City To Spend $110,000 For Consultant On Slumping
It is an area where the City has slowly being moving resources with little fanfare and discussion. It is an area where literally portions of the city have slid into or are allegedly on the verge of sliding into oblivion. The area is the slump zones which exist within the city.
The same occured last Wednesday evening at a special meeting of Council where a budget initiative to spend $110,000 for a consultant to help define the slump zones and manage them more effectively in line with best practices was passed.
Screen Shot Of Skipton Road Collapsing Into The Moose Jaw River Valley From Drone Footage Shot In May 2019 - MJ Independent File Photo By Timothy Robinson
In addressing Council director of engineering Josh Mickelborough said the City had established slump zones like other communities and was monitoring four active movement areas.
“The City has zoned slumping along the river valley area it is long and well established. It is an important piece in managing slumping areas in any community that has them and insures information is available to our citizens and available to our community. Right now we are aware of four active areas and we are monitoring that movement to insure things are safe and we have an understanding on how quickly those are moving,” Mickelborough said.
“It is an important piece on how any slump zone be managed but like anything best practices change over time and the goal of this program would be to update our practices and policies in support of the zoning and bylaws we have in place,” he said.
Map Of Slump Zone Areas Including Areas Of Active Movement - source City of Moose Jaw
During 2018 budget discussions director of planning Michelle Sanson briefly justified the hiring of a second Geographical Informaton Systems technician would assist in mapping the slumping areas for movement. Executive Committee meetings, when they were not televised, spoke about speed limits necessary for roads along the river valley and expenditures made in that area.
Mickelborough was speaking to Council making a request to hire a consultnt to help in the updating the plans on how the City manages slumping areas. At present there are four active areas in the slump zone.
“Right now we are aware of four active areas and we are monitoring that movement to ensure things are safe and we have an understanding on how quickly those are moving but like anything best practices change over time and the goal of this project would be to update our practices and policies. in support of the zoning and bylaws we have in place.”
According to City Bylaw #5346 the Zoning Bylaw Section 10.3.3 the slump zones were defined in a 2001 geotechnical report by Golder and Associates.
In 2017 the City ordered two Skipton Road home owners to move their homes by July 31st of that year or face a $5,000 fine for not doing so and an additional $500 for each day the homes were not moved. Residents at the time complained to the CBC they had not been provided with a sufficient warning and the matter went to court where the City was unsuccessful in enforcing the removal order due to in part inadequately monitoring the progression of the slumping activity.
Additional claims were made the City had been partially responsible for accelerating the slumping by not fixing water main issues promptly as well as acitvely dumping snow at the end of Skipton Road against the ravine thereby increasing the soil’s moisture level and accelerating the movement of the soil. Those claims were never proven in court.
The City enlarged the slump zone areas - S1 Moderate to High Risk and S2 Low to Moderate Risk - and today carry a warning on the City web-site that any building in the zone must be approved with a favourable geotechnical report with the report endorsed by a qualified professional engineer licensed to practice in Saskatchewan.
Measures Taken To Protect Traffic In A Dynamic Slump Zone Area - MJ Independent File Photo By Timothy Robinson
Funding to hire the consultant would come from the former flood reserve $70,537 and $39,463 from the general fund.
The flood reserve was a program where the City had been contributing capital funds for a flood prone acquisition reserve where homes in the Moose Jaw River flood plain were acquired and demolished with the land being turned over to the stewardship of the Wakamow Valley Authority. The flood reserve program was discontinued at least seven years ago.
Funding the initiative was discussed with mention made by Councillor Chris Warren regarding the Accumulated Surplus.
The Accumulated Surplus account is where taxes collected above what is spent or allocated during the year are collected. Traditionally the fund has been used as a type of rainy day account. Presently the Accumulated Surplus is $1.625 million.
“The longer I am in this role as a councillor the more I have lent my opinion around the accumulated surplus is we have collected more taxes than we needed. I do not necesarily agree with having $2.5 million in the bank at all times as it is we have collected that more tax over the years to be used as a buffer in and when needed,” Councillor Warren said.
Finance director Brian Acker expalined the traditional role the Accumulated Surplus played in the City’s overall financial strategy.
“Our goal is to have five percent of our operating budget which is about $2.5 million in that accumulated surplus for years when we potentially have major issues if you recall in 2017 we did indeed have that when the Province reduced our funding significantly it gives us a source to dip into.” Acker said.
Councillor Brian Swanson spoke about the overall picture of the City’s capital budget and the true reality he saw it facing.
“Whether it is $1.2 million for a fluoridation system or $1.1 million for new pipes or $40,000 to hire a consultant to study slumping the reality is all of those budgets are already in negative positions. So if this is a prority then it should be weighed against other priorities and adjustments made so we are not increasing the negative position of those?” Councillor Swanson asked.
“Forty thousand dollars is a lot of money to most people in Moose Jaw. I know when you start spending $200 million over five years what is $40,000? Forty thousand is a lot of money,” he said.
In a vote of 5 - 2 with Councillors Dawn Luhning and Swanson opposed Council approved the budget initiative.