[0:02] of the mate. We pay favor respects to our first nations and matey ances

[0:06] and reaffirm our relationship with one another. We'll move to the adoption of

[0:10] the agenda. So any changes to the agenda convinced also move

[0:22] in favor.

[0:25] We move to adoption the minutes of the special meeting held on the 11th of

[0:30] August

[0:34] and move as presented also move as presented

[0:39] second favor

[0:47] now move to delegation public hearings and we have into the lead cand

[1:01] Yeah, I might just stand actually if that's okay.

[1:05] All righty. Well, good evening, Mayor and Council.

[1:09] Thank you very much for having us this evening. My name is Megan. I'm the CEO

[1:14] and co-owner of Into the Weeds Cannabis. And thank you very much for the

[1:19] opportunity to present to you today. So into the weeds cannabis is a 100% uh

[1:27] Saskatchewan owned company with a background in retail pharmacy, grocery,

[1:31] liquor, and now retail cannabis. We are also majority female owned and operated.

[1:36] This is something we are very proud of. We understand that operating businesses

[1:41] in Saskatchewan and communities, including smaller communities, and we

[1:45] understand that being a good local business means more than simply opening

[1:49] a door and making sales. Today, we operate nine cannabis retail stores

[1:54] across Saskatchewan. That experience has given us a strong understanding of

[1:58] regulated retail cannabis and what it takes to operate responsibly in

[2:02] different communities.

[2:06] Here's a quick glance at our executive team, which consists of myself and my

[2:10] sister Jenna, who's here with me today. As I said, we are a majority femaleowned

[2:15] and operated company. And because we are a family-owned business, we are

[2:19] personally invested in the success of the company and in the communities where

[2:23] we operate. We are not a large outside corporation coming into a community and

[2:27] handing over the operation to someone else. We are directly involved in the

[2:31] business, our stores, our employees, and our community relationships. That

[2:37] personal involvement is something we would bring with us to Laur.

[2:43] Here we have a glance at some of our current locations which include our

[2:47] Kraton, Saskatoon, Devdon, and Big River location. One thing these locations

[2:54] demonstrate is that our stores are designed to fit into the communities

[2:57] where they operate. We have experience working with different types of

[3:00] buildings and different community environments. We take pride in

[3:04] maintaining professional, secure, and welcoming retail spaces. Our goal in the

[3:09] range would be to bring that same approach to the proposed location.

[3:13] And next we have our Spiritwood, Melfort, Langenburgg, and Birch Hills

[3:19] locations. Then one more down we have our newest

[3:23] location which is in Nippoin. We just opened in April. I'd also like to point

[3:28] out that we are one of three stores in Nippoin which has a lesser population of

[3:32] Laurange. So, and next up here we have a proposed

[3:37] location for Lange at 516 Lange Avenue. This property is located in the downtown

[3:44] commercial area. Our intention is to invest in this existing commercial

[3:48] property and renovate and improve it for use as a retail cannabis store.

[3:54] Next up, we do have a letter of support from the property owner, Penny, which I

[3:58] will read aloud to you now. Dear Lange Mayor and Town Council, my

[4:03] name is Penny Spoolie, owner of Penny's Hair Design. I have lived in Lange since

[4:08] 1988 and have provided a service to our community and in North for 38 years. I

[4:14] put my heart and soul into my business for many years. And now I'm ready to

[4:17] sell my building and property and move on to the next chapter. I have accepted

[4:22] an offer to purchase my building from a reputable business person wanting to

[4:26] open a new store location in Lrange for my commercial property to sell. The new

[4:30] owner needs to be approved for a business license by the town of Lrange

[4:34] to operate their store at 516 Lange Avenue. This location is in the middle

[4:39] of the commercial district of downtown Lange or two other similar stores

[4:43] currently operate. There are no bylaws prohibiting a third business of this

[4:47] kind in the town of Lange and I support their ability to enter a fair, open,

[4:52] competitive market. I don't believe Langetown Council should protect the

[4:56] current two operations from a new competitor entering the market and thus

[5:00] prohibit my building from selling. My property has been listed for sale on the

[5:05] multiple listing service for 156 days and this is the only buyer to make an

[5:09] offer to date. Please consider your application for a business license and

[5:14] support my ability to transition to retirement after 38 years of service to

[5:18] our community. Best regards, Penn.

[5:23] Okay, next up, so jumping back into the presentation, uh we do want to make one

[5:28] point very clear that this application is not about introducing cannabis to

[5:32] Lange. Retail cannabis is currently available in the community. So the

[5:36] question is not whether cannabis will exist in Lange as it already does. Our

[5:41] application would simply add another license option for consumers and allow

[5:44] for additional consumer choice and business competition. And we believe

[5:48] that that distinction is important. Next up,

[5:56] so we also want to address some community and safety concerns. A

[6:00] licensed cannabis store is not elicit drug activity. Retail cannabis operates

[6:04] under strict provincial regulations. Sales are age restricted. Stores are

[6:09] licensed and monitored by regulators and the retail environment is secure.

