The mayor of Battleford, Derek Mahon, says the opening of Kramer Caterpillar's new sales and service facility could take place in October of this year.
Mahon told council at the regular meeting Monday, March 4 Kramer's asset manager Ken Rittinger was at town hall recently to provide an update on the project. He said Rittinger indicated the Kramer folks are in discussion with the Ministry of Highways regarding the intersection design and with a contractor regarding the construction of the service road.
Having outgrown its North Battleford facility, Kramer's new building is going up on the outskirts of Battleford next to Highway 16, just north of the Battleford West subdivision.
The construction of the Kramer facility is "exciting for the community," said Mahon.
Integral to the opening of the business will be the construction of a service road alongside Highway 16 and the necessary intersection with the highway to accommodate the large vehicles expecting to be accessing the area - this at a point where the speed limit is 110 km/h.
The Town has also been talking to the Ministry of Highways about the intersection. The recent convention of the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association, offered a chance for Mahon and Town Administrator Sheryl Ballendine to meet with senior Ministry officials. These officials, he noted, know the history of the Town's agreement with the Ministry that facilitated the twinning of Highway 4 - a project integral to developing of commercial property on the west side of Highway 4.
"It was a good discussion," said Mahon.
With the new Kramer facility comes the promise of more jobs. CEO Tim Kramer, who has seven locations around the province, has said he anticipates a doubling of employees from the current facility in North Battleford.
In October of 2012, the council of the day passed a bylaw giving Kramer construction a five-year tax exemption, based on Kramer's multi-million dollar contribution to the Town, its status as the first build in the new highway commercial area, the fact that it is the first business of its kind in the community and its commitment to investing in the local water supply.
The Town also signed a development and servicing agreement with Kramer Ltd., which commits Kramer to paying for approximately 1.5 kilometres of road construction, slightly under 5,000 metres of water mains, valves and hydrants, sewer mains, building service connections, bituminous asphalt and electric power, telephone, natural gas service, cable and street lighting, minus a contribution of about $420,000 for some of the water main construction.
The new building will be about 40,000 square feet, built to service everything from oil field equipment to agricultural vehicles and machinery.
