SK Economic Fundamentals 2008-08

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Calgary firm to manage multiplex project

And the winner is . . . MHPM Project Manager Incorporated.
City manager Garry McKay announced the multiplex project manager contract had been awarded to the Calgary-based company after receiving official and signed documentation Tuesday.
The position begins Aug. 12 and lasts 30 months. Although the entire company shall serve as project manager, the designated project manager is Elliot Sherman.
McKay said the company oversees several construction projects nationwide, one of the more notable being a recent sports facility in Abbotsford, B.C. He added the B.C. project was also a design-built project, so MHPM comes to Moose Jaw with relevant experience.

http://www.mjtimes.sk.ca/index.cfm?sid=161578&sc=3

 

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Town applies for disaster assistance

The recent flood of July 30 is on everyone`s mind. On Monday, August 11 town council met for the first time since the flood.

Residents are upset about the recent flood waters and the damage done to their homes. They are questioning what happened and what can be done to prevent it from ever happening again.

Tracey Wolfe, water technologist, again stressed that the town did everything they could to keep the water levels down, and worked hard to deal with the excess.

According to Wolfe, the stations on July 30 were run manually. The employees from the water treatment plant were up all night manually controlling and running the pumping and maintenance of the stations.

http://www.meadowlakeprogress.com/This%20W...ess/414915.html

 

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Melfort City Council approves new taxicab bylaw

At a meeting held on Monday, Aug. 11, Melfort City Council updated the taxicab bylaw that allows an increase in the number of taxicab licences issued from six to 12.
"The new bylaw just covers up some holes and makes the bylaw a little more up-to-date. Basically what it does, it expands the licences in Melfort," said Melfort Mayor Kevin Phillips.
"Right now, we have six licences before this (new) bylaw and all of the licences are full."
Council also passed a bylaw to amend the bylaw known as the Licensing Bylaw.
"The licence bylaw, basically what it does is it pulls the taxicab and limousine services out of the general licencing and puts it in a bylaw by itself," said Phillips.

http://www.melfortjournal.com/Front%20Page/414477.html

 

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Carrot River set to develop new lots at Nicholson Drive

Carrot River Town Council took a step towards developing new residential blocks along Nicholson Drive at their regular meeting of council held July 24.
Council has engaged Tri City Surveys Ltd., out of Melfort, to act on its behalf for the development of two residential blocks. The subdivision on the west side of the street will create eight new residential lots and the parcel on the east side will be designated for multi-residential development.
Council passed a resolution to begin the preliminary work and get the wheels turning on the project.
Tri City Surveys Ltd., has done work in the past for the Town of Carrot River.
According to Town Administrator Duril Touet, there is no trouble currently finding houses in Carrot River.

http://www.nipawinjournal.com/News/414387.html

 

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Nipawin`s thriving church population

Nipawin`s Apostolic Church is seeing more and more people attend their Sunday services, something that goes against a Saskatchewan-wide trend, which has seen a five per cent drop in church attendance in about the last 10 years.
"We`ve seen our attendance increase 15 to 20 per cent per year," Apostolic Church pastor Rod Barks said. "God designed his church to grow in an innate way. It`s implanted in the DNA of the church."

http://www.nipawinjournal.com/News/414391.html

 

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City finds recycling solution

To the relief of many in the community, the City has found a replacement for the soon-to-be-defunct paper recycling program at Estevan Diversified Services.Regens Disposal will take over the local recycling program for at least one year when EDS shuts down its paper division August 18. Although no firm date was given, it`s expected Regens will start the Estevan program on September 1.City council made the decision to go with Regens at its regular meeting Monday night. Mayor Gary St. Onge said  he was happy to find a company willing to take on paper recycling in Estevan.

http://www.estevanmercury.ca/data/stories/...ution/News.html

 

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Residents sound off on proposal

Not everyone in the Rural Municipality of Edenwold is anxious to have a movie soundstage as a neighbour.

Susan Van Dusen, who owns an acreage adjacent to the proposed site, said she is not opposed to the project -- she just doesn`t want it next to her horse breeding and riding stable because of the impact it will have on her operation.

"We are all zoned agricultural and so now we are going to have a semi-industrial commercial operation almost beside us,`` said Van Dusen.

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/new...bc-196ab0794f31

 

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Aboriginal groups threaten legal action to protect water

FORT CHIPEWYAN, Alta. -- Aboriginal leaders have declared war on the oilsands, vowing to go to court to stop what they say is the destruction of their land and the poisoning of their water.

Chiefs from three provinces and the Northwest Territories made the joint declaration Sunday at the conclusion of a water conference in Fort Chipewyan, Alta.

They say the area is on the brink of catastrophe.

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/new...87-7bcb281c68c0

 

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Plan Prince Albert`s final draft

Plan Prince Albert gives geographic direction to future development, says planning manager.

"It`s mostly an update and a more detailed document than the one made in 1987," said planning manager for the City Yves Richard of Plan Prince Albert. "Of course, there are more policies, goals and objectives… The document is about three times bigger than the one from 1987."

He said the document is meant to plan for the next 20 years.

http://www.paherald.sk.ca/index.cfm?sid=163358&sc=4

 

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Affordability bigger problem than availability

SASKATOON -- Student union presidents at the University of Saskatchewan and SIAST say students can expect an easier time looking for housing this year.

Josie Steeves, president of the University of Saskatchewan Students Union, and Brittany Holderness, president of the Kelsey Student Association, agree that students are having less trouble with finding housing but more trouble with affordability.