[6:13] Licensed cannabis retailers operate openly, transparently, and under

[6:17] government oversight. That is the environment that we operate in at our

[6:21] existing stores and that is a standard that we would bring to the range.

[6:26] Next up here we have our community involvement slide. So community

[6:31] involvement is a very important part of how we operate our business across

[6:36] Saskatchewan. We have already supported a number of local organizations and

[6:40] community initiatives. And some examples of our involvement this year include

[6:45] $1,500 donation to the Devdon Recreation Board, sponsorship of the Nest Creek

[6:50] Music Festival in Big River, donations to the Kraton and Fire Department for

[6:54] their work during the devastating fires in the north last year, donations of

[6:58] microwaves to the Devdon community school, and Christmas turkeys for the

[7:02] Devdon Matter Senior's Home in addition to many more. If we are approved in

[7:07] Lanch, our intention is to become active supporters of local organizations and

[7:12] community initiatives here as well. [clears throat]

[7:17] And to finish, I would like to summarize why we believe approving this

[7:21] application would benefit Lange. First, it represents investment in a downtown

[7:25] commercial property. It supports a local property sale and allows the current

[7:29] owner to move forward with her plans. It contributes property tax revenue and

[7:34] creates local employment opportunities. And we would also be renovating and

[7:39] approving an existing building which puts an existing commercial property

[7:43] back into active use. And importantly, approving approving another licensed

[7:48] cannabis retailer does not mean creating more cannabis use in Lange. It simply

[7:53] means giving adults who already choose to consume cannabis another safe, legal,

[7:57] and regulated place to purchase it. We believe that this is a straightforward

[8:01] opportunity to bring another responsible locally owned Saskatchewan business into

[8:05] our own. We have the experience and the proven track record across Saskatchewan

[8:10] and we have the support of the property owner and we are prepared to invest in

[8:14] the property community. Thank you for your time and for considering our

[8:19] application and we would be very proud to be a part of Laurent.

[8:25] I guess I can stay here if anybody has any questions for me.

[8:36] If there's no questions likely because you covered everything in your

[8:39] presentation, >> I hope so.

[8:42] » My only thing was Nipoint's population is 5,033.

[8:47] » Yes. >> Our population is 2668.

[8:50] » Sorry, I should have said in the tri community area. The surrounding

[8:53] population I guess as well. >> Yes.

[8:57] So with two other shops in existence, yes, there's still a market.

[9:04] » Yes. >> Share to capture.

[9:06] » There is. Yes. Especially with the surrounding area. Um there are other

[9:11] areas that are more saturated as well. Um I'd also like to point out I guess

[9:17] too that of the stores that are here, they are actually larger groups than

[9:20] into the weeds. Um both groups have 10 plus stores as well as us. Um, so yeah,

[9:27] we based off of the population and our current experience in stores that we're

[9:31] in, it definitely would be viable to have more than two stores here.

[9:36] » How much competition do you have in some of the other sites?

[9:39] » Um, we definitely do. So like we have competition in Kraton. So we we mostly

[9:44] target rural smaller Saskatchewan. Um, rural areas much smaller than Lange even

[9:49] like Debbon for example, Birch Hills, Langenburg. Um, so a lot of the areas

[9:53] that we're in have one store, but some of the other communities that we're in

[9:57] have two to three. And then as well as say like Saskatoon, there's 40 plus

[10:01] stores. More than to importance for a fun fact. [laughter] Yeah.

[10:12] » Well, thanks for your presentation.

[10:17] » Deliberate again further down. Okay. Okay.

[10:22] » [clears throat]

[10:33] » Okay, we'll have a motion to enter in committee.

[10:41] » All in favor? Carried.

[10:47] I guess we'll enter in discussions about the budget.

[10:52] That's pretty early in the year.

[10:57] » Timelines. >> We got some timelines that are done

[11:00] there. Um I've already started getting all my preliminary manuals ready. U got

[11:06] the draft sheets ready to hand out to everyone. Um, so basically we got the

[11:11] timelines listed there starting pretty much tomorrow all the way till

[11:16] November 23rd when everything gets similar to the last few years. Uh, we're

[11:22] same thing we're going to have our budget open houses

[11:26] um dates. Um,

[11:31] looking at there there's a few differences that we're uh going through.

[11:35] uh wages were probably going to be around the 5% increase um estimating

[11:42] based on the CPI so far this year. Um

[11:50] yeah, so

[11:53] everything listed there. Does anyone have any questions about the budget

[11:57] process? upset.

[12:02] » Okay. >> Yeah. I guess it's, you know, it's nice

[12:04] to be proactive and I know you got a number of things that, you know, may be

[12:09] affected by things in the market or whatever. So, that's I I like the

[12:15] approach and I think it's good. They have the open house plan sometime in

[12:20] between the 3rd and the 17th of November. So, uh, we'll be well underway

[12:25] and get public input into that and, uh, the final adjustments potentially in

[12:33] December, which be ready to go for January 1.

