Election for mayor in Moosomin
Larry Tomlinson, Adrian Nosterud competing for position
October 14, 2020, 6:04 pm
Moosomin residents will be going to the polls November 9 as there are two candidates for mayor.
Larry Tomlinson will be seeking his third term as mayor, and Adrian Nosterud is running for elected office for the first time.
Larry Tomlinson
I moved here in 1965. I was on council for six years and now I’ve been seven years as mayor, one three-year term, one four-year term. The reason I first went on council is I saw things I thought should happen and wanted to pursue them. And we’ve been fairly fortunate to get a lot of them done too.
I was on the board at the golf course, I’m an Elk, I belong to the Legion, I was on the board of the curling club and curled, and I’ve been on the Regional Park Board for close to 40 years.
I was the manager of Acklands and then was regional director for the last few years plus looked after this store. I looked after this corner of Saskatchewan and the Southwest corner of Manitoba.
Council has changed a lot over the years. When I first went on council you got put on a committee and you looked after the committee, and that was it. But the last few years it has evolved into more than people realize. It’s nothing to put in up to 10 hours a week. I usually check with (CAO) Paul (Listrom) every day to see what’s going on and if we need to update one of our committees we do that. And then all of the meetings to attend, and being the mayor you are on the Moosomin and District Health Care Foundation, and that has taken a lot of time. Up to 10 hours a week is what I have been averaging. It’s taking a lot more time than it used to, but the town is growing, and I’m prepared to do it. I’m retired and I have the time.
What does he think are his main accomplishments in his time on council?
Over the last few years I think we have attracted some really good businesses to town, like Mazergroup and those kinds of businesses. One of my main things when I ran for mayor when Don Bradley resigned was infrastructure. We knew it was starting to crumble and we have a plan in place and one of them is relining sewer lines instead of digging up every street in town. That plan was originally to finish next year, but it will take one more year, because we found more problems, but that will take care of the main lines in town, and that will finish that program, but then we can take a look at more secondary lines.
Building the Sportsplex is a big one. We stood behind Mike (Schwean) and got it done. And he’s done an awesome job out at Bradley Park, he’s got it in great shape, and this summer we’ve gone through the Communiplex from end to end and we’ve got it painted outside and looking good. There aren’t too many places we haven’t touched in town.
What are the main issues facing the town right now?
One of the big ones right now is the water treatment plant. And we’ve worked with the government through council to the point where it looks like we are going to get the grant and our cost is going to be in the neighborhood of 27 per cent of the $13 million that we applied for, with the province and the federal government covering the rest.
Right now, we have a loan on the lagoon, and also we are paying a loan on the hospital that will both be paid off in 2022. That will be about when the water treatment plant will come up to be financed, so those two would come out of the picture, and then the water treatment plant would take over where they left off as far as payments, so we can pay for it without any effect on taxpayers.
When I took over I don’t think there were any reserves other than the one utility reserve set aside. We have some reserves now, so we are in good shape financially. And we were lucky enough to be able to reduce the taxes this year by four per cent because of Covid. We listened to what the residents thought we should do, and that’s what we did.
What would he like to accomplish in the next term if he is re-elected?
We want to carry on with infrastructure repairs and replacements. We still have a lot more work to do on the streets. This year we’re doing close to three quarters of a million dollars worth of paving. We’ll have to continue our paving program because our infrastructure is falling apart, it’s so old, and it appears some of the streets were pavement on black dirt. Everywhere we dig is just black dirt, which doesn’t compact, so we have to do it properly.
What does he enjoy about being mayor?
It is a lot of work. It’s more work now than it used to be and I don’t think a lot of people realize how much work it is. It takes a lot of time if you are going to do it right. And if you aren’t going to do it right then you shouldn’t do it. So I’m going to do it right if I can.
Adrian Nosterud
I was born in Moosomin Hospital and I’ve lived here my entire life. I have worked in Moosomin my entire life. I started working with my parents about 13 years ago.
From there I’ve spent 10 years in sales in town, working with people in the town and I have been blessed to be here.
What organizations and activities has he been involved with in town?
