In brief, this post highlights four items of public interest that were discussed during the March 2022 City Council meeting.
Highlights include:
- Policies for school and playground zones
- COVID-19: masking in civic spaces
- Recycling depot improvements and review
- Support to Saskatoon's Sister City, Chernivtsi, Ukraine
Other items that were discussed during the meeting include:
- Amendments to Traffic Bylaw to permit the operation of properly licensed party bicycles in the designated downtown area;
- Extension of Temporary Asphalt Parking Patio Program for 2022
The full agenda for March 28, 2022 can he found here. This meeting of City Council took place through teleconference and was recorded, as per any other City Council meeting.
Policies for school and playground zones
To implement Council's November decision to create playground zones and adjust school zones, the policies need to be updated. The policies align with the Transportation of Canada guidelines, which ensure we are following best practices.
Highlights of the approved policies include the following revisions:
- Elementary school zones will remain with some adjustments to school zone limits.
- High school zones will be changed to school areas only.
- The length of zone boundary limits will be minimized where possible.
- Reduced speed limits will be installed at playgrounds that have facilities or programs intended for young children. The speed limit will be 30 km/h.
COVID-19: masking in civic spaces
With the removal of the Public Health Order, the City of Saskatoon has been assessing on a month-by-month basis whether masking, or any other COVID-19 protocols should be enforced in civic facilities.
City Council determined that masks will still be mandatory on Saskatoon Transit for the month of April. Furthermore, for the remaining civic spaces (e.g. Leisure Centres or City Hall) masks will only be recommended.
The recommendation for masks on Saskatoon Transit will next be reviewed at April's City Council meeting.
Recycling depot improvements and review
Following the closure of the Meadowgreen Recycling Depot, Administration has continued to work on developing options to address other immediate safety and contamination issues at the remaining three City-run recycling depots. There are three next steps that are being proposed to address these issues:
- Run a pilot project at Lakewood Recycling Depot, where depot access is restricted and the hours of operation are reduced to 7:00 AM - 7:00 PM, seven days a week. A lockable gate will be installed, with accompanying signage. The results of this pilot are expected to be reported in Q3 2023.
- Increase bin collection at all depots from four collections per week, to five collections per week. Furthermore, there will be seven site clean-ups per week.
- The proposed pilots and increased service levels are intended to be an interim step prior to a comprehensive recycling depot review. This review is recommended to be completed once Recovery Park has become operational and the Industrial, Commercial and Institutional Sector recycling regulations have been fully implemented, so that the impact of these new programs on depot use can be evaluated. As well, this will allow the effectiveness of the pilot and increased service levels to be understood and whether additional steps are required to further mitigate illegal dumping and contamination. Data collection for this review will begin in 2023 and the majority of the review and analysis will take place in 2024.
Support to Saskatoon's Sister City, Chernivtsi, Ukraine
In recognition of the City of Saskatoon’s Sister City relationship with Chernivtsi, Ukraine, established in 1991, the Administration be directed to process a $10,000 donation through the appropriate means to assist the IAFF Local 80 Saskatoon Firefighter Union in their provision of needed humanitarian supplies for Chernivtsi as identified in the letter of intent from IAFF Local 80.
The Administration will report back on how the funds were utilized.