A contingent of Estevan city council members that included Mayor Roy Ludwig were in Saskatoon last week for the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association convention.
The annual event brings together over 1,000 mayors, councillors and civic employees for an opportunity to meet with their counterparts from throughout the province and discuss issues they might have in common. As well, a number of ministers and provincial government officials were in Saskatoon to speak with SUMA members about ongoing matters in their community.
Ludwig, who was attending his first SUMA convention as a mayor, said the four-day event was a rewarding time for the local group which also included Councillors Dennis Moore, Lori Carr and Kevin Smith. He noted all four were able to attend sessions on such topics as labour legislation, dealing with your MLA and recycling.
The sessions on recycling were of particular interest to the Estevan delegation as the City is continuing to develop its program and looking into the possibility of curbside pick up for items such as paper and glass.
"We wanted to canvass and get all the information we can, good, bad or indifferent," said Ludwig. "Saskatoon probably does the best job. They spent the money and built a real good facility for their recyclables."
Entering the meeting, a number of SUMA members had expressed hope the province would unveil its much talked about multi-material recycling program. Ludwig said no announcement on the MMRP was made and they are now hoping to hear something in March when the budget is delivered.
Another major discussion point at the convention was infrastructure. Ludwig said the province has made rumblings that it might be coming with a plan this fall that would provide infrastructure money to communities. He said it was not clear whether the provincial plan would coincide with the expected announcement of funding from the federal government in 2014.
"What would we like to see is at least a five, even a 10 year infrastructure program, that is predictable, sustainable and that we can count on when looking ahead at our infrastructure needs," said Ludwig who added that many communities are dealing with similar issues.
"A lot (of infrastructure) was put in in the late '50s and early '60s and is now nearing the end of its life. Along with that, our province is growing so quickly and a lot of our small towns need to have bigger capacity to deal with it. They are looking at enlarging their water treatment, enlarging their lagoons and enlarging their wastewater treatment. It's an issue right across the province."
One of the final events of the convention was the bear-pit session with Premier Brad Wall and all provincial ministers. Ludwig said the session was respectful and informative.
"We do have good relationships with the provincial government and things have been working very well. We realize that there is only so many tax dollars to go around. What it comes down to is working a good project against a good project. It's not like a good project against a bad project. It's a tough job that our provincial counterparts have because there is only so much money to go around and you have to get the biggest bang that you can with these dollars."
Ludwig said the City also had a chance to speak with Social Services and Housing Minister June Draude while in Saskatoon about the affordable housing issue in Estevan. The parties were also expected to meet Tuesday in Regina.
"She's going to be best friends with us soon," Ludwig joked. "We are going to try and get one or two builders to go with us (to Tuesday's meeting) so they can hear the concerns of our developers.
"Part of the problem we are facing is although they are offering assistance, which is appreciated, in some cases it's very difficult because of the parameters they are setting."
The meeting also included the election of a new president and board of directors. Weyburn Mayor Deb Button was elected as president, becoming the first woman to lead the association. Humboldt Mayor Malcolm Eaton was elected the vice-president of cities while Rodger Hayward, who is the mayor of Naicam, was elected vice-president of towns.
"I look forward to working with the new executive and the board of directors to advance the interests of urban governments," Button said in a press release. "I have been impressed with the passion and dedication my colleagues have for their communities. I believe that together we will make significant progress over the next four years on the issues affecting local governments."
