Wicked

Seven-bay, 6,200-square-foot car wash to open on South Hill Jason G. Antonio - Moose Jaw Express

Residents on South Hill will soon have another location to clean their vehicles as a seven-bay car wash plans to open on Ninth Avenue Southwest. During the July 12 regular council meeting, city council voted unanimously to approve a discretionary use application for a car wash business at 885 Ninth Avenue Southwest. However, the company must design the site to accommodate vehicle line-ups and ensure they don’t impede traffic on the street. C&S Builders Ltd. applied on behalf of the property owners, who want to build a 558-square-metre (6,200-squarefoot) car wash in the C1 neighbourhood commercial district. The property — three lots totalling 18,250 square feet — is intended to provide commercial space in neighbourhoods and ensure residents’ needs are met. The property was previously a service station, which caused site contamination, a council report explained. Several discretionary uses have been approved there since then, including a daycare centre. However, the daycare closed in 2010 and the building was demolished, leaving the property vacant for 11 years. The property owners provided city hall with an environmental site assessment in late 2020, which stated that the contamination levels are below the standards set by the Ministry of Environment. The zoning bylaw sets out several criteria that must be met before discretionary use applications are approved, such as: · The proposal conforms to the Official Community Plan (OCP) and any other land-use plan recommendations · There must be demand for the proposed use in the area and a limited supply of land available to accommodate the proposed use. The closest car wash is three blocks north of the proposed location, while the nearest location where a car wash would usually be permitted is about 550 metres away · Existing community infrastructure must be able to service the proposed development economically · The proposal must not be detrimental to the health, safety, convenience, or general welfare of residents living or working in the area According to the discretionary use application that C&S Builders submitted, the car wash could also include a pet wash area and bottled water dispenser location. Further, office or residential space over the middle area of the office below could also be included. “The proposal meets all zoning bylaw requirements,” Michelle Sanson, director of planning and development, said during the meeting. Sanson indicated that several residents submitted emails with concerns, such as traffic increases, snow removal, sanitary sewer impacts, handling chemicals on-site, and sidewalk repairs. Yet, city administration believes the developer has addressed those issues, so it recommended approval of the project. She added that city administration responded to the emails and received no responses, likely indicating that those residents were satisfied with the answers. “That lot has been empty for a long time. It is part of my neighbourhood and I have no problem with it being there,” said Coun. Heather Eby. “I hope no one else has a problem (either).” There is only one other car wash on South Hill near Sixth Avenue Southwest and Home Street, Coun. Crystal Froese said. This new vehicle wash venue will have seven bays, which will be handy for residents living in and around that area.

Historic 1902 bell to be installed on new stand at Mosaic Place

Jason G. Antonio - Moose Jaw Express

While Moose Jaw’s historic town bell will soon have a new home at Mosaic Place, one city councillor is concerned that the project was awarded to a business without an open competition. City council approved up to $20,000 during the 2021 budget deliberations to construct a stand for the 119-year-old bell. Since those deliberations, the parks and recreation department has worked with the heritage advisory committee and Steady Metalworks of Moose Jaw to finalize the design and location of the bell stand. During the July 12 regular meeting, council voted unanimously to accept the design concept and location and directly award the fabrication and installation contract to Steady Metalworks for $17,775.44 plus taxes. The business is donating all design labour and shop labour to fabricate the stand, worth roughly $7,600. The stand is expected to be ready by September. The new bell stand will be composed of steel, stand 15 feet high, have a base of 10 square feet, and be installed on the northeast corner of Mosaic Place on First Avenue Northwest. A plaque will also be installed near the 1,500-pound bell to highlight its history and significance.

For whom the bell tolls

The Town of Moose Jaw purchased the bell in 1902 and erected it behind town hall on Main Street and River Street. Back then, the bell hung on a 30-foot-tall wooden derrick that was rung for fires, curfews and to signal that prohibition was in effect. Seventy years later, it was moved to Crescent Park and displayed near the art gallery before it was removed and stored in the city yards in 2010 because of vandalism. Students from Saskatchewan Polytechnic refurbished the bell in 2018.

The bell tolls for thee

Coun. Crystal Froese, council representative on the heritage advisory committee, was excited to present the motion to council. “As a committee, we did oodles of research. We couldn’t find a photo of the bell when it was installed. (However), we found articles about the first ringing in 1903 by Mayor (Charles) Unwin,” she said. The committee thought about placing the bell near the Canadian Pacific Railway building on Main Street but found there were too many logistical hoops and costs, Froese continued. Conversely, Mosaic Place is near the original location and combines the past and the present in one space. The bell can be rung since there is a clapper for it, she added. However, the clapper will only be in place for special occasions; the committee doesn’t want anyone climbing the structure to ring the bell.

