Ward 5 Coun. Randy Donauer called for staff to present options for dealing with aggressive coyotes.
Saskatoon city council signed off Wednesday on a new name for the upcoming bus rapid transit system and gave city staff an extension to present the plan to pay for a new downtown arena.
Ward 5 Coun. Randy Donauer also brought forward a pair of motions in response to resident complaints about aggressive coyotes.
TRANSIT BRAND
Council voted unanimously to accept city staff’s proposed re-brand for bus rapid transit. Saskatoon’s BRT will be known as “Link” when it begins operations in 2028.
The name and associated logo were created with the help of an outside consultant. The special branding is to help promote the new service, which is meant to reduce wait times for buses along key routes, with fewer stops to enable faster travel.
Items like building platforms, buying buses and installing support systems put the BRT cost at about $250 million, $183 million of which will come from the federal and provincial governments.
ARENA FUNDING
City staff have two weeks to continue negotiations with a private partner picked to operate one or potentially both of the major new facilities at the core of a proposed new downtown entertainment and event district.
If it goes ahead, the DEED would include a major renovation and expansion of the TCU Place convention centre and the construction of a new arena to replace the aging SaskTel Centre; a private partner would put up funds for construction in exchange for profits from operating one or both venues.
Dan Willems, the city’s director of technical services, told council staff are down to “the final little piece” of a framework agreement with a firm selected after a bidding process that closed this spring.
Residents and council members had previously expected city staff to unveil a DEED funding strategy this month; Willems instead asked to delay the presentation to an Aug. 14 committee meeting.
During questions from council, Willems said the agreement with the private partner will not bind the city to any specific date to start construction on the DEED.
Willems said approval of the funding strategy would also not come with a specific start date for construction; rather, he said council approval of the document would direct city staff to begin getting the project “shovel-ready” when it comes to applying for federal and provincial funding.
COYOTES
Council passed two motions brought to the floor by Ward 5 Coun. Randy Donauer.
Telling council he’d heard complaints from residents about having to flee from aggressive coyotes, Donauer called for city staff to report back with options to better address the issue, including a way for residents to trigger an “elevated response” from the city in cases where there are significant safety concerns.
Donauer stressed he wasn’t trying to call for a cull of coyotes or any other animals. He said he just wants to see a report with potential options and some discussion of best practices that could be adopted from other cities.
Council also passed a motion directing city staff to report back on the potential for a bylaw banning the feeding of wildlife in city limits.
“I don’t want to pick on people that put out birdseed,” Donauer said, noting he would like the report to include options to target the feeding of coyotes, deer or other animals where feeding could “exacerbate” problems with coyotes.
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