Yorkton This Week 2019-05-01

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Your HOMETOWN SPECIALIST

269 HAMILTON ROAD YORKTON • 306-783-6666

Serving Yorkton for over 10 years

Sandi Shewchuk 306-621-9015

Wednesday, May 1, 2019

Volume 45, Issue 37 Price - $1.52 plus GST Return undeliverable items to: Yorkton This Week 20 Third Ave. N., Yorkton, SK S3N 2X3

Mayor reports on city’s current state By Calvin Daniels Staff Writer The City of Yorkton continues to invest to make the city a better place. That was the over-arching message from Mayor Bob Maloney who gave a ‘State of the Union Address’ following the annual general meeting of the Yorkton Chamber of Commerce Wednesday. “The city of Yorkton continues to be the third largest trading area in Saskatchewan,” he began, noting the city is a hub of regional trade. But trade takes place far beyond the local region, he added, pointing to local manufacturing which serves customers “from Bredenbury to Kazakhstan.” While business helps bolster the city, Maloney did note there are challenges, in particular “our aging infrastructure and drainage.” He said both were a concern when he was first elected to Council in 2003, “and they continue to be our biggest concern in 2019.” Still, in spite of the issues, Maloney said Council has tried to keep tax increases reasonable, at 2.9 per cent in the most recent budget, with two per cent

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Yorkton Mayor Bob Maloney spoke to the Yorkton Chamber of Commerce last week.

EMW closing not good for Saltcoats By Calvin Daniels Staff Writer The Mayor of Saltcoats says news that EMW Industrial Ltd. having been placed into receivership was not good for the community. More than 200 employees of the Saltcoats location were told in midApril that the firm, which was founded in 1971 and specialized in industrial services such as fabrication and welding, was no longer in business. The financial consultancy firm Deloitte had become the receiv-

er, assuming control of EMW with the purpose of repaying the debts held by the Saltcoats company. “They are the major business in town,” said Mayor Grant McCallum, adding while EMW had expanded operations significantly over the years “it was a Saltcoats-based company to start with.” McCallum said in conversation with EMW founder Ewen Morrison, “it was not how he wanted it to end, with people out of work.” The company had been working with it financers to find a way

It’s hard to say what the long term outcome will be … I don’t have a crystal ball to specifically know what’s going to happen. — Saltcoats Mayor Grant McCallum “to transition the company to someone else to run,” said McCallum. With that in mind EMW had done some layoffs, decreasing staff

by about 100 to create a stronger business model, said McCallum. “They were trying to build a healthy business unit to make it more

attractive for a buyer,” he said. McCallum added it was his understanding the company still had “dozens of profitable projects,” with a number of additional contracts to be started. The closure of EMW has left the firms in the contracts looking for services. On a personal level McCallum said he was disappointed the receiver chose to close the doors at EMW rather than operate it for a time, which they could have done, while seeking out a

buyer for the entire company. “That was an option to continue running the business … I know banking is a harsh industry, but shutting the business down I don’t agree with,” he said. As it is, a few staff have been hired back to go to EMW jobsites to collect assets for a planned auction sale of those assets, said McCallum. McCallum said the full effect of the closure will not be known, and will be determined by things such as whether someone

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Hershmiller in Jordan to help municipalities By Calvin Daniels Staff Writer Aron Hershmiller, Assistant Director of Environmental Services with the City, recently spent two weeks in Jordan offering his expertise to municipal officials in that country. The trip was organized and funded by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, and “was part of a project with Global Affairs (Canada),” Hershmiller told Yorkton This Week. The Jordan Municipal Support Project is designed to help local governments engage citizens and modernize solid waste infrastructure.

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“Jordan’s municipal institutions and services face extraordinary pressure as the country hosts 1.4 million displaced Syrians,” noted www. fcm.ca. “Some municipal services require immediate attention. In some municipalities, for example, the volume of solid waste has doubled, which strains the existing infrastructure. If poorly managed, the situation could become a serious public health or environmental crisis. “When opportunities arise, this program connects Canadian municipal leaders and experts with elected officials and municipal staff in central and southern Jordan.

Aron Hershmiller, Assistant Director of Environmental Services with the City, recently spent two weeks in Jordan. It facilitates peer-to-peer technical assistance to help Jordan’s local governments

manage their solid waste infrastructure systems and engage citizens.”

Growing the future IǢ KINǒ OF NJ BIG DEAǙ

Please recycle this newspaper

Wishing all our farmers a safe and successful seeding season! CornerstoneCU_5x30.f01_R002341090.indd

Hershmiller said he was one of two Canadians to make the recent trip, a follow up to one made earlier that saw Michael Buchholzer and Randy Goulden from the City in Jordan. “They started the process,” he said. While in Jordan Hershmiller said he and Russ Smith from Victoria, were working with “12 rural municipalities around the capital (Amman),” adding those municipalities ranged from populations of 7800 up to 78,000, with most in the 16-20000 range. “So they had a lot of similarities with Yorkton being similar in size

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