5 city hall issues left dangling for 2018 (that have nothing to do with fire pits)
The money-challenged revamp of the city dump is just one issue that needs sorting through
Fire pits may have ruled the conversation at city hall and on Saskatoon social media by the end of 2017, but city councillors have plenty more irons in the fire for 2018.
The city's underfunded plan to revamp its landfill, uncertain timelines for the sale of some big land parcels, parking patios and the future of big postings at the city and the Saskatoon Police Service are just some of the issues facing city hall as the new year begins.
Here's a point-by-point rundown, in no particular order.
Dump doldrums
The city has a plan to give the landfill a $23.4-million facelift. That plan includes:
- Construction of a new $8-million waste cell. The currently-active cell is expected to fill up by 2020.
- The relocation of service buildings that have reached the end of their life.
- A new public landfill scale, transfer station and recycling centre, which together constitute the project known as Recovery Park.
Here are the full costs, sliced and diced:
There's just one problem: the city doesn't have all the money for all those things combined, only $7 million, in fact.
That's because when the city first drew up the plan for Recovery Park in 2011, it was hoped the money for it would come from the Landfill Replacement Reserve.
But revenues from the landfill have been "significantly below planned projections," according to a report from the city earlier this month. The result? The reserve is actually in a deficit.
The good news? Moving ahead with the current plan would cost a lot less than the alternative of building a new landfill. That's estimated to cost $100 million (not counting the cost of decommissioning the current dump), though the city is expected to refine that estimate in the first quarter of this year.
A revised funding estimate for the cheaper plan to redesign the current landfill will follow in mid-2018.
South Caswell Hill
One of the areas the city wants to redevelop is South Caswell Hill, home to the multi-acre former home (including bus barns) of Saskatoon Transit.
Back in October, the city said the transit parcels could be put on the market in the next five years.
But in a more recent update to councillors, the city says the timing of those sales is "undetermined" because it depends on further environmental remediation work needed at some of the transit sites.
Soil samples collected from some sites earlier this year showed lead levels higher than allowed for in residential areas.
More environmental work by SNC Lavalin is planned, and the city is expected to report back on the sales process some time this year.
Future riverfront development
Also in the "undetermined" camp are the two big remaining River Landing parcels — known a Parcels D/E and BB — south and east of the Saskatoon Farmers Market.
Parcel D/E is partly occupied by fiber network provider Zayo Canada Inc. (whose lease with the city ends in late 2019) and partly by a parking lot. Parcel BB's just empty.
Earlier in 2017, the city said it might put Parcel D up for sale late last year or early in 2018, "pending market conditions," paving the way for the sale of Parcel BB two years after Parcel D was developed. That sales process didn't happen.
In a more recent update, the city said the specific release dates for those parcels will be announced in the future.
Construction in another area of River Landing — on the opposite side of the Sid Buckwold Bridge — is moving swiftly in the meantime.
The Alt Hotel and adjacent condo development are well underway.
And construction on a nearby office tower began earlier this month.
"We remain on track for summer 2019 delivery for tenant fit up," said Blair Sinclair, an executive vice president with Triovest, the development manager representing the tower's two investors — Greystone Managed Investments and Victory Majors Investments Corporation.
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The hotel and condo are also eyeing 2019 opening dates, he added. The hotel was previously expected to open in the fall of 2018.
Triovest has leased 40 per cent of the tower, with law firm MLT Aitkins already confirmed as one of the future tenants.
"We are in active negotiations with several other groups and expect to make further tenant announcements in January," Sinclair said.
The tower is supposed to be built in tandem with a public plaza meant to serve as the centrepiece of the development, which also includes the already opened Remai Modern Art Museum.
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But exactly what that plaza will look like remains a mystery. One previous drawing showed "a reflective water feature," as Sinclair described it.
"Still a work in progress," said Sinclair recently. "We are striving to come up with something unique that will remain unique both in summer and winter seasons."
Parking patios
Councillors already asked city hall last August to review the current rules on how many parking patios are allowed on single blocks.
The request came after the general manager of a store that sells olive oil on Broadway Avenue complained patios on the street were costing the store business from car-driving customers deprived of parking.
But now — four months later — the Nutana Community Association has written in to defend the patios and challenge some of the manager's assertions.
"As several residents of the surrounding area have noted, these lots are rarely full to capacity and demonstrate a net surplus of parking in comparison to previous years," Lindsay Herman of the association wrote.
The pedestrian-vehicle orientation of Broadway remains out of whack in favour of cars, she added.
The debate is sure to continue this year.
Top positions
Two big shoes still need filling at the city and its police force: the post of general manager at the city and the position of police chief at the Saskatoon Police Service.
Departing Murray Totland attended his last council meeting as city manager on Dec. 18.
Neither position has been filled yet, leaving the possibility for some big announcements early this year.
This five-point list barely scrapes the surface. Not included in this list:
- Planned public consultation — expected to begin this month — on a new central library branch.
- The further refinement of the route for the proposed bus-rapid-transit system.
- The outcome, if any, of negotiations between the city and the Saskatchewan government on a reinstatement or replacement of the grants-in-lieu program.
- The potential shakeup of the city's advisory groups.
- The future of the divisive downtown bike lane network;
- The high-stakes first-year financials of the Remai Modern Art Museum.
- And the outcome of contract negotiations with city workers, to name just a few things.
2018 is indeed shaping up to be a busy year.
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