SUMA President Gordon Barnhart speaking to those in attendance Thursday afternoon (Michael Joel-Hansen/paNOW Staff)

By Michael Joel-Hansen

SUMA

Representatives from smaller communities meet in P.A.

May 9, 2019 | 5:34 PM

Elected representatives and administrators from towns, villages and smaller communities were in Prince Albert Thursday to talk shop.

The sector meeting, which is an annual event, was organized by the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) the umbrella organization which lobbies other levels of government on behalf of Saskatchewan’s urban centres.

SUMA President Gordon Barnhart said those attending the meeting brought up a variety of issues, ranging from finding qualified staff, to challenges in maintaining infrastructure. Barnhart said a specific challenge for smaller communities is replacing aging sewer and water systems, many of which are 50 years old.

“That’s a huge expense for many of these communities,” Barnhart said.

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Along with the challenge of replacing physical infrastructure, Barnhart said many communities are facing issues in regards to changing regulations around water quality coming from the provincial and federal governments.

Another challenge Barnhart sees are villages and towns facing declining population numbers. Over the last 20 years the province has seen 200 villages dissolved and absorbed by nearby rural municipalities.

John Enns-Wind chief operating officer with the Town of Battleford infrastructure is an issue everywhere.

“Every municipality in Saskatchewan and across the country has infrastructure deficits; it doesn’t matter where you live,” he said.

Finding qualified people to perform administration duties is another issue that Enns-Wind said is causing issues for many smaller communities.

“There’s a lot of towns and villages that are really struggling… not only for administrators, but even when they get them to have qualified good administrators,” he said.

The administration side is not the only issue where staffing issues exists as Enns-Wind said running facilities like water treatment plants and ice rinks require people to have a certain level of expertise.

“Our utility people, they go through a lot of training and then you go down to the rink having somebody who knows how to start up the ice plant,” he said.

Going into the future, Enns-Wind agreed cooperation between municipal governments is key and is something that needs to be looked at.

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MichaelJoel.Hansen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @mjhskcdn