[12:36] » Yeah, that's right. Hit the ground running with the challenges that we

[12:41] faced in the last year. I think done pretty well,

[12:47] » I think. So,

[12:51] » okay.

[12:56] I don't have any comments.

[13:07] » [laughter] >> I have

[13:11] the update on the kind of date. >> This is just I guess a general date as

[13:18] to where things are at. So back in uh November 2025. Uh we entered into a list

[13:23] agreement with Little Bear Early Learning Center to operate out of the

[13:28] previous high schools space at Mel Gunlex. And I know we've been looking

[13:32] hard to uh get some funding to do some rentals and uh get operational there

[13:38] because we know that uh there's a need here right now for daycare spots. Um and

[13:44] just just as a reminder really just to know that uh the lease came into effect

[13:49] technically uh this August 1st, so just a couple weeks ago. Uh and they have

[13:54] installed December 31st of this year um before they have to start like doing uh

[13:59] payments to the town. So, we're suing to hear something concrete back from them

[14:04] if they're moving ahead with some renovations and have the plug in to do

[14:07] so or if they're not able to at that point. And so, December 31st is really

[14:13] what the part is there and then the lease payments kick in. We're assuming

[14:17] that they're not going to start those lease payments without having the

[14:21] funding secured. Um and then on the other side of things, uh as we've uh

[14:25] heard North Atlant College back in March, uh they do have some funding

[14:28] secured for daycare spaces in the region. I think up to 90 seats is what

[14:34] they were uh what they had received funding for. Um I'll say approximately

[14:39] though. Um that was back in March and uh I know that they they are planning uh

[14:46] how they're going to meet that need. Uh at the time we heard that uh

[14:52] hear something more concrete in April and we're certainly looking forward to

[14:56] hearing an update from

[15:00] the last they were going to break it up into 30

[15:04] units were going to be at the river campus

[15:07] renovation done there. Soon as they completed that then they were going to

[15:11] move on to the bigger phase which looks like there's some interest in the

[15:17] in the property next to the front office here. So that that won't happen till the

[15:21] other one is completed. >> They've given no timelines for that.

[15:28] » I think we're into spring completion spring at the end of campus.

[15:41] We'll move on to the uh the highway science.

[15:48] Things have changed I guess with the chamber not operation anymore and so I

[15:55] guess we got some decisions ahead of us in terms of how we want to operate that

[16:04] want to lead that conversation [laughter]

[16:08] not touching up I mean there are some questions there to

[16:12] lead the conversation the background is there um first and foremost we're just

[16:17] confirming that you want to see that program continue and that you're not

[16:20] looking to discontinue having signs in the community and uh if so we've got a

[16:26] number of questions there just to give us some guidance on how you'd like to

[16:29] see it administered going forward administration heard that the chamber

[16:34] was going to dissolve so we contacted guess

[16:41] about taking it over and so we received you know this current uh tenants Yeah,

[16:47] invoicing things of this nature. We were already undertaking to do the invoicing

[16:50] for 2026. It wasn't completed by the chamber for this year. We took an

[16:54] inventory and drew a map as you've seen, took photographs and all this sort of

[16:59] thing so we could inform this report and talk to these uh talk to council about

[17:04] these issues and let them move forward with something to bring back

[17:07] future management of the of the port. Did I am I understand that correctly

[17:14] that there are no signed agreements in place for any of the existing signs? Is

[17:19] that what I read was reading? >> That's my all

[17:22] » not a single one. No, that was the response I got when I asked the chamber

[17:26] and the but of course that is something we could look at doing moving forward

[17:30] and and uh you know obviously that would give current tenants an opportunity to

[17:36] sign multi-year lease agreements maybe with some increases that are that are uh

[17:41] played out over the over the years to come because we've also done some

[17:44] research in that regard and the rents that we char are charging are cheap when

[17:49] we look at others throughout the province maybe not so much

[17:53] married to our neighbors to the south corridor. Of course, we also have a ban

[17:59] corridor there. As you probably noticed, a lot of the stuff that's advertised

[18:02] there related specifically to the ban in some way, shape, or form.

[18:08] » So, do right on near the landfill. >> Correct.

[18:12] » Okay. And just Yeah. >> I'm not sure [clears throat] the history

[18:14] of that and how they managed to acquire that because I think it's part of the

[18:17] highway right whereas ours is piece of land that we own adjacent to the highway

[18:21] corridor. Yeah,

[18:27] » know the uh you know there's one billboard first of all point about the

[18:33] report know from our from our perspective that the actual structures

[18:37] on which the billboards rest we have to assume are owned by the people that put

[18:41] the signs up in the first place. there's nothing [clears throat]

[18:45] anything to the contrary and that's why you'll see some of the advertising would

[18:49] not have anything in behind their sign even though the the zoning file that

[18:54] requires that they treat the rear of the sign if they choose not to doubleside

[18:58] the sign. There is the one billboard sign that has both the chamber on it

[19:03] which is obviously becoming defunct and then there is uh the advertising the

[19:08] floor longterm care and fundraising for that on the reverse. So obviously the

[19:12] chamber sign will become available for advertising and I've already got

[19:16] interested parties to advertise on it. I think it's safe to say that we own

[19:22] that one >> or at least by default.

