Melville Council Meeting Updates

05/22/2024

Melville Council Meeting Update - Monday, May 21

Our second Regular Meeting of Council for May began with a delegation from the Melville Regional Park, who came to discuss their grant allotment from our previous meeting. Concerned citizens or organizations have the right to request to be put on the agenda as a delegation. The Mayor and Council will listen to their concerns and ask questions, and generally refer the matter to a future regular council or workshop meeting where City staff can provide reports for more context.

The Regional Park board had requested $70,000 in their grant application, and received roughly $56,000. The City budgets about $100,000 in grants to provide to community organizations and groups who apply. There is a detailed scoring rubric that the management team uses to assess these requests and they make recommendations to Council, who ultimately decide which organizations receive a grant, and how much money each will receive.

Council was told that the Regional Park will be operating at a deficit of $16,000 this year. Various councillors asked the delegation numerous questions, including what they had done to reduce costs, if they had applied for other grants, and if they had looked into sponsorship opportunities. Following Confidential Committee of the whole, a motion was passed to deny the Melville Regional Park additional funding at this time, but to encourage members of their board to meet with City of Melville staff to go through their financials and budget in order to create a long-term, sustainable plan going forward.

Council addressed correspondence from Home Hardware that was inquiring about why the curbs in front of their store are painted yellow, denoting a no parking zone. We referred management to follow up with Home Hardware staff.

The final motion to come from open council was to declare May 19-25 as National Public Works Week. We are incredibly proud of our City of Melville public works staff, who work hard to keep our streets clear of snow in the winter, keep water flowing through our sewer system all year, ensure workplace safety standards are always maintained, and play a huge role in keeping Melville as a healthy, vibrant, safe, and inclusive community!

Our next meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 3rd. It is open to the public, and a live stream is available, as well!

05/09/2024

Hey, everyone!

It's been a while since I posted... I'm not particularly active on Facebook, and when I created this page it was largely with the purpose of keeping people apprised of Council proceedings during a time when the Advance did not have a reporter on staff to attend Council meetings.

I hadn't felt the need to post since Jacob Miller and his notebook have been mainstays at our meetings, but at our strategic plan meeting on April 27th, one of the goals this Council is focused on is transparency and ensuring citizens are aware of what's going on. As such, I agreed to do my best to post updates after our Regular Meetings of Council.

Our most recent meeting was on May 6th. We began by discussing correspondence received from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in which they requested the City waive rental fees for the CN Community Centre lobby, which will be the base for their community walk on Saturday, June 8th. Council was in favour of this idea and unanimously approved a motion to allow the use of the space without cost to their organization.

The next item on the agenda was a request from a citizen of Melville to look into signage to direct people visiting the city to the downtown core. No motion resulted from this request. I can confidently say that this is not due to a lack of concern from Mayor Streelasky and Council about the sustainability of our downtown, but rather due to the fact that Council and City staff continue to work with the Melville and District Chamber of Commerce to build strategies to promote our businesses.

Council also received correspondence from volunteers who had been maintaining the North Melville Cemetery. We as a council passed a motion to have administrative staff look deeper into the request, as we weren't sure which cemetery they have been maintaining (there are a couple, aside from the main cemetery off of highway #47 to the south of the CN yard), as well as the costs of maintenance. The management team will bring this information to Council at a future meeting.

Our final piece of correspondence came from the Recreation, Culture, and Tourism Committee. It outlined the grants they allotted to community organizations. That money comes from Sask Lotteries.

On the subject of grants, the City of Melville budgets approximately $100,000 annually to provide to organizations that apply. The management team has created a scoring rubric that assesses these applications based on criteria including their alignment to the City of Melville's vision, mission, and strategic plan, as well as regionalism, community impact, the number of people making use of these organizations, and organizational capacity.

