Atchison touts future, defends landmark projects
Police move ‘wise investment’
Mayor Don Atchison touted his record and defended the city’s big-ticket landmark projects as necessary for a growing Saskatoon in his annual state of the city address.
“People don’t come to communities that are going backwards, they come to communities that are progressive,” Atchison told the business crowd in a campaign-style speech at the Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce-sponsored luncheon Friday.
The mayor’s critics have been vocal in contrasting major projects such as the $71-million Remai Art Gallery of Saskatchewan at River Landing and the $122-million police head- quarters with the deteriorating state of city roads and infrastructure.
The move of the Mendel Art Gallery to the Remai Art Gallery of Saskatchewan, which continues to be a focus of public debate leading up to the October election, is best for the future of the city, Atchison said.
The gallery is tight for space and a proposed $24-million Mendel renovation and expansion in 2009 had no support from other levels of government, he said. Atchison said he asked federal cabinet minister Bev Oda “to her face” if funding for the gallery was available “and the answer was no, flat out.”
The city signed a contribution agreement with the federal and provincial governments in January and funding for the Remai gallery is on solid ground, he said.
“Some people want to talk about negative things all the time and talk about the past and we want to dwell on how we’re going to get this built and move forward,” he told reporters. “It’s quite similar to people that were opposed to (TCU Place), people who were opposed to the soccer centre, the Shaw Centre, Credit Union Centre, widening the Circle Drive bridge. People can be opposed to anything. When you look back I don’t see anyone that was opposed to those projects standing up and saying they were wrong in the end. And I find that quite amazing.”
Atchison said it is “wise investment” to consolidate the police service in one building. The police are paying $1 million in rent and are spread out in 12 different locations. The city is saving $10 million to $15 million in interest payments after reducing the amortization period to 20 years from 30 years and moving to a line of credit financing model.
The most noteworthy item in the address surrounded the north bridge and perimeter highway project. Atchison said the traditional financing model, where one-third of the project is paid for by each of the municipal, provincial and federal governments, is no longer tenable. The $1-billion project, which Premier Brad Wall, said will be accelerated, must have private-sector involvement, Atchison said.
Edmonton’s Anthony Henday ring road and Calgary’s Stony Trail extension have been built via public-private partnerships where a construction firm designs, builds, finances and maintains the road under a long-term agreement.
“It’s the private sector at the table looking at ways we can get it built,” Atchison said.
Atchison said council is taking an incremental approach to repairing the city’s roads, which are under-funded by more than $12 million annually according to city hall staff. The city’s administration added $4 million in temporary funding in the 2012 budget. Policing is no longer the top concern in the annual city survey after it was overtaken by the state of roads.
“I’d rather deal with pot holes as a major problem than policing,” Atchison said.