[19:26] » Yeah. [clears throat] You know, we would do as part of any

[19:30] future planning in terms of managing that thing, we would send out a letter

[19:34] to all the tenants and, you know, describe that they could stay and have

[19:40] the option to sign, you know, or are required to sign an agreement and give

[19:45] them options for years, the cost, you know, and all the rest. that you know

[19:48] council lay a pricing scheme for it to see the prices to increase over time.

[19:55] suic that are there right now. Are they are

[19:59] they do they are the annual things like this expire year?

[20:04] » Right now the annual fee is $250 a year. It's only cheap advertising.

[20:10] And we can I guess we can wrap up you know before before the start of next

[20:14] year and you know maybe existing signs

[20:20] uh just just kind of lease the space or whatever but but I think in terms of new

[20:26] structures it would be considered after any new request that we require them. I

[20:32] think the approach would be moving forward and just obviously something you

[20:35] know to be discussed with council is that part of any agreements to sign and

[20:40] moving forward is that we would take over the ownership of the structure so

[20:42] we control what's going on there and obviously if somebody wants to pull out

[20:45] we don't expect them to remove the structures obviously got some value

[20:49] maybe you know in doing that we give them a discount I don't know what that

[20:53] looks like but um doesn't make any sense to get rid of them and I'd like to see

[20:58] advertising on both sides of the home now I I suspect that what advertisers

[21:02] are doing is, you know, obviously they're paying the chamber now us their

[21:06] annual fee and then they're suddenly seeing the back of the sign in some

[21:10] cases. You know, like you'll see two businesses being advertised and they're

[21:13] probably making more money on the on the reverse side than they are in terms of

[21:17] what they're paying the chamber as a whole. And I should just say that, you

[21:21] know, in reaching out to the current tenants uh either by email or letter

[21:26] depending on how I was able to get a hold of them, we did indicate that we we

[21:29] are taking it over again. is our land and uh we will be looking at potential

[21:35] rent increases as well as um what else was there? Just let them know that it

[21:42] may be the requirement for rental agreements moving forward in the future.

[21:49] It would be nice in that area too to landscape it a bit and have

[21:54] a little water. That's another issue because the chamber

[21:59] is part of the agreement that the town has with the chamber where obviously the

[22:03] whole idea behind allowing them to manage it was to garner uh income for

[22:07] not for-p profofit organization was that they maintain the grounds of all the

[22:11] grounds the swamp and you know it's been rough for us to try to get them to do

[22:16] that on occasion you know keep it up to a certain level obviously you know if

[22:20] we're going to do it that's probably would you know fall on our community

[22:24] services department So we'd have to talk to Conor about what's that going to take

[22:28] in terms of manpower and time and estimated cost and all the rest of it

[22:34] » factor that in with the uh with species >> correct

[22:39] » I know coverage done some research cover type but you know piece of look at what

[22:44] the advertising fees are built signs and other areas I think are charging $200

[22:50] a side um we're getting now $250 $50 because tax gates want to sign and uh

[22:59] some of the price you're getting up to $1,000.

[23:03] » Um probably start around with the household.

[23:07] » I'm underestimating. >> Sorry. Is that um yeah, you're looking

[23:10] you're looking close to usually around 3 to 350 per month is uh

[23:17] more than the average of what they started at Sasser

[23:22] traffic areas but still that's something we can look at in more detail.

[23:29] Well, I think I think things plan to offer you something that look at what

[23:35] the costs are and what they need in terms of opportunities here.

[23:40] » That uh we have some thought to is uh advertising for not for profits. Right

[23:44] now we have MAD and SAD combined advertising uh people against drug

[23:50] driving and u I know that the uh town waved the development permanent fee when

[23:57] they first put that sign up and then the chamber subsequently gave them free rent

[24:02] and you know I think you know we either reach out to say that we're going to

[24:07] allow this continue for a certain period of time and then [clears throat] maybe

[24:10] at some point in time you know advertising for an off property to say

[24:14] pay the go rate or they don't advertise because otherwise we're just going to

[24:17] get inundated with you know requests for free advertising on on the you know on

[24:21] the billboard corridor and you know the idea is to garner income to pay for not

[24:26] only the upkeep of those lands but also help you know town offers I think that

[24:31] that's the way to go and then it makes it more simple if we kind of you know

[24:35] take that out of the equation where we have to deal with these requests for

[24:38] free advertising >> make it level across the board

[24:41] » exactly you want advertising that going rate is availability.

[24:45] » Yeah, I I looked in at at one point I looked into getting what a sign out

[24:50] there produced and the structure alone I was given an

[24:56] estimate of $1,500. >> Yeah.

[24:58] » And the sign another $1,500. >> Yeah. Sometimes in some cases the signs

[25:04] are upward. >> Yeah.