The Regional Park received the largest grant (roughly $57,000), as this funding is critical to its continued operations. Other successful applicants included the Heritage Museum, Curling Club, Agri Park, Chamber of Commerce, Kidsville Indoor Playground, Melville Minor Football, Town and Country 4H Club, Physician Recruitment and Retention Committee, Rail Station Heritage Association, Nordic Trails Club, and Beautification Melville.

While most of the grants come in the form of cash, there are also thousands of dollars worth of non-monetary disbursements, which would include things like having City employees setting up barricades for events and watering the flower barrels that decorate our downtown core.

Council received the March and April reports of water distribution, which outline the monthly testing done on our water. As always, all tests came back well within our permit to operate.

Our Youth Council Mayor, Marion Ajiboye, provided an update on the Colour Run, which is the Youth Council's first major initiative. On June 8th, participants of all ages will have the opportunity to run through the Regional Park (1km, 2km, 3km, 4km, or 5km) with volunteers at various points showering them with non-toxic, water soluble coloured powder. There will be games set up in Centennial Park (beside the pool) and the fire department will be running their giant slip and slide. In the afternoon, staff from the Saskatchewan Science Centre will be in the park doing demonstrations.

The run itself costs $10 for adults, $5 for kids, and kindergarten and under are free. Participants will be provided with a t-shirt and sunglasses for the run. It promises to be a great way to get active and have a lot of fun. Registration can be found on the City of Melville page!

This was the last item before we went into Confidential Committee of the Whole, which is the only part of the meeting that is not open to the public or media. In these sessions, the Mayor and Council discuss issues brought to us by administrative staff that cannot be made public due to their sensitive nature. These generally fall under the "three L's": land, labour, and legal.

While we do our best to be as transparent as possible, there are some things that simply cannot be discussed in a public setting. For example, if Council is giving direction to administration for a land purchase, we may outline what our top offer would be. Obviously, this would not put us in a good bargaining position if that number was made public before we began negotiations with a seller! Personnel issues may be discussed in these sessions, and employees are (and should) be protected by the Local Authority Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (LA FOIP).

No motions came out of this confidential session.

While we normally meet on the first and third Mondays of each month, our next meeting is on Tuesday, May 21 at 6:00 p.m. Of course, these meetings are open to all members of the public who may wish to attend.

12/07/2021

Melville Council Proceedings – December 6, 2021
Councillor Andrew Rondeau

Melville City Council met on Monday, December 6, for its Regular Council and Workshop meetings.

The main item on the agenda was the City of Melville 2022 operational budget. Council had met multiple times over the previous week to hear presentations and submissions from City Manager Ron McCullough and the senior management team.

At the December 6th meeting, the 2022 budget was passed and comes with a 7.95% tax increase. All Councillors are aware that this is a significant increase, however there are many factors that are unavoidable.

Much of the increase is due to the following:
• Utility costs have risen significantly. SaskPower rates are higher, and while these were offset last year with a one-time rebate to all ratepayers. This rebate helped in 2021, but has no impact on 2022 rates.
• The SaskEnergy rate for natural gas is up 28%, propane is up 300%, and the costs of gasoline and diesel fuel are also substantially higher than they were in 2021. The city has a lot of buildings and equipment to run and these costs are unavoidable.
• The RCMP’s new contract comes with back pay and a pay increase for its members. This brings more costs to the City.
• The City of Melville receives a substantial payment from the Provincial government, and the projected payment for 2022 is much lower than it was in 2021.
• In 2021, Council elected to defer a 3.5% tax increase, hoping the economic hardships resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic would be at least somewhat alleviated. Though we remain in the throes of the pandemic, we cannot continue to defer this further. 1.16% of that deferred increase has been included in this budget

These increases are non-negotiable and outside of the control of the City of Melville.

The budget comes with a lot of investment in our community, as well. Some of the projects approved for 2022 include:
• Enhancing the Occupational Health and Safety program with the addition of a Safety Officer. There is nothing more important to Council than the safety of City employees, and while things were operating as safely as possible, the addition of a Safety Officer will ensure conditions meet all provincial regulations and documentation is up to date.
• It’s no secret that many of Melville’s roads are in bad shape. This budget includes the purchase of a mastic sealer and asphalt recycler which can be used to maintain and prolong the life of our roads and save significant money in the long-term.
• Also regarding roads, $985,000 has been earmarked for repaving on 3rd Avenue and Prince Edward Street.
• The City’s lagoon has not been compliant with environmental regulations for many years. The budget includes $6.72 million for a lagoon upgrade and expansion. This project opens the door to industrial and residential expansion, as well.
• The costs to improve Lift Station #1 on the north end of Main Street are part of this budget. That project is well-underway and critical to flood prevention. The old lift station was long past its lifespan and hazardous to employees.
• The landfill will be expanded, at a cost of $3.8 million. This is a project years in the making, and had we not gone forward with it we would have had to shut down the existing landfill, which would have cost millions of dollars and left us having to send our garbage to another location.
• The swimming pool will be ready to open to the public in the summer, assuming there are no more delays due to supply chain problems.

In total, this budget contains more than $15 million in capital investment in the City of Melville. Some of the money to pay for these projects will come in the form of loans, some from reserves, and some from taxes.

Council essentially had three choices. We could have deferred the costs on ratepayers until future years, but that is not a responsible decision. These expenses would come due sooner than later and would cost a lot more money down the road. The option to drastically reduce services was an option, but there are not a lot of services provided by the City that Council was willing to cut. Furthermore, once something is gone, it is likely gone forever.

Another option would be to empty all reserves, but this would simply mean drastic – and unpredictable – increases in the future.
7.95% is a large increase, and Council understands that. However, when considering that inflation is at almost 4% and increases to the costs of everything from lumber to fuel to steel, as well as the losses in revenue resulting from the pandemic and the May ice storm, there was no other viable choice. This increase equates to an average monthly cost of less than $17 for residential ratepayers, and an average $30 monthly increase for businesses, but the hope is it will mean considerable savings in the future.

Over the past five years, the senior management team has done a phenomenal job of finding redundancies and cutting costs, but at this point there were not many more cuts that could be made. The City has an asset management program in place which puts money into reserve accounts so that we are prepared when equipment or capital assets need repair or replacement. Council was not willing to empty those accounts and download these massive unknown costs to a later date.

From the smallest hamlet to the largest city, all Saskatchewan communities are facing similar infrastructure crises, and Melville is no exception. For decades, “tomorrow’s problems” have been ignored, leaving urban and rural municipalities with urgent and serious problems today. Melville City Council was not willing to continue to ignore these issues. While this budget does not solve the City’s infrastructure deficit, it is a start. It is a very progressive budget and Council believes it is critical to the long-term viability of the City of Melville.

And, if I may editorialize, it's very important to note that a 1% tax increase equates to about $50,000 for the City of Melville. Consider these projects. I am not trying to suggest that 7.95% is a minor increase. It's not. It's a big ask, and all of us are well-aware of that fact. However, with close to 5% of the increase coming from costs that are outside of the City's control (inflation, RCMP costs, utilities, etc.), the 7.95% is a tremendous value when considering the substantial investment that is occurring. We considered a 5-6% increase, but that doesn't address anything long-term, and who knows what things will cost if we put them off until a later date. The extra 2-3% equates to less than $5 per month for the average property owner and will almost certainly mean the City is in a much better position to take on more investment in road repair and other critical areas in the future, while saving a whole lot of money in the process.

Council meets next on Monday, December 20, at 6:00 p.m. and, as always, the public is welcome to attend these meetings.

10/19/2021

Melville Council Proceedings – October 18, 2021
Councillor Andrew Rondeau

Melville City Council met on Monday, October 4th for its regular council and workshop meetings.

Prior to the Regular Meeting, Council was pleased to welcome University of Regina President Dr. Jeff Keshen and Associate Vice President Lisa Mitchell. The goal of this meet-and-greet was to discuss ways for Council to assist the U of R with better engaging with local high school students.

