The purchase of two new shuttle buses for the city - acquired in order to access financial assistance available from the Canada-Saskatchewan Public Transit Agreement - was one of the highlights of a busy Monday night council meeting.
The grant money was available from the federal and provincial governments, said Director of Business Development Denis Lavertu to reporters after the meeting. Lavertu said the purchase of the buses was done in wake of the recent recommendations for a new transit model in the city calling for, among other things, smaller buses such as the ones being purchased.
Council is still working to complete a transit model that will be cost-effective, said Lavertu. "In order to develop a model we're going to need more buses," he added.
Even though the transit model is not complete, Lavertu said the City decided to go ahead with acquiring the new buses to meet deadlines for funding available through the Canada-Saskatchewan Public Transit Agreement.
The buses are similar to the smaller buses currently used for the Handi-Bus special needs transit service. The guidelines call for between 23 and 25 seats.
Mayor Ian Hamilton said the purchase "takes us one step further to a transit system we need so badly."
On a related topic, Colleen Sabraw of the Early Childhood Community Planning Network led a delegation including Jane Ziekle of the United Way and Janet Hainestock of Kids First, who spoke of the transit needs of families in the community. They told councillors about the struggles of individuals who don't have vehicles and who are hindered in getting to medical appointments because of transportation issues they face.
They provided a map outlining important transit points in the city. Councillors were happy to receive the detailed information as they continue their work on the City transit issues in the city.
Other items discussed at Monday night's meeting included a request by Concern for Youth for a grant. The organization is requesting $47,540 and the request came up for review under the Community Development Financial Assistance Program. The committee maintains the funding requirements of Concern for Youth go beyond the intent of that program.
Instead of going through that program, the city passed a resolution that the funding requirements and core services of Concern for Youth be reviewed and a separate strategy to assist the organization be developed. Council's final recommendation for a funding amount will come with the 2011 operating budget figures.
In connection to the city's budget plans for 2011, the first round of budget deliberations is set to begin as the 2011 water, sanitary sewer and sanitation budget was in the process of being finalized by administration officials.
City Director of Finance Byron Tumbach indicated the budget document was to be completed this week and a meeting has been scheduled for Monday night at 6:30 p.m. That meeting is also open to members of the public and is expected to run until 9 pm.
The water, sanitary sewer and sanitation budget marks the beginning of the long budget process. It is the first of three budget documents that will be deliberated by council, with administration to present later on the 2011 capital and the operations budgets.