[25:06] » And then you got to hire somebody to take you know put it up right with a

[25:10] lift or something. But the cost of lumber no just that cost will be

[25:17] » I think we should really not not close out all nonprofits or some

[25:24] that are really like mad and sad that are really

[25:27] benefit all individuals we should probably

[25:32] look at them with a different light I think and

[25:37] hope it's

[25:41] the Boy Scouts of Tandem and that's different than Mad Group or

[25:46] » Yeah. Maybe if it's specific like if if we write a policy that's very specific

[25:50] um to do with like harm reduction when driving or you know whatever it is very

[25:56] specific. Sure. But I do understand it would be problematic. But that having

[26:01] been said if you wanted to limit the percentage of signs in the corridor to

[26:04] not for profit purposes that would be the way to go. Yeah.

[26:07] » And now you lost some opportunity and it would be rather at you know rather than

[26:11] free it would be at a significantly reduced rate.

[26:14] » And that's up to you folks obviously all you're just putting this out so you can

[26:17] give it some thought and we can go back and bring something forward that we can

[26:20] implement. >> I like that idea. [clears throat]

[26:25] » Or maybe there's one double-sided sign that the town has and it rotates

[26:29] annually or something. >> Well, you could also do again some other

[26:34] ideas. We we obviously have a community grant policy and if they want

[26:38] » the inind value of assign then that's part of the ask just like facilities and

[26:43] anything else that you have. >> So there's a few different ways we could

[26:47] do it. We just wanted to get a sense if there's anything you felt strongly about

[26:50] so that if we do develop a brief policy or a fee schedule that we capture your

[26:56] thoughts. >> I think it's reasonable the direction.

[27:00] Does the council want to wait to until we have a you know a set policy or guide

[27:05] guidance in place before staff rent out existing space?

[27:10] » Yeah. >> Yeah. I rented a science to June

[27:15] one month. I paid $3,600 for one month.

[27:24] » I think it's good to have it and I actually I like the idea of the town

[27:28] maintaining the area. Um, it definitely draws your metric. Like it you see it

[27:34] when you drive in and having as many businesses that

[27:39] you know can be on there. It shows the community that's thriving and continuing

[27:46] to grow. So I think it's >> I didn't even know we had a tire place

[27:49] to build a new entire sign with that. Yeah, [laughter]

[27:53] » about that is, you know, this is where there's kind of, you know, this this

[27:56] disconnect is I got the DP application in from from New of course we're only

[28:01] approving when we approve the dollar, we're approving the sign, right? Okay.

[28:05] » And uh but it was a whole new structure. At least this way once we take it back

[28:10] over, we'll be able to make sure all this stuff is done properly and you know

[28:13] they're supposed to be properly space. I think that one is but there but there's

[28:17] additional room along the corridor like we have block 14 which you see fairly

[28:21] well occupied the signage as it stands now but I think there's a bit more room

[28:24] for a couple more signs in there plus we have block 13 in the cart

[28:28] » so we wanted to extend the billboard area corridor we could you know we could

[28:34] do that >> from an economic development perspective

[28:36] it's this is a smart move to to start going on this and maybe offer half signs

[28:43] or you smaller signs for smaller businesses in town to be able to promote

[28:48] some of those things, direction, that kind of stuff.

[28:52] » It's the welcome into our town DC

[28:58] used to drive by and they had a big billboard sign there talking about, you

[29:01] know, economic development and said, "Call the mayor's

[29:05] [laughter]

[29:09] number right on it." >> [laughter]

[29:11] » I've never seen anybody go after economic development to each other

[29:16] on the island. >> I think because of the you know the

[29:20] nature of how wet it is in there I think wouldn't be a bad idea to to roll out

[29:26] our geotech sign is so that and then put some some

[29:31] little bit of top soil over it and you would notice it there but at least you'd

[29:36] have a path to get to where the signs are.

[29:38] » Yeah. I wish I wish we could start it all over scratch, but obviously we're

[29:43] unable to do that, but we can moving forward we can make those kinds of

[29:46] improvements. We want to make sure it pays for itself

[29:50] at the very least and hopefully a bit more.

[29:52] » Yeah. >> And we'd probably want to have maybe a t

[29:56] like a renewal period would be during a time where you can actually access

[30:00] space, >> not in spring or

[30:05] [clears throat] >> Yeah. Right now it's based on the

[30:07] calendar year and usually they send out the invoices. Well, chamber used to send

[30:11] out the invoices in December. >> Yeah.

[30:13] » And of course I learned that the chamber did not send out the invoices for 2020.

[30:17] So we just got them out. So while did you was there anything else

[30:23] that we maybe needed some more input on there that

[30:26] » I haven't I haven't heard anything as you know I think there was much

[30:30] broadening in there that is needed in terms of again when maybe down the road

[30:34] we develop a policy and then the uptake is strong or weak and you want to tweak

[30:38] the policy later that's all possible. uh we just need to get something reasonable

[30:43] in place that council's agreeable with so that uh we can get going on 2027 and

[30:48] if there is some maintenance things to plan for future capital or operating

[30:52] budgets we can do that. Yeah. And durationwise, I I don't know.