When it was time for the meeting itself, the primary focus was on the 3rd quarter financial Report. Lynsey Swanson, Director of Finance, laid out the economic position of the City. While the pandemic has had considerable impact on the expenditures and revenues of the City of Melville, it is the ice storm we experienced in May that is having the most drastic effect on the financial picture.

Clean up from the storm has cost over $1.2 million thus far, with the majority of these expenses coming from the Regional Park and also the golf course. A significant portion of this will be reimbursed by the Provincial Disaster Assistance Program (PDAP). The park and golf course are their own entities and separate from the City of Melville so they must submit their expenses individually, but in tandem with the City of Melville.

Once all submissions have been made, PDAP will review the claims and issue a payment. However, until this happens the City is forced to pay these expenses through various surplus accounts, primarily the Unappropriated Surplus fund. This account will need to be replenished as soon as possible, but assuming the money is received from PDAP in the interim, this will not have to be done through a one-time increase to municipal taxes.

During the open questions and announcements portion of the meeting, Andrew Fahlman, Director of Public Works, provided an update regarding the construction occurring on Lift Station #1 on Main Street. Though work had to be temporarily halted to ensure safe work standards were being met, the project is going at full speed and is close to being back on schedule.

Chris Bruce, Director of Recreation and Community Services, then provided an update of his own about the replacement of the ice plant at the Merv Moore SportsPlex. At present, all components have arrived on schedule and work is being done to have the facility operational by the end of December. This is on track with the timeframes originally proposed.

Our next meeting is on Monday, November 1st at 6:00 p.m. and is, as always, open to the public. An audio link for the meeting can also be found at the City of Melville website for those wishing to listen live.

09/09/2021

Melville Council Proceedings – September 7, 2021

Hey, all! Sorry for the huge gap between posts. We've only had two meetings since June because of our summer schedule and I was on vacation for the July meeting. The August meeting was a quick one, and there wasn't much on the agenda that would be of interest to too many people.

We met on Tuesday, September 7th for our regular council and workshop meetings. Over the summer months, Council meets only once per month, but is now back to the normal schedule of meetings on the first and third Mondays of each month.

The agenda was relatively short. The projects budgeted for and approved are in full swing and completed and directors have already begun the extensive planning and effort that goes in to drafting the 2022 budget.

Council passed a motion to recognize National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as a statutory holiday for municipal employees. Developing relationships with neighbouring communities, R.M.’s, and First Nations is one of the pillars of Council’s strategic plan and honouring the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Report is an important step in building these relationships.

Andrew Fahlman, Director of Public Works presented the Future Serviceability Study to Council. This is a very important document, as it outlines potential sites for industrial and residential development, noting costs of providing utilities and services to the various locations. This study will serve as a blueprint for future growth – commercial, residential, and industrial – for the City.

Council then passed a motion for an Industrial Concept Planning Study, also at Director Fahlman’s request. This will be an even more detailed examination of City owned properties, with an emphasis on which sites will be ideal to meet the needs of potential industrial opportunities of different sizes and scopes. In the short time since Melville earned the first Biodiversity Development Opportunity Zone designation in Canada, many companies have contacted our City Manager with potential opportunities for industrial construction. A Concept Planning Study allows the City to hit the ground running when these opportunities present themselves, as much of the groundwork will have already been done.

Finally, coming out of the closed session of the meeting, Council passed a motion to encourage all residents to follow Saskatchewan Health Authority guidelines in City facilities – and everywhere else. These include wearing masks, social distancing, hand hygiene, and we strongly encourage our residents to get vaccinated.

Cases are rising at an untenable rate province-wide, and though numbers in Melville have remained low in comparison to most places in Saskatchewan, it is critical that we remain vigilant in our efforts to keep ourselves, our families, and our children safe against Covid-19 and the variants of concern.

Our next meeting is on Monday, September 20th at 6:00 p.m. and is, as always, open to the public.

