The potential for spring flooding was one of the top-most issues of discussion at the recent convention for the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) held in Saskatoon.
The potential for spring flooding was one of the top-most issues of discussion at the recent convention for the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) held in Saskatoon.
Highlights for the convention included the bearpit session where cabinet ministers get grilled by RM councillors, said Reeve Carmen Sterling of the RM of Weyburn, while a surprising aspect for her were a couple of the resolutions which were defeated, including the sole resolution contributed by Weyburn.
The possibility of flooding hitting RMs was a popular topic at the bearpit session, with the result that Weyburn-Big Muddy MLA Dustin Duncan, the Environment minister, was the man at the microphone for quite a few questions on the province's $22-million plan to try and prevent flooding as much as possible.
Reeve Sterling noted all cabinet ministers but one, and the premier (who was overseas at the time), were present for the bearpit.
"The big topic for most of the RMs is the potential for flooding. There was a fair bit of questioning on the government program; everybody's trying to be ready. That $22 million is meant for flood prevention, depending on where it's applied," said the reeve.
For the RM of Weyburn, they don't control if releases are done from Nickle Lake (as that's through the City of Weyburn), she noted, but there are some ratepayers who will very likely be facing some flooding issues, such as those who own land just below the Nickle Lake reservoir.
The RM's sole resolution, which was defeated, had asked for all hunters to be required to wear hunting colours, including those who hunt for coyotes or game birds; currently, they are not required to wear the bright colours that a big game hunter has to wear.
"It was debated a little bit. The conservation officer who suggested it thought it was an issue we could bring to the convention," said the reeve. "To me, it's just good safety sense, where everybody should have to wear the colours."
Another resolution which was defeated was in regard to plastic grain bag recycling, and asked for the government to levy a refundable environmental deposit on the bags, particularly as most landfills (including the City of Weyburn's) will not accept the bags for disposal.
The resolution suggested an environmental fee of $370, with a refundable deposit of $200 when the bag is returned for recycling.
"You shouldn't be burning them, because they're plastic, or stockpiling them, because there's grain product left inside, so you have a harbour for rats and mice. Not only that, they have to be shipped into Alberta for recycling," said Reeve Sterling.
Among the resolutions which passed were a pair that were submitted by the Regina District Association of RMs, one of which was sent jointly by the RM of Norton (Pangman area). This latter resolution asked that producers be allowed to use a financial tool whereby they can average their income over a five-year period, as a way to manage their taxable income.
The second resolution asked to have road maintenance agreements exempt from the GST; both of these resolutions were passed by the delegates.
One of the resolutions passed unanimously by all delegates concerned the federal Navigable Waters Protection Act, which has been a thorn in the side of provincial municipalities for many years now. The resolution calls on SARM to lobby the federal department of Transport to open the act for review and updating.
A resolution Reeve Sterling thought was good asked for ATVs to be licensed, as any other vehicle would be that is allowed to travel on a road.
