WILKIE — First, I would like to clear up some facts in regard to the intended local improvement project on 4th Street West and a few avenues between 4th Street West and 5th Street West that have since been petitioned out by the property owners who would have been affected.
Council fully respects that the majority of property owners affected by this local improvement do not wish to pay a portion of the cost to have this work done and as per legislation, Council cannot continue with this project for at least 12 months. Town council will be deciding, through the budget process, if work will be done to potentially try a local improvement on a different street in 2024. Discussions to this point have been preliminary.
There are a number of things to take into consideration when determining how major projects are going to be paid for:
1. How have similar projects been financed in the past? When pavement first came into the community, local improvements were used to finance part of this cost. The last local improvement done in our community was in 1998 on 1st Avenue which is considered the “truck route.” Other major projects before that were in 1980 and 1988, so our pavement is more than 40 years old in areas of town and has outlived its useful life as nothing lasts forever.
2. Fiscal capacity: the municipality is unable or unwilling to fund the project with its own resources. Whether through taxes or local improvement charges, property owners will be paying the bill.
3. Control demand helps the council determine if the project is a “need” or a “want.” For years, town council has heard the residents want pavement, until you actually take these costs to the property owners you don’t have a definite answer.
4. Choices available to property owners: this includes the property owners having a right to petition against the work. There are three ways for a local improvement to take place, with the right to petition, without the right to petition or when a petition is received by council to undertake a specific work.
Town Council used the resources that were available to them through the Local Improvements Act, 1993 and as per that act received permission from the Saskatchewan Municipal Board – Local Government Committee. Without this approval, town council would not have been able to continue with the next step of the process which was to send notices of intent to those property owners affected.
Once again town council fully respects the petition that was received and the processes that are put in place by the government of Saskatchewan which keep us all accountable to our residents.
Residents are reminded the Wilkie Medical Clinic is open and currently has doctors in attendance at the clinic Monday mornings, Wednesday afternoons and Tuesday and Fridays all day. Please continue to use the services of the doctors who come to our community, so we do not lose this important service.
Some details for our upcoming fun-filled day on June 17. The day will start with a parade, followed by a barbecue and car show. Wilkie Minor Ball will have games at Wilkie Regional Park and the petting zoo will have a family afternoon. There will also be free swimming at the Wilkie Swimming Pool. Evening entertainment will take place on the arena ice surface with a concert and will include a silent auction with proceeds to go to our new swimming pool project.
The swimming pool season is coming up quickly! Supplies are getting ordered and staff is being hired for another amazing pool season. Watch for opening dates and swimming lesson times when they are finalized.
We are in the process of deciding who will be building our new swimming pool. Deadline for tenders was March 24 and we received two. We are going through the tenders, and we will award our project to the winning tender by the April 14 deadline.
