I hope you're all enjoying this 'second fall' we seem to be getting. Everywhere I go I see crews and homeowners fervently working to get those late season tasks and projects complete. Just yesterday we learned that with excellent weather this year, more road and construction work was completed this year than projected. I hope you've found the season to be equally productive! 

As many will know already, Council is resuming debate on the proposals for changes to waste services and how they're funded on Monday - more about that under 'city-wide updates' and also 'city council' sections below. 

Ward 2 updates: 

- Riversdale! The follow up meeting for your neighbourhood traffic review is on Tuesday Oct. 23rd - 5:30pm at Princess Alexandra School (5:30pm supper; 6-8pm meeting). This is an opportunity to provide feedback on the draft recommendations that came out of studying the concerns raised by community. Hope to see you there! More info on the program here

- Bus Barns / South Caswell Redevelopment
The administration will be accepting proposals through the open market on a portion of the South Caswell (Bus Barns) redevelopment site shortly. Criteria for the sale have been set and proposals will be evaluated with option to negotiate with the developer with the preferred proposal. The site for sale will be the block north of 24th street between Aves C and D. The hope is to see adaptive re-use of the building on the site, acknowledging the heritage value of the west section of the building. Members of the Caswell Hill community, as put forth by the Community Association will be part of the evaluation team along with city administration and additional design experts. Proposals will be evaluated against a set of criteria including the existing concept plan and priorities. This move toward site sale is a critical and exciting step toward redevelopment in what has been a long process of seeing the site reimagined, vacated, secured, and examined for environmental issues. Thank you to all who have engaged with this vision over the years. Future engagement opportunities will come once a proposal is chosen and appropriate rezoning and concept plan amendments are sought to allow development. Both of these processes involve a public process with lots of opportunity for feedback and questions. 

- Proposed discretionary use
Lots of feedback was received at the public information meeting about the discretionary use application received for a property on 11th Street West in the Montgomery neighbourhood. The next steps are that the administration will write a report including a recommendation to Council about whether or not to grant discretionary use as a pre-school. This report will be received by the Municipal Planning Commission, and then City Council for final decision. Timelines for this are TBD. 

- Proposed rezoning
An application for rezoning has been received at 320 Ave P South; The proposal is for rezoning to M1 by agreement to allow a boarding house to serve patients and visitors of St. Paul's Hospital. If you have feedback or would like to learn more, please be in touch. The Pleasant Hill Community Association and nearby residents will be engaged directly by the City Planning department.

- Traffic Calming Installation - 29th St West
The rubber speed hump installed on 29th St West between Ave L North and McMillan Ave has been is part of the 'Vertical Traffic Calming Pilot Project'. The project aims to consider whether this type of tool should be used in Saskatoon. The administration wants to hear your thoughts. Check out the survey here.

City wide updates: 

- Waste management - garbage & organics
Council will resume debate on waste management programs and how they are funded. In September, a number of questions were asked and additional information has been provided comparing costs to other cities and exploring the full suite of options for funding programs. The documents are available here under item 6.3. I appreciate all of the opportunities I've had to hear from you about your desires for and concerns about changes to these services. I will continue focusing on affordability both in the short term and in the long term. What this means is that I want to be sure that any changes remain affordable for residents immediately, but also that we do not incur unnecessary expenses that will cost us all more in the long run. The challenge facing our community is not only one of environmental sustainability, but also of financial sustainability, and the direction we take now will have long-lasting impacts. It's critical that we get it right and I grateful for your engagement. 

- Transportation & Growing Forward - BRT & Cycling
The administration provided some information reports to the Governance and Priorities Committee about Bus Rapid Transit, a AAA Downtown Cycling Network and Imagine Idylwyld on Monday. You can watch the video from the meeting here - just click on item 7.1.2

- New Infrastructure
Have you been over the new bridges yet? Well, there's some even newer infrastructure to check out as well at College Drive and McOrmond Drive. Read about it here.

