Melfort City Hall. (Aaron Schulze/northeastNOW Staff)

By Cam Lee

Melfort Mayor Reflects

Melfort’s mayor weighs in on 2019, and what may come in 2020

Dec 20, 2019 | 5:00 PM

It was a busy year for infrastructure in Melfort in 2019, and the mayor hopes that continues into 2020.

Rick Lang told northeastNOW the long-awaited resurfacing of Saskatchewan Dr. was a major project completed this year.

The city of Melfort put $800,000 toward the $2.7 million project, with the rest coming from the province.

Lang said another significant improvement was the sidewalk replacement project, which cost over $600,000. Crosswalk lights were also erected on Shadd Dr. near the skate park.

The city also chipped in for a new Jaws of Life for the Melfort Fire Department, along with some compressor equipment for firefighters.

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Lang said several of the city’s recreational facilities also saw improvements.

“We replaced a bunch of LED lighting at the Northern Lights Palace, City Hall and the Kerry Vickar Centre,” said Lang. The city also resurfaced the gym floor at the KVC, and installed a new sound system at the Palace.

Water lines were also replaced on Main St. and on Saskatchewan Dr., prior to the resurfacing project.

Lang said the spray park and all-accessibility playground were also constructed at Spruce Haven.

The city also purchased land adjacent to Highway 41 south of Melfort for any potential future commercial development.

The major project in 2020 will all depend on federal and provincial funding. The city has sent in an application through the Investing Canada Program as they look to do significant water line replacement throughout Melfort.

“The application highlights $17 million worth of water line replacement and street rehab after the water line replacement,” said Lang.

If Melfort receives the funding, the city would replace $17 million worth of water lines and street work.

“Hopefully we can get that because we have some serious water loss issues in the city,” said Lang.

Melfort has a 20 per cent water loss rate, which means for every five gallons that comes through SaskWater the city is billed for, one gallon goes down the storm sewer from water line breaks.

Lang called that an environmental concern because they’re losing potable water, and it is also extremely costly.

About $400,000 will be spent on the sidewalk replacement project in 2020.

Work also needs to be done on a portion of the runway at the airport, but that work will depend on whether the city receives a grant.

The maximum amount the city could get from the grant is $275,000, with the entire project estimated at about $835,000.

“We’ll be looking at moving forward on that if we’re approved for the CAP grant and we can find a way for all the rest of the funding to fall into place,” said Lang. “The plan is to talk to some of the surrounding municipalities because the airport is not exclusively for the use of the city.”

For example, Lang said the airport sees air ambulance flights, which are to the benefit of everybody, and aerial applicators, which are almost exclusively for their rural municipality neighbours.

He hopes the city can form a partnership with neighbouring municipalities, much like they did with the Wellness Centre.

Work will also continue at Spruce Haven, as the city looks at developing a fitness circuit for all ages.

The heliport is also a significant project lined up for 2020.

“The heliport fundraising is going well, and the plan is to begin construction in the spring of 2020 and have the heliport functional later on that year,” said Lang.

The heliport will be located next to the Melfort Union Hospital.

Lang said he also plans to continue lobbying the provincial government for a CT Scanner, something he said was promised to Melfort back in 2010.

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cam.lee@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @camlee1974