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Melfort to use $861,000 from province on five projects

MELFORT — Melfort will use $861,000 from the province on walking trails, paving, water main replacements, a program to help citizens connect to city hall online and the Kerry Vickar Centre.
Melfort City Hall

MELFORT — Melfort will use $861,000 from the province on walking trails, paving, water main replacements, a program to help citizens connect to city hall online and the Kerry Vickar Centre.

The new Municipal Economic Enhancement Program (MEEP) announced from the provincial government last week will see all Saskatchewan communities receiving a financial boost for infrastructure projects this year.

Melfort finalized where the money is going during a special council meeting on May 29.

Rick Lang, Melfort’s mayor, said the five projects to receive MEEP funding have been on the capital projects list for some time. With the projects being approved by council, the city can now send the list to the provincial government for their approval before moving ahead with tenders and construction planning.

After 20 years, the city’s walking path has significantly deteriorated, according to the MEEP report put out by the city. Approximately three kilometres of the walking trail will be milled and paved and 1,530 metres will be dusted at an estimated cost of $256,000. The city has allocated $25,000 of the city’s 2020 budget towards the project with the rest being covered by MEEP.

In the midst of the pandemic, the city will also be looking to purchase a virtual city hall program to enhance the “digitized citizen experience,” said the document. 

The program would “allow citizens to create secure user accounts to view their financial details and access a number of self-service options, such as online payments for business licensing, property tax, and utilities.”

The program will be purchased through SaskTel at an estimated cost of $25,000. There will be an annual maintenance fee of $1,200 that will not be covered by MEEP funding.

Asphalt overlay of Broadway Avenue. North will see improvements from Bemister Drive West to Saskatchewan Drive West The stretch of street from Broadway Avenue to McDonald Avenue were prevented from being completed with this year's budget, however, the stretch from Bemister to Saskatchewan is in very poor condition, said the report. The total cost of the project is $364,000.

The water main replacement of Groat Drive was going to be the top of the capital projects list for the next budget, Lang said. Seven water main breaks in four years has meant a lot of money going into this stretch of water main. While inconvenient for the city, the frequency of breaks can also mean water quality issues that the city will address with the replacement. The total cost of the project is almost $229,000 and will replace 200 metres of metallic piping being replaced with PVC pipe.

Thanks to MEEP funding, Kerry Vickar Centre will also see a new backup generator which is a priority for emergency management. The centre serves as “the primary reception centre during a state of emergency” and the back-up facility for the Saskatchewan Health Authority, said the report. 

At the present time, MEEP funding will cover a bit more than $12,000 of the $80,000 price tag with any saving from above projects will also be put towards this project. Any remaining money owing on this project will be paid for during the 2021 budget, Lang said. 

According to the government release on May 19, all MEEP funding must be spent by March of 2022, which is why, Lang said, the council wanted to approve the projects as quickly as possible to get the process rolling.