By TERRY PUGH
Three municipal partners involved in a feasibility study to identify potential sites for shared regional services have agreed in principle to a plan proposed by a consulting engineering firm.
Martensville City Council voted at its regular meeting on Tuesday, September 17 to approve the Partnership for Growth (P4G) Regional Node Study final report prepared by ISL Engineering and Land Services (ISL).
The RM of Corman Park council passed a similar resolution at its meeting on Monday, September 23. Both municipalities were signatories to the funding application to the provincial government to undertake the project.
The City of Warman, which assumed the lead role for the feasibility study in the provincial funding application, voted to approve the P4G Regional Node Study final report at its city council meeting on Monday, September 23.
The two-phase study was aimed at identifying a “shared area to locate amenities that mutually benefit and better connect the three communities.
The goal was to recommend the best location for ‘development-ready’ investments, taking into account drainage, transportation connectivity, water and wastewater servicing, and adjacent land use.”
ISL was contracted by the municipal partners to carry out the study, which encompassed a large area between Martensville and Warman, which had earlier been earmarked as part of a P4G Green Network Study Area.
The first phase of the study was conducted in the fall of 2023.
In March, 2024, ISL’s initial report was presented to representatives of each municipality. At that time, the initial report recommended a location along Township Road 384 just east of Martensville as the preferred location for the Regional Node.
Over the past few months, the second phase of the study has been underway. The location of the node was also moved further east so that it now bumps up against Warman’s southern city limits at the intersection of Range Road 3051 and Township Road 384.
The second phase also included identifying potential land uses to locate within the Regional Node. These uses include education, health care, and police services as well as commercial uses and assisted living facilities.
A conceptual servicing plan was also completed that recommends an urban storm water system draining into Opimihaw Creek; and an urban pressurized piped water system that links up to either Martensville or Warman. The study also contains recommendations on transportation connections for vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists.
Martensville and Corman Park councils approved the Regional Node study with little controversy.
Warman council, however, had reservations over the suggested land uses.
Warman Councillor Doug Ramage said he agreed with the concept of a regional node, and also agreed the proposed site makes sense in regard to servicing.
However, he felt it should be left to future councils to determine the actual land uses.
“The site is quite a bit south of an area of our city that is still being developed,” said Ramage during the September 23 council meeting. “I think it could be many years before that particular site would be ready for development.”
Warman Councillor Shaun Cripps, the city’s elected representative on the committee overseeing the project, urged his colleagues to endorse the study in principle.
“This is the spot that makes the most sense,” said Cripps. “We will continue to grow as a region and we need to plan for the future. The idea is to have a location that is investment-ready. All the communities in the region need to work together to reduce the cost to taxpayers.”
He added that regional collaboration requires some compromise in order to benefit all partners.
“What this report is saying is, ‘if you guys want to work together as a region, these are the things that can go in the regional node,” said Cripps.
Warman Councillor Marshall Seed said he agrees with the regional node in principle, but did not want specific land uses listed.
“I don’t like the specifics and the detail involved,” said Seed. “It’s one thing to approve general land uses, but not specifics. If at this point those arbitrary suggestions for specific uses are put on a map, then later on down the road, someone can say, ‘well, you approved this map, so therefore you approved these land uses.’ I think we have to be careful about that.”
Warman Mayor Gary Philipchuk said he is supportive of the study in principle, and noted the zoning of the area in question remains the same. He said moving the site closer to Warman’s southern city limits was a factor in his decision to support it.