(file photo/battlefordsNOW staff)

By Angela Brown

City highlights

NB Mayor reflects on 2021 and plans ahead

Dec 28, 2021 | 5:27 PM

It was a busy past year for the City of North Battleford.

Mayor David Gillan reflected on the highlights of 2021 as well as some of the big projects planned for the year ahead, in an interview with battlefordsNOW.

Gillan said looking at 2021, some of the notable initiatives the city was involved in include joining the Coalition of Inclusive Municipalities. By signing the Declaration of Inclusive Municipalities, the City of North Battleford, along with all the other participating cities and towns across Canada, makes a commitment to take a stand against discrimination, and to promote inclusiveness.

“That was a very significant milestone in the city’s history, as we work towards a more inclusive community,” Gillan said.

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The city also had a role in collaborating with other agencies in the region to help keep the Battlefords homeless shelter going, after the Lighthouse Supported Living announced last February the facility was at risk of closing due to lack of funds.

“We worked with our partners BATC (Battlefords Agency Tribal Chiefs Inc.) and Métis Nation–Saskatchewan to ensure funding and continued operations of our emergency shelter…,” the mayor said. “We talk a lot about roads and pipes; now we’re talking about people who we really care about.”

Battlefords Agency Tribal Chiefs Inc. (BATC) took over operations of the facility in October for the interim.

Among the other efforts, the city was pleased to see progress were some successful land sales. The city sold over a million dollars’ worth of commercial and residential land in 2021.

The mayor said this bodes well for the city’s future.

Gillan added the past year was also a tough one in the throes of the pandemic that is still ongoing.

As 2021 came to a close, the city was also challenged with a difficult budget for the year ahead, due in part to increased RCMP contract costs, as well as other inflationary costs. Ratepayers will be facing a 5.11 per cent tax increase for the city’s 2022 operating budget.

The mayor said council worked hard to bring the originally proposed increase down from what was recommended by administration. But the impact from the RCMP costs, Gillan said, “is not something we can avoid.”

Other municipalities in the province are also facing similar concerns.

Looking ahead for 2022, Gillan said the city needs to keep investing in order to meet the needs of a growing community.

“The Sanitary Sewer Twinning Project is a prime example of that,” Gillan said. “In order for us to develop any more future subdivisions and develop more capacity in our city, we have to put in more capacity to handle the sanitary sewer.”

The work is currently underway and will continue into 2022.

The mayor noted this infrastructure project is a major investment for the city that will help keep it going for the next 50-plus years.

“It’s not something we do very often, for sure. But it’s definitely necessary,” he said.

The city is also continuing to install the new high-tech Smart Water Metres to upgrade the system.

“That is our plan, to have all the AMI [Advanced Metering Infrastructure] smart metres installed so we can have more up-to-date accurate billing for our ratepayers,” Gillan said. “That project is very important, and ongoing.”

The city also has more Underground Pipe and Asphalt Replacement (UPAR) work to undertake, and will focus on parts of 102 Street in the year ahead.

As well, the city will begin design work to improve the traffic flow at the intersection at Territorial Drive near Sobeys at the North end of the city.

“It’s in the budget. Of course, it is subject to provincial funding as well, because Territorial Drive is an Urban Highway Connector road,” Gillan said.

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow