Kamsack’s representatives at the 111th annual convention of the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) plan to support nine of the 15 resolutions that will be debated by delegates.
Attending the convention in Regina January 31 to February 3 will be Kamsack Mayor Rod Gardner, councillors Rick Aikman, Joe Kozakewich, Nancy Brunt and Claire Bishop and Laura Lomenda, the administrator.
At its regular meeting on January 11, council reviewed the 15 resolutions that have been accepted for debate and decided its voting delegates would support nine of them, while the delegates are to decide how to vote on the remaining six after listening to the arguments to be made during the convention.
The Kamsack delegates will support the following resolutions:
• From the Village of Invermay, a request for the reduction of carbon emissions in rural Saskatchewan, which calls for legislation to reduce the burning of stubble;
• A request from the Village of Neville for the Ministry of Environment to use a sliding scale based on population when enforcing environment guidelines used to decommission existing landfills;
• A resolution from the Saskatchewan City Mayors’ Caucus which calls for “a province-wide ban on smoking and vaping in public places;”
• From the Town of Osler, a request to add protective services as an allowable cost for calculating off-sitelevies or development fees under The Planning and Development Act;
• From the Northeast Region, a request to begin selecting projects for Building Canada fundingone intake in advance, andallowing work to proceed, based on that pre-approval;
• Another resolution from the Village of Invermay calling for the expansion of the TAPD (Transit Assistance for Persons with Disabilities) program, increasing the funding toaccelerate the renewal of the paratransit fleet and allow for the expansion to all municipalities that operate a paratransit service for people with disabilities;
• Also from the Town of Osler, a request to begin year-to-year funding increases for Single Integrated Library Systems (SILS) and the library system, in order to: maintain pace with inflation and work toward 100 per cent provincial funding of SILS, ensure library services are provided to all residents of the province, regardless of where they resideor their financial circumstance, and to reduce the burden for the cost of SILS on municipalities;
• From the City of Yorkton, a call for the reduction of cost barriers to property consolidations by having separate line items which identify parcel value (land only), creating a flat fee or a ‘feeper lot’ service, and applying a separate rate structure for transactions where the owner remains the same;
• And from the Town of Shellbrook a request to amend The Cemeteries Act, 1999, to have the fee for internment rights for indigent people be paid for through the Saskatchewan Assistance Program, rather than being provided freeof charge by municipalities or privateowners of cemeteries.
It was agreed that the Kamsack delegates would listen to the arguments in favour of and in opposition to the following six resolutions before deciding how they will vote:
• From the Village of Fort San a request for water quality and waste management monitoring to ensure that there is a full public disclosure of information regarding water quality, quantity and waste management monitoring;
• From the Village of Air Ronge, a request for adequate fire guards around all northern communities;
• From the City of Prince Albert stiffer penalties for failing to yield to emergency vehicles;
• Also from Air Ronge, a request to upgrade power lines in northern Saskatchewan;
• From the City of Humboldt, a request to have the option of delegating plumbing and sewage inspection services;
• And from the Town of Luseland, a request to allow expenses and costs incurred by a municipality in collecting unpaid utility accounts to be added to the tax roll.