I have worked closely with the restoration on the McNaughton Building, I’ve worked with the Preservation of the Moosomin Armoury Society.
I’ve worked hands on with them as a member. I’ve donated lots of time with stuff like the theatre in town. I volunteered for various little things, the odd food thing.
Mostly I try to stay in the background. I don’t want to put myself out in the public, so a lot of my volunteer work, typically I’m the guy in the background not necessarily up front. And with this I thought it’s time to step forward a little bit, get my name out there and show people what I can do.
Why does he want to run for mayor?
It wasn’t really a big thing I thought about for many years. But I’ve been talking to several people, I’ve become a lot more political in the last couple of years, and want to take another step forward.
In this case, myself, I really wanted to do something, but where do you start? And when there was talk that there was going to be an election this year, I started hemming and hawing about it. And with dad being a councillor, you hear the odd thing and getting that knowledge base, I can ask him a couple of questions of what is it like being on council, what is it like working with the administration of the town.
The way I look at it, even though I don’t have any experience with running anything in town, I don’t think anyone would have proper experience unless you just do it, you have to learn it.
It’s a job that is going to take a lot of learning, but I really think I can do a good job with it.
What does he think are the major issues in town?
There are a few issues I have noticed over the years. One of the issues that has really gotten a lot of people upset, just from listening to people throughout the years, is the roads and infrastructure. That’s one of the problems that we seem to have a lot in the town. I can list many examples—Ellice Street taking two to three years to be completed. It’s now coming to an end, but it has upset people that it has taken this long. But with all new projects, the town has taken on a very ambitious project doing this stuff, so I can’t blame them that it’s taking longer. We’ve never done something like this before. We’ve never torn up complete roads and replaced stuff. So it’s a learning curve for everyone. It’s going to take time, but we are going to get better at it.
I really think there are different alternatives we could do in the town to save money, to stop a lot of the degradation that’s happening to the roads right now. I have some ideas that I definitely want to bring forward that could potentially save money in the future instead of having to dig up roads, because they’re completely falling apart—some preventative maintenance that isn’t being done necessarily.
But then there is also the issue with the disconnect in town. I just went around to a couple of business owners just to sit down and talk with them, to see where they are at with the town, and it’s amazing just from the few people I have talked to how angry people have become in this town with little things. Whether it’s just not listening to people outright or just being ignored.
I’m not saying I can definitely say yes to everyone’s request because it’s not feasible, it can’t happen, but just to be there to listen to why people are upset, why things are going the way they are. If I can somehow work it out that everyone can have their voice at least heard in this town where if someone has a concern they don’t feel like they are a nuisance or being pushed away because it’s something small.
I have heard of several complaints of just little things that can easily be remedied by the town that would make 10-plus people happy overnight and cost the town virtually nothing. And just listening to our town and the people in it I think definitely would be a larger step. I think that’s something that this town needs more than anything is to listen to the public and listen to the concerns that are happening, and I find those are falling on deaf ears.
What would he like to accomplish if elected?
There are certain things I want finished and completed. There has been talk about the water treatment facility, that has been on the go, it has already been pushed ahead, but I find it’s going a little bit slower than I would like. If I can speed that along, I definitely would like to see the water treatment facility 100 per cent operational before my first term is done.
I would like to see the road condition improve a lot too, whether it be more active, preventative maintenance to stop the roads from degrading, such as sealing up the cracks in the roads. They do it on the odd road here and there, but it’s not always done, and that’s led to potholes and frost boils. So if I can get a crew to come up and just seal up more streets so they don’t fall apart as quickly, that might be something that stops us from having to dig up a road in the future.
Learning would be the biggest thing, because obviously I am fresh to this, I’m a new face, new to this whole consideration, so there would be a lot of learning. Definitely listening to the people is the biggest thing I want to do. If I can make people happy in this town, make things run a little bit better, I’d be happy with that.
What does he think he would bring to the Mayoral position?
I’d definitely bring a brand new perspective, to say the least. I am younger than the other candidate, and I just think I have different viewpoints.
I will listen and I won’t have all the ideas, I won’t have all the answers. But if I can work with the public to bring forth a better Moosomin, that’s what I really would like to have happen.
