The Next Steps - Clearing the Path
The CTP committee met on February 15th for a full day session to take a serious look at some of the successes and failures of the projects to date and set the direction the program will take in the coming years.On the economic development side, the committee reviewed the Municipal Capacity Development Program (MCDP). The committee members indicated they had received positive feedback from RMs who had used the program and have heard nothing negative to date. The MCDP has put the human resources in place to assist municipalities in devising working relationships with their neighboring municipalities and to assist them with local and regional planning which was is a concept that furthers the objectives of the CTP initiative.
The committee discussed the need to continue the MCDP program past 2009 and the need to acquire funding to do so. Therefore the CTP Committee drafted a letter that was sent to the administrators of Federal/Provincial Infrastructure Programs requesting that the funding required to continue the MCDP program past 2009 be funded through the interest earnings on the Federal Gas Tax Program. This letter was sent to the Gas Tax Committee for their consideration and we are awaiting their response.
The committee also identified the need for a grant program to complement the MCDP program that could provide direct funding to municipal groups to actually hire their own human resources once they make it to the project stage. The committee suggested this grant should provide a cost share where the municipal group puts forward some funding and the grant would be in place to provide additional funding based on the municipal contribution.
Then the committee discussed transportation issues, specifically the CTP Primary Weight Corridor System. The committee discussed some specific areas of the corridor system where they had concerns such as some areas that were locked by water and land and needed primary weight access. The committee will now be reviewing such areas and trying to provide primary access in such instances Phase 2 of the corridor system is determined.
The committee will also now be focusing some of its efforts on communications. Now that the phase 1 of the primary weight system is up and running we need to communicate to haulers that this network is available for them to use. The committee plans to meet with the Saskatchewan Truckers Association to determine how best to communicate with their members and then implement a communications strategy.
This ended the committees review of current projects and they then took a look at the outstanding Clearing the Path recommendations and came up with action items that would help them move forward.
The development committee took a look at their recommendations and came up with the following action items.
The committee identified the need to link the MCDP with the existing Municipal Leadership Development Program where possible. They think MLDP could provide some educational background on the CTP Program and Concepts to councilors, reeves, mayors and administrators. The MLDP could then direct interested municipalities to the MCDP program to take the concept to reality in a municipality.
The committee also identified the need to continue promoting the CTP Program through opportunities like the SARM/SUMA conventions, meetings and articles in publications, etc. With regards to the recommendations that encouraged municipalities to form Sector Specific Planning Commissions – the MCDP program is finding that this is happening naturally as municipal committees are developing on their own to deal with specific issues they have in common. The committee plans to let this process evolve naturally and assist where needed.
It was also determined that the MCDP program should start to develop some new workshops and modules that are targeted at sharing success stories of municipal cooperation and economic development. These success stories could be used as a way to promote the successes of the CTP Concept and to encourage more municipalities to get involved. The committee has specific recommendations concerning the need for municipalities to provide funding for economic development and also introduced the idea of undertaking revenue and cost sharing agreements. Modules and workshops through MCDP could be structured to introduce these concepts.
On the transportation side, this subcommittee determined the following action items should be pursued.
The committee will be undertaking a series of letters and meetings with officials at the Provincial Department of Highways to explore issues identified with concentrated hauls, road maintenance agreements and the enforcement of weight limits on the municipal road system.
They will also be speaking with the Saskatchewan Truckers Association to discuss the issue of a “one-stop” permit office. This will help the committee better determine the needs truckers have when it comes to permits and then the committee can set up a meeting with the Provincial Ministry of Highways to talk about implementing a “one-stop” system.
I will be updating you through these articles as the CTP Committee works to undertake these new action items. If you have any questions or need more information on the CTP Program please visit the website at www.clearingthepath.ca
Also, there are two rural representatives that sit on the CTP Committee from each of the 6 SARM Divisions. One representative from each division sits on either the development or transportation sub-committee. The list of these RM representatives is as follows.
Development Committee
Barry Harris RM of COALFIELDS No. 4 Division 1
Jim Bateman RM of GRAVELBOURG No. 104 Division 2
Harold Martens RM of EXCELSIOR No. 166 Division 3
Bryan Baraniski RM of MOOSE RANGE No. 486 Division 4
Wally Kaboraff RM of BLAINE LAKE No. 434 Division 5
John Light RM of BRITANNIA No. 502 Division 6
Transportation Committee
Glenn Blakley RM of SPY HILL No. 152 Division 1
Tom Lemon RM of PENSE No. 160 Division 2
John Wagner RM of PIAPOT No. 110 Division 3
Richard Porter RM of CANWOOD No. 494 Division 5
Mervin Kryzanowski RM of LAKEVIEW No. 337 Division 4
Ray Wilfing RM of MEADOW LAKE No. 588 Division 6