FULL REMARKS: Battleford, North Battleford mayors deliver joint address

The past year has been an exciting and eventful year in the Town of Battleford. As we enter our 112th year, we look forward to many positive developments, agreements, successful negotiations and adding more to the history of our great Town.

We must acknowledge the investment of the many corporations, shareholders, business and individuals who have made significant investments in our town over the past number of years.

Kramer Ltd. continues to invest in commercial land development surrounding the Caterpillar dealership on Yellowhead Alley and Kramer Crossing. Battle West Properties, Battleford Town Square and Riverbend Properties are marketing large pieces of land along Yellowhead Alley to interested parties.

The Battle West subdivision area is developing and we must congratulate developer Dean Kupchenko and his partners for their significant investment in the Town of Battleford.

The Town-owned Battle Springs subdivision continues to develop and a number of families have chosen this area as their home. Conceptual planning for the next phases of Battle Springs has started and council will be making the decision when the next Phase will proceed.

Crosby Hanna and Associates have been contracted to review and update the official community plan, bylaws and future land use plans. This document has been received by Town council and the first reading was passed on May 16. The community plan and zoning bylaw are in the public consultation stage and we welcome your comments.

Work has been substantially completed on the 23rd Street Storm Sewer, the Kramer Campground shower and washroom facility, the Highway Commercial sewage pumping station near the discovery co-op property, the Second Ave. paving project, the town hall boiler and window replacement project and the old bridges concrete pier rehabilitation. We have also taken delivery of a new fire pumper number one, a new garbage truck and a new zamboni.

The 300 block of 29th St. sewer and water main replacement project is proceeding and will be completed soon. The installation of the curb and gutter is under the current contract and will be scheduled following the completion of the base gravel. The paving work will be tendered and scheduled for 2017. This project is funded under the Build Canada infrastructure program and Battleford was one the 26 communities announced in the initial stage of the new program. We welcome the one third contribution of both the province of Saskatchewan and the government of Canada.

Work is continuing on the relocation of graves in the slumping northwest corner of the Battleford Cemetery. Phase one of the project was completed in 2015 and work on phase two began last year and is currently ongoing. Phase three work will start in the next few weeks.

The phase 4 area is under review as it is within the factor of safety zone. The work is being done by Eternal Memories Funeral Service and Crematorium. We thank them for their professionalism. If you have any questions or concerns please contact the town office.

Council has recently approved the purchase and installation of new computer software, hardware and servicing of the new equipment. This will replace the existing “historic” equipment and will allow staff and residents new options and reliability. (Any questions ask John)

We expect the 2015 audit to be presented to council in early June and the 2016 budget to be finalized in late June. The collective bargaining process with the union is scheduled for the week of June 19.

Many questions surround the Battleford Post Office. The town was approached by a Canada Post facility manager from Ottawa in June of 2015 in regard to potential renovations to the roof of the facility. In October the facility was closed and temporary locations were developed first at the Hillcrest Centre and then the current temporary location on 35 St.

The town has been approached by realtors representing Canada Post in regard to available land for a new facility within the community. Canada Post officials have recently responded that the review process is taking longer than they had originally expected.

We would like to acknowledge the work of all the town staff led by Chief Administrative John Enns Wind who joined us in January. We are in a transition process as a number of senior staff retired in 2015 and the Assistant Administrator accepted a banking job in his hometown.

I would like to thank the members of council for their guidance, wisdom, experience and dedication to the Town of Battleford. Thank you to all the residents for the support over the past year. We all look forward to our continued growth and to a strong and vibrant Battleford.

Have a great and enjoyable summer

Thank you.

North Battleford mayor Ian Hamilton:

Thank you once again to the Battlefords Chamber of Commerce for providing an opportunity to share with you some thoughts about the current state, of the city.

As I was not able to be with you at this time last year, I can’t begin to tell you how very happy I am to be with you this year, and I bring you greetings on behalf of council and residents of the City of North Battleford

We are very pleased with our success in developing and endorsing our annual budget in a very timely manner, this years’ budget being passed by Council prior to the end of December, 2015. This provides direction for city administration to implement operational goals and objectives proactively and also provides our citizens with the information important to them as it relates to taxation, utility and service fees for the year. It also allows for the preparation and release of tender documents early in the calendar year giving a better chance of obtaining competitive bids for major capital projects and purchases.

City council is pleased to have been able to keep property tax increases, (for most properties) under three per cent over 2015 rates. Utility rates have also been kept to a minimum, and service fees have been kept competitive as well.

City Council did decide to increase the UPAR frontage foot tax by $0.60 to $3.60/foot to realize additional funds to continue the necessary replacement of our aging and ever failing underground pipe and above ground asphalt. This year, it is projected we will attend to 13 blocks of underground pipe and asphalt replacement at an estimated cost of $3.1 million. This is essentially a minimum annual commitment and funds raised by the frontage foot levy/tax are dedicated to the infrastructure program and any surplus dollars realized will be carried over to the UPAR program in subsequent years.

I do not want to ‘skirt’ significant issues facing our community, and I must acknowledge that we still have the dubious distinction of being number one on the Crime Severity list of communities in Canada with populations over 10,000 residents.

What I can report to you is our untiring commitment to address this issue in our city, and our continuing investment in strategies to mitigate risk to our citizens and city properties.