A sour note

While this project was approved in the budget, the parks department directly awarded this contract to the company that designed it, said Coun. Dawn Luhning. She thought that the department should have tendered out the project unless its cost fell under a certain amount and was thus unnecessary. During those budget talks, Luhning was the only councillor to vote against allocating money to the project. One reason the contract was given to Steady Metalworks is that it was donating $7,600 of in-kind work, said Scott Osmachenko, acting parks and recreation department director. If this had been tendered, the business’ proposal would have been the highest one. “It is not an insignificant amount of donation, but it should have been tendered,” Luhning reiterated. However, she added that she had to ask the question as a councillor while her concern had nothing to do with the company itself. “We are all very aware of the work of Steady Metalworks (in the community) … ,” she added. “Sometimes when I sit here and represent who I represent and ask a question, I feel it can be misconstrued.”

Resident gets another two months to finish cleaning Alder Avenue property Jason G. Antonio - Moose Jaw Express

Property owner Blair Zopf has been slowly cleaning his yard and addressing concerns from city hall during the past four months but needs more time to finish the massive project. The City of Moose Jaw issued a property maintenance or-

NOTICE OF INTENTION TO AMEND OFFICIAL COMMUNITY PLAN NO.5345

The Council of the City of Moose Jaw intends to consider a bylaw pursuant to The Planning and Development Act, 2007 to amend the City of Moose Jaw’s Official Community Plan No. 5345.

The proposed bylaw amendment will exempt existing residential properties from the Intensive Livestock Operation separation distances prescribed in the Official Community Plan. This allows reconstruction of residential dwellings in the event of damage from accidental or natural causes. The amendment will also exempt industrial development from the separation distances.

A copy of the proposed bylaw may be found on the City website at www.moosejaw.ca.

Public feedback on the proposed bylaw may be directed to Planning and Development Services, 228 Main Street North, Moose Jaw, SK S6H 3J8, or by email at planning@moosejaw.ca. All written submissions must be received by 10:00 AM on Monday, August 9th, 2021. Questions may be directed to the Department of Planning and Development Services by email or by phone at 306-694-4443. der for 1008 Alder Avenue on Jan. 11 with a compliance date of March 17. Council later agreed to give Zopf until May 15 and again until July 15 to complete the order. During the July 12 executive committee meeting, council voted 6-1 to give Zopf another two-month extension to Sept. 15 since he had made positive progress in addressing city hall’s concerns about his property. Coun. Dawn Luhning was opposed. The recommendation must be approved during a regular council meeting to become official. So far, Zopf has obtained a professional structural engineer’s review of the home; removed stairs on the east side; removed the south deck; enclosed the east entrance to protect the entrance; repaired the west eavestrough; and demolished the attached garage. “There has been a significant amount of work done on the home and he has been working with our building official,” Michelle Sanson, director of planning and development, said during the meeting. However, the three main outstanding items Zopf must address are: · Providing paint or a similar protective membrane to protect the exterior wood siding and wood sheathing of the house · Replacing rotted framing on the south side, which requires the south porch to be removed; planning for this is ongoing · Installing eavestroughs and downspouts on the west and south sides of the porch In a letter to council, Zopf explained every step he had taken to fix his property and the home on it. He was finalizing the terms of a contract to paint the house, which depended on the availability of the two contractors he had contacted. The weather had prevented painters from starting, but trees had been removed to make it easier for them to access the building. Roofers are expected to start shingling in August, while Zopf said he was waiting on an engineer to complete plans for the west porch. However, the contractor has said his availability is limited in July. Therefore, Zopf hired a second contractor with more availability in August. “As I have stated previously, I have full intentions to complete all required repairs,” he said. “It would be appreciated if both my demonstrated commitment of what has been completed, as well as recognition of previously submitted (contractor’s) letter stating the fall as a date for completion be taken into consideration as you deliberate.” There has been some major work done on the property, based on the pictures that city administration has provided, Coun. Kim Robinson said. He didn’t think council or city hall had attempted to make this an impossible project for Zopf, considering the property owner has worked with the city in a co-operative manner. “It is a hard time to spend money. I realize it is certainly necessary for this property, but it’s always tough to come up with extra money like that,” he added. Coun. Heather Eby also appreciated the work Zopf was doing. “I think it’s refreshing to see someone take this kind of order so seriously and to put in work and the finances to get this work done,” she added. “Often, we don’t see that kind of compliance.”