[30:57] Personally, I think it would be fine to offer one, three, five year leases. And

[31:03] » yeah, I think I think the mess would be that if you're going to offer a

[31:07] multi-year like 135, then you would offer slight discounts on longer terms,

[31:12] » right? To give them inspiration to do so.

[31:14] » I mean, obviously, if their business was to was to go by the wayside in the

[31:17] interm and uh but we would still build it annually. That's how that's what we

[31:20] do with all our shoreline decent and what have you.

[31:23] » So, It would be really no problem.

[31:28] So >> yeah.

[31:34] » Thank you.

[31:39] » Have a motion to rise and resource. >> Make that motion.

[31:46] » I'll second favor.

[31:50] Motion is carried. We move into

[31:58] » Yeah, this is under the category of administrative cleanup

[32:03] legislation. They're sticky that this not be done in policy. So, when we were

[32:07] updating some of this stuff, we're just inverting it into a new updated film

[32:13] that will replace all the previous documents um with some minor minor

[32:18] improvements. Another looks like more professionally done in 2020. [laughter]

[32:26] Slowly been improving. Yeah, >> these are living documents. That's what

[32:30] happens. >> Yeah, exactly. We we implement, we

[32:33] learn, we change. Yeah, tweak.

[32:48] » Okay. So, There's no questions and chairman accepted.

[32:52] We'll have a first reading six and conduct B number 71426

[33:01] » question. Has everybody read it? >> Council shar.

[33:06] » Yes. [laughter]

[33:10] » I will move. Second >> second

[33:16] deal in favor

[33:20] motion for second reading. >> I'll make the motion for second reading

[33:25] the bylaw 71426 I'll second that second motion. All in

[33:31] favor? Carries. We have a motion to have all

[33:35] three reading. Question that we have three meetings.

[33:43] Second favor.

[33:47] It's unanimous. Who will have the third reading?

[33:51] Also second

[33:55] by all in favor.

[34:00] Okay, we'll move to business and we have the financial reports

[34:08] control

[34:12] approval checklisting for by for any questions.

[34:25] I will move to approve the uh four following financial reports.

[34:33] » I'll second that on paper carried

[34:38] to building services report

[34:44] information building concerns.

[34:53] It's all that

[35:11] motion to receive.

[35:20] Are you move or you >> I'll second

[35:30] to operations

[35:35] maintenance the temporary draft agreement.

[35:42] Yeah. So, uh just a bit of a background. Um we had talked to council off and on

[35:49] informally and formally different meetings uh planning sessions

[35:55] about some of the challenges with the certification requirements and staffing

[35:59] requirements to maintain our systems under utilities.

[36:04] Of course with the new wastewater treatment plant those may even increase.

[36:07] We're not 100% sure yet because they haven't finalized design. Um and our

[36:13] most senior operator uh lead hand over there who is does an excellent job

[36:21] getting closer to retirement. We know that at some point we will lose that

[36:25] person and the other employees that we do have or been with us for less than a

[36:31] year and that's kind of been an ongoing challenge and can't can't get people

[36:35] that are trained and we can't keep them long enough to train them. So one of the

[36:39] things we wanted to explore just in terms of future planning was uh uh

[36:44] whether or not there was any interest from the in contracting out this portion

[36:50] of our operation. Um much like uh the waste the water treatment plant is

[36:55] administered by SAS water and we did issue an RFP and we received two

[37:00] interested bids. One was uh the preferred bid was with SAS water.

[37:06] Uh after that we've had some meetings and

[37:10] uh discussed uh some operational and contract issues

[37:15] and explored this further and we got it to a point where we as administration

[37:20] would be recommending entering into a long-term uh agreement with SAS water.

[37:26] The terms of that agreement are there. Um they are likely to be on par or a

[37:34] little less than our staffing costs right now. So this wouldn't be a

[37:39] budgetary concern unless we had a ridiculous number of

[37:44] callouts and we would also have overtime issues.

[37:47] So they kind of go hand in hand that way. Uh one of the bigger concerns was

[37:52] of course is taking care of our staff and in those discussions uh they've

[37:55] indicated they're more than interested in all of our staff.

[38:00] Our most senior operator has been with us a long time. We've given the option

[38:04] of moving forward with SAS water or staying

[38:08] on in an equal kind of capacity with the town. So any other employees would apply

[38:15] with SAS water as well. So that is a process we have to go through after uh

[38:21] if if council deems it they wish to proceed with this we will work with HR

[38:27] and the employees in question and uh get them through that process. So that's

[38:32] kind of a high level overview. Uh it is a 10-year agreement. We've set it up so

[38:38] that there is a fixed 2 and a half% annual increase which is been on average

[38:44] or a little less than our CPI with the employee costs. Um the only there is

[38:50] some provisions in there that if certification requirements change from

[38:55] the legislated bodies or uh something with our system requires an upgrade that

[39:00] we would then have to renegotiate uh the rate uh which only seems fair. Uh but we

[39:05] tried to uh get as much security in this agreement if we do go forward because

[39:10] there are some things that we would change. We would repurpose some vehicles

[39:14] and try and we would take some money elsewhere. We'd also get them set up

[39:18] with some office space and things like that to support them.