06/26/2021

Last night, we met as a Council to discuss the upcoming Canada Day celebration plans in light of the discovery of 751 unmarked graves down the road at former Marieval Residential School on the Cowessess First Nation. We elected to postpone our plans of fireworks and a parade until a time that is more fitting.

All Councillors and Mayor Streelasky shared their thoughts and perspectives and in the end the vote was 7-0 to postpone. Here are the arguments I presented:

I am phenomenally proud to be Canadian. I love my country. Canada Day is a big deal at my house, as we always host a big bash decorating our yard and ourselves with the maple leaf. If you've spent a semester in my classroom, you've heard me state that I know that Canada is the greatest country in the world. However, that doesn't mean I'm proud of all of my country's history. I love my kids more than anything in the world and am incredibly proud of them. While they sometimes do things I am not proud of, it doesn't mean I love them any less. We are not "punishing" Canada, but rather showing those who are grieving that we share that grief.

The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations recommended muting or cancelling Canada Day celebrations after the discovery of over 200 unmarked graves at the Kamloops Indian Residential School and many communities in B.C. elected to do so.

Cowessess is only a short drive from us. Members of the First Nation live in Melville. Even members who do not live here attend school in the city, play sports, support Melville businesses and are a part of our community. They are grieving in a way I cannot even fathom and the time simply isn't right to host a parade and fireworks when our friends and neighbours are suffering.

In Canada, parades are celebrations. In Melville, we have had parades for Santa Claus, Railway Days, graduations. They are cause for happiness and joy. The only solemn parade I can think of is a funeral procession. Fireworks are also celebratory. We considered the idea of making the parade an act of reconciliation, but then we would not even be focused on Canada Day and what would be the point?

Frankly, our Canada Day parade and fireworks are relatively new traditions. Until quite recently, we did not do a Canada Day party, but rather held festivities around Railway Days in August. And, this year's planned activities are still reined in by Covid regulations. If we wait a few weeks until all restrictions are limited, we can host parties in the parks, have fireworks where attendees wouldn't be confined to their vehicles, and really get together as a community.

We also must consider the two perspectives - there are those who want to have a big party and those who are in mourning. When I considered whose needs are more significant, the choice is obvious. If my next-door neighbours had suffered a terrible tragedy, I would not be inviting my friends over to fire up the barbecue and blast music. It would not be appropriate, and this is no different. Some of our municipal tax revenue goes towards paying for accessible transportation. I do not have use of that service, but am happy to pay for it because it is a small sacrifice for the people in greatest need. Waiting a few weeks to host a parade and fireworks display is not a significant sacrifice.

And, finally, we are NOT cancelling Canada Day. We do not have the authority to veto a federal statutory holiday, nor would we want to. Anyone who suggests that's what we are doing is being willfully ignorant. We are simply saying that now is not the time for us to host a party. Many of us have cancelled or postponed events in our own families due to tragedies, and this is no different. Residents are encouraged to commemorate July 1st as they see fit, and we'll host our party later on in the summer.

Because of the timing of the discovery of 751 unmarked graves, it would not be right to host a parade. Because of our proximity to the Cowessess First Nation where those graves were found, it would not be right to blow off fireworks. We are not cancelling anything, but postponing the event because this is not the year to celebrate, but rather to support our neighbours who are suffering, reflect on what it means to be Canadian and to learn to begin to move forward, together.

06/26/2021

06/23/2021

Melville City Council met remotely on Monday, June 21 for a meeting that focused on oral reports from the City Manager and Directors.

The first of these was in regard to the ice storm. Clean-up is still ongoing and will continue over the upcoming months. The City still has a couple of tree removal companies contracted to assist with this so that our public works and recreation and community services employees can focus on other tasks.

As of Monday, expenses to the City of Melville had reached $552,000 and there is still more to come. Management has met with representatives from the Provincial Disaster Assistance Program (PDAP) in anticipation of recovering some of these costs. Thus far, these expenses have been drawn from the City’s unappropriated surplus reserve account.

