Saskatoon Minute: Library Workers, Zoning Changes, and Winter Bin Pickup

Saskatoon Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Saskatoon politics

This Week In Saskatoon:

• Today, at 12:00 pm, there will be a Special Meeting of the Municipal Planning Commission. This meeting is taking place to make up for agenda items that could not be completed at the last meeting on May 28th due to a loss of quorum, which pushed a great number of agenda items to this week. Much of the meeting will deal with changes to zoning related to the Housing Accelerator Fund and the public response to these initiatives.
  
  
• There will be a Governance and Priorities Committee meeting on Wednesday at 9:30 am. The Committee will look to approve a change to the composition of the Development Appeals Board, and improve the recruitment and training required for members of the Board. The Committee will also receive a variety of reports, including a City Council Strategic Priority and Leadership Initiative Q2 Update and an update on work that has been underway related to exploring the feasibility of a National Urban Park within Saskatoon. Recently, our friends at Common Sense Edmonton stopped the creation of a National Urban Park in their River Valley - stay tuned for more information about why we plan to do the same! The Committee will end their meeting in-camera - this means that the public will be excluded from the deliberations on a land negotiation, as well as an update on the Downtown Event and Entertainment District proposals.
  
  
• The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisory Committee will meet on Thursday at 12:00 pm. The Committee will discuss reports from its various SubCommittees, as well as discuss a report from Administration regarding how to integrate a potential Downtown Event and Entertainment District into an updated City Centre and District Plan framework. On Friday, the Saskatoon Accessibility Advisory Committee will meet at 12:00 pm, and the Public Art Advisory Committee will meet at 2:30 pm. At the latter, the agenda includes an update on the LeuWebb Bus Rapid Transit Shelter Paving Art.

Last Week In Saskatoon:

• Residents expressed concerns at a Planning, Development and Community Services Committee meeting regarding proposed zoning changes linked to federal funding. Four speakers shared their opposition to changes allowing four-plexes on residential-zoned lots without special permits and multi-unit buildings near transit corridors. Residents criticized the lack of communication from the City and questioned the benefits of federal funding, emphasizing potential neighbourhood destabilization. They suggested compromises on certain aspects of the strategy while expressing support for regulations promoting garden suite development.
  
  
• The Environment and Utilities Committee endorsed a recommendation to reduce pickups of green bin organic waste during winter based on a report highlighting program efficiency. The report emphasized the variability in resource requirements throughout the year, with fewer operators needed during colder months. Options presented included reducing winter collections, increasing peak season collections, or combining reduced winter pickups with enhanced spring and summer services. The Committee unanimously approved the recommendation for reduced winter collections, citing potential cost savings of $162,000 annually.
  
  
• Negotiations between Saskatoon Public Library (SPL) and its workers have stalled after months of bargaining, leading to a vote where 95% favoured job action. CUPE 2669, the union representing around 270 workers at nine libraries across the city, highlighted increasing violent incidents faced by SPL employees, including assaults and threats, prompting calls for more safety measures to be built into the collective agreement.