The five pillars of our community safety strategy are:

Creating opportunities

Helping individuals and families with complex needs

Coordination of existing programs and seeking new programs

Crime prevention/crime suppression

Engagement of people within the ‘regional community’

The strategy is providing some tremendous results, for example:

The “Eyes that Care” initiative, including ‘Citizens on Patrol’ and Neighborhood Watch

Co-ordinating activities and community engagement, the SAGE community Action Group (SAGE is an acronym for Safety, Acceptance, Guidance, Empowerment)

Programs that help to fill the 13 to 18-year-old gap, such as working with Concern for Youth and the Emergency Services Responders Program where we are partnering with the province and three high schools, offering a credit program that will prepare youth for a career in emergency services after high school and just as important, and possibly more so, provide a positive organization for youth to feel a sense of belonging. To date, over 135 students have expressed interest in this program, with only 30 seats available.

Finally, the development and implementation of the Community Safety Officer program in North Battleford is unique in Canada. The protocols, relationships and understandings between the RCMP and the CSO program are groundbreaking and receiving national attention. It has been hard work and I need to commend the commitment of Fire Chief Albert Headrick, City Manager Jim Puffalt, Inspector John Sutherland and Community Safety Coordinator Herb Sutton for their contributions to the program and the safety of our citizens.

And, it should never be understated that the support of your city council for public safety initiatives is undeniably a significant contributing factor to the accomplishments of this program.

In 2014, it was reported that North Battleford achieved a 17 per cent reduction in the crime as reported in the Crime Severity Index. This was a significant decrease in relation to the rest of Saskatchewan and indeed Canada, and while it appears that 2015 will see some increases in certain types of crime reported, it could be that statistics have increased because our investment in the Community Safety Officer program has relieved RCMP personnel of responsibilities of lower risk and harm activities and allowed them to concentrate on criminal code and drug offences, both of which saw increases in 2015 over 2014.

Capital investment in our community, as reported thru building permit statistics, remained strong throughout 2015 with total dollar value of permits issued exceeding $29 million. This was down from 2014, yet it would be recognized some significant commercial and industrial alteration permits were issued in 2014.

Currently, we can report that a robust capital investment climate is being experienced in 2016 with announced and in ground projects including the Battlefords Trade and Education centre building, and a new build within the Frontier Centre for the relocation of Dollarama. Of course a new 100 room hotel has been announced for construction beginning in 2016 and obvious expectations of a new franchise restaurant to be developed in the southeast quadrant.

The construction of the new Saskatchewan Hospital will impact the community in the coming two – year construction period, undoubtedly contributing significant economic benefit to local business. I encourage all residents of North Battleford, business and individual, to welcome those visitors participating in our local activities and consumers of goods and services being offered by our business community. And may I take this opportunity to encourage your financial support to the fundraising efforts underway to pay for the furnishings of the new hospital.

The city, with herculean efforts of Leisure Services Director Samborski, Destination Battlefords Executive Director Ryan Bater and his assistant Kerry Volk were successful in winning the bid to host the 2018 Winter Games. This will be a major economic impact for the city and bring a very positive profile to our community. Another significant event to be hosted in January 2017 is the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling, a nationally televised sporting event followed by millions. Congratulations to the efforts of the Twin Rivers Curling Club and especially Russ Brown and Wayne Cubbon for attracting that very exciting event to North Battleford.

We have received the interim report on the Downtown Revitalization Action Plan, commissioned to Crosby Hanna & Associates. The objective of this project is to produce a plan that will not only guide the development of Downtown North Battleford over the next 25 years but would serve as a catalyst for generating investment and economic activity in the city.

The city has implemented its previously announced ‘Regional Opportunities Plan’ and in doing so, established a Regional Advisory Committee to help regional partners coordinate on large projects and work together to source new opportunities. To build upon our strengths as a region, six objectives have been identified that may contribute the best opportunities for success, including:

First Nations engagement

Value chain manufacturing

Mineral processing

Oil & gas

Agriculture

Renewable energy sources

Work is ongoing to investigate opportunities in these areas, and develop strategies to achieve the goals and objectives of the advisory committee.

To conclude, I would like to acknowledge one indisputable fact, the ‘state of the town’ is significantly impacted and influenced by the ‘state of the city’, and vice versa.

I am often asked, ‘Why are we not one community?’, and I do often wonder what ‘might’ or ‘could’ be, such as:

Is there benefit to representing ourselves as one community of nearly 20,000 persons, and the fifth largest City in Saskatchewan?

Would prospective business interests view us more favorably as one city of 20,000 and the hub of a functional economic area representing over 95,000 people?

Together, are we ‘more’, than just the sum of two parts?

I can’t answer the question, “Why are we not one community?”, because I don’t know… I don’t know the potential costs, or the potential financial benefit of amalgamation.

Do the potential costs outweigh the benefits of a favorable economic environment?

Would the financial benefits be sufficient to overcome the sense of loss of autonomy and control?

We need to stop wondering, and research the answers. We need actual information to assess the cost-benefit analysis of any proposal in considering partnerships, cooperation, collaboration or, perhaps even amalgamation of our two communities. And, we need to cooperate and share information in order to gather all that is needed to evaluate the options.

This is the challenge I leave you to consider as residents and business owners in our community, and a challenge for newly elected councils to ponder as they determine future directions that, hopefully, will lead our communities to future growth and prosperity, providing our future generations with opportunity and a quality of life they will certainly deserve.

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by battlefordsNOW Staff

FULL REMARKS: Battleford, North Battleford mayors deliver joint address

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