whether a combined city would be greater than the sum of its parts.

“Is there benefit to representing ourselves as one community of nearly 20,000 persons, and the fifth largest City in Saskatchewan?” Hamilton said. He also asked if it would affect the business community in the Battlefords.

“I’m being asked very consistently about this very question, ‘why aren’t we one community?’” Hamilton said afterwards. “I don’t have a comeback because we haven’t researched it.”

To counter, Mahon said money from other levels of government was made available in the past to look at that very question, but was passed up. He said he’d be curious to see how any town council candidates fared this October if they ran on a platform proposing amalgamation.

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“What I’ve heard over my 16 years here is that there is not a lot of interest from the town of Battleford,” Mahon said. He cited several examples of bedroom communities adjacent to major cities like Edmonton and Vancouver, in many cases not even separated by a river the way Battleford and North Battleford are.

Hamilton said now was not necessarily the time for such a study.

“Personally, I would leave it. I don’t think this is the right time to devote the resources that would be necessary to do this in a holistic and comprehensive way,” he said. “We’ll take time and we will have to seek out the appropriate consultants and that sort of thing, seek assistance, maybe, from senior levels of government for some financial assistance and acquiring someone with the expertise to conduct the surveys and the work.”

Hamilton didn’t know if it would be possible to conduct the research without the cooperation of the town.

His address also touched on North Battleford’s continued presence atop the Crime Severity Index, despite a 17 per cent reduction in 2014, and the work that’s being done to address that. He also spoke about the work towards a downtown revitalization plan, work with the Regional Advisory Committee, and upcoming sporting events.

Mahon spoke on concerns about the town’s post office which is currently operating from trailers in a parking lot due to the condition of the old building. Realtors have inquired on Canada Post’s behalf about available property, but the Crown corporation says its review process is taking longer than expected.

gsmith@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @smithco