[39:22] So I'm happy to take any questions from council. The savings

[39:27] they are from repurposing vehicle not or the savings are from

[39:34] the town's yearly cost to operate. >> Well, they'll be both or the vehicle

[39:39] ones would be obviously one time nature, but the operating cost what we did is we

[39:44] looked at the costs that we would be build under this uh service agreement

[39:50] and we only took those operating costs that it would replace. So things like uh

[39:55] protective equipment for staffing, actual salaries, wages and benefits um

[40:01] and things like that because we would still get flow through billing for

[40:04] things like utilities and chemicals and things like that.

[40:07] » So if you compared our staffing cost to the proposal and some of the staffing

[40:13] related items, we're looking at

[40:18] that's where the savings comes from. The only proviso there is we've

[40:25] we've allowed for $40,000 in callouts. We don't know what that will be. Right

[40:29] now we budget about 33,000 for callouts. But yes, if you calculate overtime and

[40:35] staffing costs and benefits and all those things and you compare them to

[40:38] this contract, that's where we're projecting to be a little less.

[40:43] So, are we looking at [snorts] our 10ear costs and this 10 year costs

[40:50] with some projected savings for each year going forward? Hard to predict as

[40:56] council ultimately approves the the rates or increases for employed

[41:00] employees. Um, at the end of the day right now, our current policy is that we

[41:06] we increase our our wage and salary grids by CPI. So the consumer price

[41:11] index for Saskatchewan year-over-year September to September and we can budget

[41:16] for it for the next year and we also have

[41:21] a performance merit portion that is one up to 1.8%. That's what the steps in the

[41:27] grid are if they're not maxed out. So the maximum CPI they can get in a year

[41:33] is 3.2% 2% which means if an employee hasn't maxed out on their merit they

[41:40] could get upwards of 5% depending on what inflation is doing but they could

[41:44] also get as low as zero depending on what inflation's doing. So hard to say

[41:49] whether this is going to save year-over-year but for if you look at

[41:52] the last five years it's been our wages and benefits have probably

[41:58] gone up on an an average year of three and a halfish percent. So we've allowed

[42:04] for two and a half% as part of and that's hopefully covers

[42:09] any increases they have with their union contract because obviously these will be

[42:13] union employees for the most part but gets rid of the fact that we don't have

[42:18] to train or look for operators. >> Yeah. No advertising cost, no training,

[42:23] on boarding. Um basically anything that would be a staff

[42:29] related cost like retention bonuses or things like that, we would we would save

[42:34] those. And then we would look at the capital budget and the next two trucks

[42:39] that we have to replace, we'd be able to repurpose the utility trucks and not

[42:44] have to spend those capital dollars as soon. So that would also be a benefit.

[42:48] Did they I know you were going to ask them about

[42:52] so they hire somebody and they bring them in from I

[42:57] do they perceive that those people are pick up

[43:01] residence here while they're I think their intent is to have uh their

[43:07] core staff located here. The benefit, one of the benefits that going with a

[43:12] contract has and I think is where we see the potential savings is we have to

[43:17] staff to a level to have coverage for vacations and leave periods whereas they

[43:22] have a pool of people they can cycle in and they don't have to necessarily have

[43:27] the full cost of another body. So, um, yes, there would be some people that

[43:33] they would probably cycle in depending on those kind of leave needs, but, uh,

[43:37] we would expect that >> if they if they hire the three employees

[43:41] we have, all they would just continue on and that if they're going to provide

[43:45] that service and they need to be on call, they need to be relatively local.

[43:48] There's usually a response time requirement and things like that. And

[43:52] those costs would um would cost us for them to come in on

[43:57] like on a rotational basis. This is like they're being you're living right here.

[44:02] So, >> yeah, we get So, the contracted service

[44:04] is the same 7 day a week. Uh there'd be someone uh available. Um it's really

[44:12] outside of their shift where that call out possibly be. So, if something

[44:16] happens at midnight, just like now, we would get called out. In this case, they

[44:22] would get called out >> and we may need to support them

[44:25] depending on what the issue is. Are they thinking about upgrading remote

[44:30] monitoring where are they there any discussion around that?

[44:33] » Well, one of the elements of this agreement is that they included in the

[44:38] cost is that they would provide operational improvement recommendations.

[44:42] Uh so things that we absolutely should be doing, but then here's some things

[44:45] that would have a benefit and here's what the benefits would be. And then we

[44:49] could present those with capital budgeting and if they want to put in

[44:52] remote monitoring or or do some different things. Um those would be

[44:57] things that we can consider.