- Speed limits
There has been a lot of discussion stemming from a report at the Transportation committee this month about speed limits. This report will be in front of City Council on Monday (agenda overview listed below). As I've stated before, I'm interested in exploring playground zones (similar to school zones) to align posted speeds to expected speeds in these areas that are highly used by children. As for other speed limit changes in residential areas, I look forward to the discussion and may be willing to see further reporting. The report is not seeking any immediate changes to posted speeds, but rather a new way of considering what appropriate speeds may be. See the report here under item 9.4.1

On the go this month: 

- Free events for youth on Nov. 9 
Girls in Motion & Taking to the Court - ages 10-14; More info here, to register call 306-975-3378

- The City wants to help you with healthier trick-or-treat giveaways this Halloween. Head to your nearest leisure center to pick up a pack of Leisure Center discounts to give away at the door to go along with or replace treats this year. More info here. Go soon to get some before they're gone! 

- Recreation programming: 
Find out what's happening in your area through the fall leisure guide or find fall community association programming listed here. These programs are a great way to get to know your neighbours and keep busy through the cold months to come in a convenient location close to home! 

- Cannabis legalization: 
I have no doubt you've heard, the Federal Government has legalized recreational cannabis, effective earlier this week. To learn more about the City's involvement visit here. For more from the Saskatoon Police Service visit here.

Consultations/Workshops to participate in:

The rubber speed hump installed on 29th St West between Ave L North and McMillan Ave has been is part of the 'Vertical Traffic Calming Pilot Project'. The project aims to consider whether this type of tool should be used in Saskatoon. The administration wants to hear your thoughts. Check out the survey here.

Interested in engaging regularly? Consider joining our Citizen Advisory Panel. 
Members of the Citizen Advisory Panel are invited to participate in regular online surveys to provide input and ideas on improving City services.

Did you know...

The next Household Hazardous Waste drop off dates are October 28, and November 17. Drop off is in the Sasktel Centre parking lot (101-3515 Thatcher Ave); Info about what can be accepted here. Also, the drop off spot will be changing next year to the Civic Operations Centre. I'll provide a reminder in the new year.

City Council

City Council meets Monday (October 22nd) at City Hall in City Council chambers. As always, Council meetings are open to the public. Brief highlights are outlined below. For full agenda, visit https://www.saskatoon.ca/city-hall/city-council-boards-committees/council/minutes-and-agendas

Regular Business Meeting  | 1:00 PM  
  - Vision Zero - adoption in principle
  - Waste & Organics - programs & payment options
  - Role of the City in Social Development
  - Skating Rinks in parks 
  - Gordie Howe Sports Complex - proposed governance structure
  - Affordable Housing policy amendments - renovations program
  - Community Support Program - comprehensive review
  - Winter City Shake Up Conference
  - New City of Saskatoon Procurement Policy
  - Social & Indigenous Procurement - information report
  - LGBTQ2S+ - Employee Training
  - HHW - award of contract 2019
  - Urban Forestry - Cottony Ash Psyllid response plan - 2019 capital budget
  - Request for removal of city trees adjacent to residential property
  - River Impact study - water & wastewater plants
  - 2019 neighbourhood traffic management reviews
  - TCUP & Sasktel Centre - Workplace diversity & inclusion reports
  - Posted Speed limit review (includes consideration of playground zones)
  - Award of contract - bus/shelter advertising
  - Code of Ethical Conduct for Council - Bylaw
  - Sidewalk clearing bylaw - amendments to align with BID practices

Public Hearing Meeting  |  6:00 PM
  - Land Use hearings: rezonings, discretionary use hearings (none in Ward 2)
  - Proclamations & Flag Raisings
  
As always, if you'd like to speak to Council as a whole about something on the agenda, please get in touch with the Clerk's office or fill out the form at the link before 10 am the day of the meeting. https://www.saskatoon.ca/write-letter-councilcommittees