An evaluation has been done on almost all trees within the city limits. Residents may notice many trees that have been banded or painted. Red or orange bands mean the tree must be removed. Pink bands note significant branch removal must be done, and blue bands signify the tree needs some trimming. Over 200 trees have been marked for removal.

All of this will take time, and in the coming months Council will be presented with a plan to plant new trees to replace those that have been lost. Many, if not most, of the felled trees were at the end of their lifespan and this can be an opportunity to rejuvenate our urban forest.

Andrew Fahlman, Director of Public Works, gave a report to Council about the status of the projects that were budgeted for the 2021 year. While weather and natural disasters have had an impact on some time frames, we are still in good shape to see completion on these.

Paving on Prince William Drive will commence on July 12 and take roughly ten days. Our sidewalks have all been GPS mapped so that plans can be made for future repairs to those in the worst shape, but in the interim sidewalks at several intersections have been rebuilt to be accessible. The trip hazard remediation that has been ongoing over several years will continue periodically over the summer.

Chris Bruce, Director of Public Works, provided a multimedia report on the construction of the new pool. There have been many challenges resulting from all of the rain we received in the spring, but the project is well-underway.

Interior construction to the pool house includes new family and gender neutral change rooms, rebuilding the guard room, retrofitting the walk-up counter to include a point of sale terminal, as well as a major facelift to the walls, floors, drains, doors, and fixtures. The roof, soffits, eaves, and lighting of the pool house is nearing completion, as well.

In terms of the pool itself, the concrete footers and walls are done, despite delays due to rain. The pool floor is also nearly done. There will be two liners that cover the concrete, prolonging the life of the pool, that will be installed as soon as the second one arrives. These liners have a 25 year warranty and the concrete will last much longer without direct exposure to chlorinated water.

The pool surround is a significant job. The old pool had its pipes sunk in with the concrete, which meant maintenance and repair often meant pounding out and repouring. With the new pool, a trench will surround the pool and covered with a non-slip grate walkway. This system makes the pipes easily accessible for repair.

Aside from weather delays, supply chain issues have also plagued the project. Items ordered in 2020 have still not arrived but the contractor remains optimistic these necessary items will be here soon. While there is still major construction required for this part of the pool build, Director Bruce hopes all will be completed by July 29.

Council meets only once in the summer months, with the next meeting taking place on July 19. Whether that meeting is online or in-person is still to be determined, information will be available on the City of Melville website in the week preceding that meeting.

05/26/2021

Well, here we are again - we went from a full team effort at fighting fires to a massive, all-hands-on-deck cleanup of our city following a freak ice storm.

While it will take weeks or longer to fully deal with all of the debris, branches, and standing dead trees, what has been accomplished in five days is incredible. Our City of Melville crews have been working nonstop to cut trees, haul branches, and mitigate any risks to our citizens.

We've got every available subcontractor - from tree removal services to electricians - on the job and putting in big hours to help, as well. Power has long since been restored to all inhabited residences.

Just as importantly, I'm impressed with all of the citizens of Melville. For example, Carson Dennis at the golf course put out a call for help, and roughly 50 people showed up with trucks and trailers and chainsaws. Neighbours are helping neighbours. Everyone is answering the call.

This does not surprise me, though. It's what we do when we're needed. I remember being part of a crew of hundreds of volunteers sandbagging around local businesses during the flood of 2014, and there were several such crews that day. Those who were unable to stack sandbags were delivering home cooked meals and cases of water to the volunteers, and I couldn't even guess how many residents were helping others - even strangers - pump out their basements.

While it seems we've had more than our fair share of these extreme events over the past few years, it is clear that we are all here for each other. We are all willing to put in the efforts to make sure everyone has power, and is safe. This past few days has proven that, again, and I am absolutely certain we'll be here for each other should it happen again.

I know I am speaking for Mayor Streelasky and all of City Council in saying how incredibly proud we are of the response by everyone involved. Sometimes it takes an emergency situation like we've experienced to remind us all of why Melville is such a great community in which to live, work, play, raise a family and retire.