[45:01] » I certainly on board with

[45:09] » and we have had communication with staff like just so council is aware we've been

[45:13] ongoing keeping them apprised of the process what the intent was. uh the town

[45:19] was committed to protecting their their employment and working with SAS water

[45:24] and we will continue to do so. What's is there to now? Was there a target timing

[45:30] set for >> well this the term was to start November

[45:34] 1st is projected in here but the also if there was another agreeable date that

[45:38] made sense for both parties or employees to come come aboard like let's say for

[45:45] some reason they need to hire an extra body and they wanted to wait till

[45:49] » so we have to we have to agree to this and then like in November

[45:53] » then they need to start yeah they need to start getting ready to plan or or

[45:57] taking over the operation. and staffing up and things like that.

[46:02] We've told them that the exact date isn't super critical to us. Right now,

[46:08] we're running down a body, so sooner is better. Um, but also that my I conveyed

[46:14] is I I wouldn't want it to be any later than January. It's just easier for

[46:18] budgeting purposes if we're just seamlessly moving to a new contract.

[46:25] Well, if nobody else anything I proceed with the option I

[46:29] move the option uh the authorized execution and close utility

[46:34] certification operator maintenance agreement with SAS water corporation

[46:38] return November 1st 26 to December 31st 2036

[46:44] » I'll second pasty second by sh

[46:50] discussion question those in favor

[46:57] tools. So that's good. I think we're all on board. I think everybody's

[47:01] comfortable. >> It's a lot of work been put into this.

[47:04] » Yeah. And we'll continue like we'll have to give some updates to council in terms

[47:07] of the process for transition and the also the community at large and what

[47:12] what that means to them if anything and hopefully it is as seamless to the

[47:16] public as possible.

[47:28] Okay, we'll move to 8.4 development per application for 516 run

[47:36] decisions

[47:46] a quick recap. It's your so administration is has received a

[47:50] development permit application with respect to consideration of a

[47:53] discretionary use to allow a cannabis retail outlet to be established on the

[47:57] two properties of 516 Range Avenue. Property owner selling its two adjacent

[48:02] lots and has entered into a conditional sales agreement with the applicant who

[48:06] proposes to utilize the two properties to accommodate the canvas retail outlet

[48:10] in existing building on lot one with accessory off parking on lot two. These

[48:15] two lots would be consolidated as part of the process should the development

[48:19] permit ultimately be approved. Administration is recommending that

[48:22] council directs it to initiate a public consultation consultation process before

[48:28] the matter is brought back to council for further consideration.

[48:36] I'd make that motion that council direct administration to initiate the public

[48:40] consultation process to consider issuance of a development permit to

[48:45] establish a destructionary use of cannabis retail on the subject

[48:49] properties described as lots one and two block 7 plan Sierra 1750 extension zero

[48:58] commonly known as 516 Lange Avenue.

[49:03] Second. Second it may second the motion. >> Any discussion around that before I pull

[49:10] the question? >> This was strictly for the public

[49:13] consultation. Correct. >> Yes.

[49:15] » What's is necessary when that's up? >> We'll put a notice in the newspaper as

[49:20] well as uh soon as this is completed I'll be going out with the applicants

[49:25] there to give them a sign to post on the property and I'll be doing a letter

[49:28] notification to all property owners within 75 meters surrounding the two

[49:32] properties. We'll also be posting the notice on our

[49:35] notification board and on our website.

[49:40] Okay, that's all the question in favor.

[50:02] That's a pretty hefty lease.

[50:07] » So, uh, back in February, administration brought uh, forward the intent to enter

[50:12] into lease agreements with us groups of the Melhagen Juniplex who have either

[50:18] had existing space or had an appetite to occupy new space or any space. Uh and so

[50:24] we have uh we've had discussions with my heart and administration's bringing one

[50:31] lease for this evening with the expectation for the other ones to follow

[50:35] subsequent. So I I can answer any questions you have

[50:39] about the lease or um or the report. One thing that I will note though is that uh

[50:46] back in February when we brought forward uh the spaces that groups were looking

[50:50] to occupy um the ticket booth at the front of the building right when you

[50:56] walk in uh what what wasn't listed but in discussions with minor hockey uh

[51:01] there is interest to run some skate shing out of the front table booth which

[51:05] is typical that you would simplify from that location in ranks um administration

[51:10] doesn't have concerns about them doing some this little defund to the service.

[51:15] » There's an obvious spot we missed when we were looking for a place to put it.

[51:20] It's space that's no longer

[51:25] very accessible to everybody coming in. So, that's good.

[51:29] » Yeah. And we do get questions about it. The JRCC does obviously that's not

[51:33] something that we currently have in the past. Um but over the years it uh

[51:41] went away and his appetite to bring it back through

[51:47] old skate sharpener still in the back room there.

[51:52] » It was old. I think they'd be looking at something

[51:57] smaller and uh I know some discussions around what the options are out there

[52:03] and compact these days.

[52:10] Okay, we have no more discussion. We'll make a motion to

[52:18] adoption A. So make that motion that we proceed with option A with auction

[52:25] move by council second. All in favor

[52:31] motion car. That's it for our hearing on business.

[52:35] We will have a motion to vendor. I'll make a motion or a second

[52:42] case.

Regular Meeting of Council - August 17, 2026

Transcript