City considers new municipal development plan

Lloydminster City Council is considering adopting a new municipal development plan (MDP) known as Connection to our Future.

The current MDP was adopted in 2013, and since then, Lloydminster has undergone changes in population, development, municipal boundary, and overall objectives, which requires the City to review its goals to ensure the current needs and aspirations of the community are

BUDGET FROM PAGE 1

“We will be expecting what we call adjustments that are always done after the budget’s done.”

Aalbers is referring to the city’s budget that was created in December 2022 and might not take into account a new or emerging project since that time. He says MRS dollars will be put to use accordingly.

“You will see it being put to use in the city. I just can’t put my finger on what it would be exactly today,” he said.

The city will also benefit from additional municipal investment from the province for things like the Community Rink Affordability Grant and funding for provincial libraries.

“The arena funding upheld.

An MDP is a vision or blueprint for the next 20 years, guiding multiple plans and documents, subdivisions and developments. The MDP covers topics such as:

- spaces for recreation, artistic activities, and community gatherings;

- residential, commercial and industrial developments;

- future land use and co-ordination of land uses;

- economic development of the municipality; as an example, it helps with the power bill and gas bills at the arenas. It’s the same with the library. That money will be useful if there were any wage increases,” said Aalbers.

“It’s just general inflation of everything that’s going on. Everything that involves carbon has a price to it.”

Aalbers is pleased to see the province is spending $6.9 billion on health care this fiscal year.

“Certainly, we appreciate the work that’s being done in the health file. We’re hoping when the dust settles—we’re following that up with SHA— what will it mean for our city,” said Aalbers

“We’re appreciating what the government is

- provisions of transportation systems, municipal services and facilities;

- governance considerations; and

- density.

The draft of Connection to our Future is available online at ConnectLloyd.ca. This draft was presented during the Governance and Priorities Committee meeting on Monday, March 20. This presentation was for information purposes only, and no decision to adopt the plan was made.

Lloydminster’s MDP putting money to, but is it going to trickle down to here?

Aalbers says it’s important that it’s spread across as many communities as possible because they all have needs including our own.

There is no money in the budget for a proposed hospice on the border, but Aalbers is hopeful it will be a budgeted item a year from now.

“As we’ve found, capital money is not easy to come by. We want to ensure our needs are well understood and we’ve got a good package in front of them (Ministry of Health), as they say, to justify the spend we need,” said Aalbers.

The mayor does give is utilized by many, including:

- community members and the development community;

- City Council and Administration;

- the Subdivision and Development Authority;

- the Subdivision and Development Appeal Board; and

- neighbouring municipalities.

Information Session

The City of Lloydminster will host two come-and-go information sessions in council chambers at city hall (4420 50 Ave.) to allow the thumbs up to a provincial commitment to investing $442.9 million in capital improvements to highways in the budget.

“We always welcome the investment in roads because we all residents to discuss the draft municipal development plan.

Information sessions are being held on April 5 from 12-3 p.m. and on April 11 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Both sessions will be held in council chambers.

City Administration and Council members will be on-hand to discuss and receive feedback.

“We welcome the feedback from the community on this draft document,” said Mayor Gerald Aalbers.

“This is part of a col - need roads to access various things including getting merchandise to the city and trips to Saskatoon or Regina,” said Aalbers.

The Saskatchewan government will use a projected $1 billion sur- laborative process with internal and external stakeholders and community involvement. The received feedback has been a crucial element in creating this document, which will set the direction for the future of Lloydminster.” plus in its 2023 budget to pay down debt.

Anyone with comments or concerns about the proposed municipal development plan is asked to email the city’s planning department at planning@lloydminster.ca or call 780-874-3700 before 5 p.m. on Friday, April 15.

The surplus is expected to dwindle to about $101 million in the 2026-27 fiscal year. There are no new taxes or tax increases in the budget.