City council has a lot on its plate in the next year
City hall faces another busy year in 2019. Phil Tank outlines 10 key issues likely to dominate Saskatoon council’s agenda
1. WASTE HASTE
Saskatoon city council may have reversed a decision to implement user fees for garbage collection in December, but that hardly ended the debate. Now, the focus will shift to how to pay for a new organics collection program for single-family homes set to start in 2020. The cost of the new organics program is expected to translate into a 4.7 per cent property tax increase.
2. RAPID REALITY
The long-discussed bus rapid transit style revamp of the city’s bus system is expected to begin this year. Most of the rapid bus routes have been determined, but decisions are still pending on controversial bus-only lanes on Broadway Avenue and on Third Avenue downtown. Those final decisions are expected in the next few months.
3. PEDAL PUSH
The placement of bus-only lanes downtown will likely help determine the final configuration of a downtown network of protected bike lanes. If the bus lanes move from Third Avenue to First, the bike lanes could move from Fourth to Third. The bike lane critics will also be watching the price tag.
4. DOWNTOWN DISTRICT
The next phase for a new downtown arena and entertainment facility and convention centre comes in deciding where to put it. Council was advised that determining the best spot for a downtown entertainment district would take months, so we could hear more in 2019. We might also hear about the possibility of including a new downtown library as part of the mega-project.
5. TOP SPOTS
Normally, a restructuring at city hall would elicit yawns, but this one is intriguing because there’s so many key roles to fill. The new structure creates eight departments, only three of which have permanent leaders. So there’s lots of hiring to do for city manager Jeff Jorgenson as he heads into his first full year at the helm. The head of the new environment and utilities department will draw particular interest after the surprising dismissal of environment director Brenda Wallace in November.
6. COMING ATTRACTIONS
The city won’t open two new bridges in 2019, like in 2018, but two key projects are expected to be completed. The $62-million project to improve and expand the Gordie Howe Sports Complex is expected to be mostly done this year. It includes a new outdoor track facility. The Nutrien Children’s Discovery Museum is also supposed to open in the former home of the Mendel Art Gallery in the spring. Both projects involve city-owned facilities, but have been largely paid for through private fundraising.
7. WEED KEYED
This year should provide a better picture of the impact of legal cannabis on Saskatoon since only two retail outlets opened late in 2018. Will the anticipated impact on policing materialize? Will social ills become apparent?
8. RIDE TIDE
Rules to accommodate ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft were approved for Saskatoon in late December. The true effect of ride sharing — including a much-touted claim that impaired driving will decrease — will be felt in 2019. The taxi industry, which is expected to suffer as a result, will be watching closely.
9. SPENDING SHIFT
The City of Saskatoon plans to change the way it spends taxpayers’ money forever in 2020 with the move to a two-year budget. Other municipalities have made this change, but that won’t make selling two years of property tax increases at once any easier for politicians. If all goes as planned, the 2020-21 budget will be introduced this year as part of the normal budget cycle. That will also change the election dynamic for 2020 since there will, in theory, be no budget released that year.
10. SPEEDING SOLUTION
A report is expected this fall on the possibility of lower speed limits on residential streets after council endorsed the study by a 6-5 vote. Saskatoon is following other communities in Canada and elsewhere by considering slowing down traffic. The concept seems certain to create controversy, based on public reaction when just studying the possibility was proposed.