Moose Jaw Express.com

Moose Jaw to see new SaskPower plant come to city

Project expected to cost over $700 million, bring hundreds of jobs to city

- Randy Palmer - Moose Jaw Express

The City of Moose Jaw couldn’t have received a much better gift than it did during a special meeting of city council on Dec. 21. A presentati­on by SaskPower officials revealed that the crown corporatio­n had chosen Moose Jaw as the site for a new 350 megawatt power generation station, to be located in the South East Industrial Park, with the purchase price of the land at $614,992. The real kicker? The plant itself would cost in the area of $700 million and would bring hundreds of jobs to the city during constructi­on and 25 high-paying jobs upon completion.

It was the culminatio­n of a long-term project involving years of discussion­s that culminated in days of furious negotiatio­ns before things were finally put to paper.

Seeing that hard work come to fruition was a relief for Moose Jaw Mayor Fraser Tolmie, who expressed his excitement that a deal of such scope could be brought to life.

“I think this is great way for us to kickstart our economy in the City of Moose Jaw,” he said. “I’ve been saying a few things in the community, that I believe Moose Jaw should be leading in this area, in the region that surrounds this province, and I believe the potential for growth lies in the city of Moose Jaw.

“Today, this is proof in the pudding, that people got together, we rallied and we advocated for the City of Moose Jaw to bring this project to the forefront and come to an understand­ing that this is a great project for the city and the area surroundin­g it... We’re grateful to those who have gone before us and the work they’ve done, but we need to look toward the future and what projects like this will bring to Moose Jaw.”

The plan for a new power plant has been in works for several years, and Tolmie made special mention of visionarie­s like Deb Thorn and Michelle Sanson, who felt such a plan would be ideal for Moose Jaw back in its inception and pressed council and administra­tion to pursue it.

Initially, SaskPower had three sites selected around the province. Once they were aware of the potential in Moose Jaw, they added the fourth site in the industrial park. The process of eliminatio­n brought it down to Moose Jaw and a site near Belle Plaine before Tolmie and city administra­tion essentiall­y forced SaskPower’s hand. SaskPower brass had been in contact with Tolmie earlier in the week, letting him know that the powerplant decision had nearly been – but there’s a hang-up: a potential conflict with 15 Wing. Tolmie quickly contacted Wing Commander Col. Denis O’Reilly, who almost instantly took care of the issue and then later in the week all but locked SaskPower representa­tives in his office with city officials to hash out the deal once and for all.

In the end, things went swimmingly, and an executive committee meeting on Dec. 19 put forward the potential land sale. That was followed by the special meeting of council itself to sign off on it once and for all Dec. 21. The deal passed unanimousl­y and was met with applause from the gallery.

“Part of this is recognizin­g that we have to pursue projects, which is what economic developmen­t is about,” said Coun. Crystal Froese. “Having us actually go to SaskPower and throw our hat in the ring might not have been possible if not for opening that door and providing all the informatio­n they needed to make this decision. “The mayor and the rest of council have a strong mandate to continue to pursue projects like that, to continue to seek projects that will fit with the community... so I want to thank the mayor for his leadership in this but particular­ly his staff and SaskPower for putting this together.”

See the related story on A2 for more on the plant and what it will bring to the city.

 ??  ?? Moose Jaw city clerk/solicitor Myron Gulka-Tiechko is joined by Mayor Fraser Tolmie and SaskPower representa­tive Brent Maystrowic­h in signing the Option to Purchase and Right of Entry Agreement bringing the $700M SaskPower generation plant to the city.
Moose Jaw city clerk/solicitor Myron Gulka-Tiechko is joined by Mayor Fraser Tolmie and SaskPower representa­tive Brent Maystrowic­h in signing the Option to Purchase and Right of Entry Agreement bringing the $700M SaskPower generation plant to the city.

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