6 councillors to watch during Monday's key vote on a new Saskatoon library

Saskatoon city councillors will decide Monday whether to spend big bucks building a new downtown library branch.

Councillors are being asked to approve a maximum of $152.7 million in capital spending — including an $87.5-million loan the city will take out on behalf of the Saskatoon Public Library service.

It's all part of 2020 city budget talks, which get underway Monday at 1 p.m. CST. The budget for the Saskatoon Police Service, which is asking for more street cop positions in the wake of a record year for homicides, is also up for review Monday.

The price tag for a new library includes the cost of purchasing new land, since the service won't rebuild at its current downtown location on the corner of 23rd Street E. and Fourth Avenue S. 

The new library's budget is also adjusted for inflation and set in 2026 dollars — the year the library is expected to open. 

In 2019 dollars, that's about $144 million. 

What about other big projects?

Ward 4 councillor Troy Davies has already said he won't vote in support of the library proposal. Instead, he'll introduce a motion asking the library board to go back to the drawing board for a cheaper plan.

Davies said he drew up the motion "considering the significant tax impact the proposed project would have if approved."

• Saskatoon city councillor says new library is too costly, seeks support for cheaper plan
• Why not a high-rise on top? Plus 6 other burning questions facing a new $154M Saskatoon library

The city has confirmed that while borrowing for the library project alone would not puncture the city's debt ceiling, "it is the cumulative impact of all projects requiring borrowing that will impact the city's debt."

Meanwhile, groups have been promoting other big projects to city council.  

"Most of our members would not put the library at the top of the priority list," said Keith Moen, the executive director of the Northern Saskatoon Business Association. "Whether or not the library is as much of a magnet or draw to folks as an arena sports facility, I have my doubts."

In a recent letter to city council, the board for TCU Place asked for "special consideration" when it comes to a new convention centre. 

"We don't feel like we're in competition with the library," board chair Jen Pereira told CBC News, adding that a new library has been in the planning for longer than a new convention centre.

Still, "we're putting [the convention centre] project in front of city council so they are aware of the board placing this as a priority for the future."

Sure bets 

Monday's vote on the library is crucial.

Saskatoon Public Library CEO Carol Cooley has said the project's financials are predicated on a 2026 opening. Council approval would trigger such key moves as hiring an outside consultant to fundraise $15 million for the project, not to mention an open competition in search of a designer for the 149,000-square-foot facility. 

Cooley appears to be walking into Monday's meeting feeling confident.

"What we're hearing from council is recognition that Saskatoon needs a new central library," Cooley said.

• 6 Saskatoon groups tell why they want a new downtown library

Indeed, even councillors who have flagged the project's price tag — such as Randy Donauer (Ward 5) — have said they support a new library.

The question is how many councillors agree with Davies that the current plan is too costly, or have doubts for other reasons, to support the plan this stage.

Mayor Charlie Clark and councillors Mairin Loewen (Ward 7) and Hilary Gough (Ward 2) seem likely to vote in favour. 

Gough, who sits on SPL's board of directors, pointed out in a recent blog post that Saskatoon's per resident debt load is the lowest among comparable western Canadian cities. 

"The Saskatoon Public Library is well positioned, through organizational readiness and a very focused strategic plan, to function efficiently in a new building," Gough wrote.

Before councillors recently asked the city for more information on the impact of the library project, Loewen said she felt they already knew enough — and pushed back against what she described as "resistance." 

"I don't think it's all necessary for us to do our due diligence in terms of what we are asked to do in the legislation," which was to vote on the library borrowing, Loewen said. 

"This is the first time I've heard due diligence and fiscal review referred to as a roadblock," Ward 1 councillor Darren Hill said. 

• Building a new downtown library a 'once in a lifetime' opportunity, councillor says

Clark recently wrote on his own blog that "this project has been underway for many years, but now is a crucial time for due diligence and making the best decisions for our community's future." 

"I believe that we need to move forward with getting a library built, but that there are important questions that need to be answered before proceeding," he added. 

Other councillors to watch 

Davies needs five fellow councillors to vote against the plan. 

Here are five other councillors to watch closely on Monday. (All subsequent quotes are from city council chambers unless otherwise indicated.)

Ann Iwanchuk (Ward 3)

Iwanchuk is included here for a simple reason: she was the only councillor absent from the September debate that followed the unveiling of the library's business case. She is therefore the councillor from whom we've heard the least on this subject. 

Darren Hill (Ward 1)

Hill has said it's difficult to decide on funding when the project is not at the design stage. 

"When we had Children's Discovery Museum [now Nutrien Wonderhub] in front of us, they told us what their vision was in terms of their service and what they were going to provide. They had it pictured and we saw it," Hill told SPL brass back in September.

"But yours is changing because the nature of what you do changes so rapidly that it's hard for us to get a picture of that, and what we would be allocating to our debt level for that."

Randy Donauer (Ward 5)

Donauer recently wrote to his constituents that "whether to approve the borrowing and tax increases will be a tough decision for city council."

"We can't build everything residents want," he added, "so we need to know your priorities."

In city council chambers, Donauer has said he has "no appetite to rush either the administration or this council on a $150-million dollar decision" on what he described as a quick turnaround.

The SPL board was originally expected to present its business case earlier in the year but the report was delayed until last September — just two months before Monday's big vote. 

Bev Dubois (Ward 9)

Dubois was among the councillors who was keen for the city to report back on various aspects of the business case. 

"I certainly support the library and I know we have to move forward with it at some point," she said.  

"But I also feel … it has to go together with everything else that we are doing in the city, with our capital and our debt and everything."

Zach Jeffries (Ward 10)

Jeffries recognized the need for a new library, too.

"We know that just even from a life, health, safety, bathroom situation that it's not sufficient," he said. 

But Jeffries also wondered about the impact on Saskatoon's debt load. He also raised other projects that need attention.

"I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the need for new leisure facilities in northeast Saskatoon," he said. "That's something I've talked about a lot in these chambers and … there likely is going to be some of that that's contingent on a borrowing element.

"So I want to have a certain level of certainty … we don't jeopardize some of those other important projects."