The city’s landfill project is facing yet another delay this week, as city manager Maryse Carmichael said the project’s team will need to resume discussions regarding its location — although she confidently said the process is not returning to the drawing board entirely.
The need for this renewed discussion follows an earlier vote where the rural council voted 4 – 1 against city hall’s motion to proceed with development on the previously targeted land north of the city on June 18.
The next step will now be a return to the conversation with the RM of Moose Jaw.
“We will bring a report to council, and it will be the decision of council that we will decide on the way forward,” she said.
Carmichael said the solid waste management project is being led by three separate project teams, which includes one team to address the technical details of the project and another team to determine a best-fit location. She did not disclose whether the city has plans to annex the land, but also did not rule this option out.
Previously, an agreement was signed between the City of Moose Jaw and the owner of the land that was tentatively selected for the upcoming project. This agreement was set to expire on Monday, June 24, but Carmichael said the agreement is now in the process of being terminated as it was contingent on approval from the RM of Moose Jaw.
As a result of this termination, the site of the future landfill will now remain up for discussion.
When asked about the next steps in the process of confirming a purchasing price for the land, Carmichael said this will depend on the final location confirmed by council – but she did clarify that the solid waste management topic remains “very active.”
“At this point… there’s no immediate plan to purchase or to acquire land for the future location,” Carmichael said, adding that “it’s really going to (go) back to (a pending) discussion with the RM.”
Despite this growing uncertainty, Carmichael said the matter won’t return to square one.
“No, we’re not going back to the drawing board,” she confirmed. “A lot of the work that we’ve done over the last few months is reusable.” Much of this work, she added, includes previous public consultations that she described as “very beneficial.”
To further demonstrate her ongoing commitment to the project, Carmichael said she had a meeting earlier on June 18 with the RM of Moose Jaw’s administration to continue discussions regarding the solid waste management venue's final location.
Carmichael said there are several potential locations identified by the project team, and these are primarily north of the city. She said locations south of Moose Jaw are far less suitable due to the proximity to 15 Wing Moose Jaw, which imposes several restrictions that make nearby locations unfeasible.
“We do have a number of other locations that were looking at in discussion with the RM,” she confirmed.
Carmichael then reiterated the need for a confident decision from the RM council and extended her thanks to its members for the productive discussions over the last few months.
“Because of those conversations, our plans were improved, and we now have a better understanding of what’s doable and what’s not,” she concluded.
The next city council meeting is set for Monday, June 24.