"We`re not seeing as big of a crisis as last year but there is definitely still a root problem," said Steeves. "Now that they have a place doesn`t mean they`re affordable or adequate. There are students living in holes that shouldn`t be occupied."

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/new...c3-c070298bf6c7

 

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Council approves use of building

Regina city council has approved a discretionary use application for the former Superstore building on Albert Street, allowing development work to begin on the building that has sat vacant since 2000, when Superstore moved out of that location.

At Monday night`s meeting, councillors approved usage of the property at the corner of Albert Street and Dewdney for office and retail space.

In their presentation to council, John Aston and Francis Bast from Century West Development Corp., the development manager of the property, explained that the previous owner of the building, Loblaw Companies Ltd., required several restrictive covenants regarding future use of the property upon its sale.

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/new...c9-f303f103c84f

 

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Wind farm in Sask.`s future

As a result of an agreement signed Monday, there could soon be a new crop of windmills springing up on the Saskatchewan prairie.

All Nations Energy Developments Corp., which is owned by the Cowessess and George Gordon First Nations, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Calgary-based TransAlta Corp. to develop a proposed 100-megawatt wind farm, which could be located on the Cowessess First Nation.

According to Grady Lerat, who sits on the All Nations Energy board of directors, Monday`s announcement was the result of more than three years of work by members of the First Nations, who`ve been studying ways to get involved in cost-effective, green energy production.

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/new...50-d322162a37bb

 

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Harvest is behind province`s five-year average

According to Saskatchewan Agriculture, harvest is behind the five-year average.

The ministry`s weekly crop report issued Monday said three per cent of the 2008 crop has been combined and another seven per cent has been swathed or is ready to be straight combined.

That`s well behind the average of this time of year during the period from 2003-07, which was 10 per cent combined and 16 per cent swathed or ready to straight combine. According to reports, crops are one to two weeks behind in development.

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/new...c3-7b21326dd5c5

 

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Third Avenue due for makeover

With power poles outnumbering trees on some blocks, Third Avenue is an incongruous strip from Saskatoon`s past in a downtown streetscape dotted with planters and pedestrian-friendly sidewalks.

Discussions are underway at city hall about how to bring Third Avenue into the 21st century by burying power lines and making the street more inviting to pedestrians and business.

A UMA Engineering report for the city recommends keeping parallel over angle parking and installing a centre median and dedicated turning lanes.

http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix...36-5889f1f4b224

 

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Construction begins on new health facility

Dignitaries proudly dug into a patch of ground Monday at a ceremony marking the official start of construction on the Humboldt District Health Complex.

The $40-million facility is expected to open in 2010 with 34 acute-care beds, two of which will be dedicated to obstetrics.

The complex is expected to give patients from the area access to ambulatory outpatient care, emergency services, diagnostic imaging, day surgeries, therapies, chemotherapy and visiting specialists, according to a news release issued by the province.

http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix...d4-1ca4101c69be

 

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Banks open new east-side branches

Two banks are opening new branches on the expanding east side of Saskatoon.

The Bank of Montreal started construction in June on a $1.7-million full-service branch on the southeast side of Saskatoon, the BMO said in a press release.

The Lakewood Shopping Centre bank is scheduled to open in the spring of 2009. The new branch will both hire new staff and move existing staff to the new branch. Applications will be accepted later this year.

http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix...d4-5024e7646e97

 

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How the West Hill will be won

Plan Prince Albert gives geographic direction to future development, says the city`s top planner.

"It`s mostly an update and a more detailed document than the one made in 1987," said planning manager Yves Richard. "The purpose of the plan is mostly physical development of the city itself."

The document, already three times larger than the original version completed in 1987, is meant to lay a path for the city`s growth through the next 20 years, he said.

"We`re confident that the plan will be updated at least every five years."

Amendments are likely to be made every year, he added.

http://www.paherald.sk.ca/index.cfm?sid=163660&sc=4

 

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Sask. leads in wholesale trade growth

Saskatchewan led all provinces in yearly wholesale trade growth in June, Statistics Canada reported Tuesday.

According to the report, Saskatchewan`s seasonally adjusted $1.8 billion in wholesale trade in June was up 53.7 per cent from the same month last year.

By contrast, Alberta, which came in second among provinces, posted only 8.6-per-cent growth over the same period.

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/new...4f-6320dd940fd5

 

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Potash strike may affect sales

WINNIPEG (Reuters) -- A strike at three Saskatchewan potash mines owned by Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan could affect shipments to industrial customers, which account for about five per cent of the company`s sales, a PotashCorp spokesperson said Tuesday.

But it is too early to tell how the strike by about 500 mine workers, members of the United Steelworkers union, will affect the mainstay fertilizer business of PotashCorp, the world`s largest fertilizer company, spokesperson Bill Johnson said in an interview.

"It`s a little early in the strike to really assess what impact this will have on our commitments to customers," he said, declining to comment on whether there had been any impact on contractual commitments since workers walked off the job on Aug. 7.

http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix...02-e3bed0626983

 

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Expansion is maid to order

With a growing client list and a recent expansion into Prince Albert, the owner of Absolute Maids Inc. has much to celebrate.

When it comes to business, you could say Saskatoon`s Jessica Bennett is really cleaning up.

"The last year has been really, really strong -- lots of business, lots of new clients, lots of people from out-of-province," said Bennett. "We`ve hit record highs with our sales. June was a huge month for us."

http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix...df-87163e14eaa9