Zoning bylaw to allow home centre passed
April 5, 2016, 2:10 am
Kevin Weedmark
Moosomin town council has passed final reading of a zoning amendment change to allow Borderland Co-op to proceed with construction of a 25,500 square foot home centre south of Park Avenue and east of Main Street.
Council passed the zoning bylaw amendment at the March 23 council meeting.
The new home centre would be the largest Co-op home centre in rural Saskatchewan.
Borderland was initially looking to replace the Moosomin Home Centre in the future at the site of the C-Store and gas bar on the east side of Moosomin, but following a fire early in 2015 which destroyed the Moosomin location of North American Lumber, the home centre moved up on the Co-op’s agenda.
Rather than develop the centre on land it owns at the east end of town, Borderland adjusted its plan to purchase the former North American Lumber site across the street from the home centre, and the portion of Carleton Street between the two sites. The site will be less expensive to develop than the east side site because utilities are already in place and the site requires no fill.
Construction on the new $6 million building should start this year and is expected to take about a year to complete.
At the April 13 meeting, a bylaw will be presented to close the street.
Land swap completed
The town of Moosomin has completed a land swap with a developer to allow construction of a 12-unit condo building similar to two buildings constructed on Main Street over the last two years.
A second condo was slated for a site on Gordon Street, but was stopped by concerns over sewer capacity.
The town offered to swap the developer two lots on Wright Road, south of Kin Place, which are zoned for multi-family residential, for the lot on Gordon Street, which can then be sold for construction of a single-family home.
Truck route discussed
At the last meeting, council discussed the ongoing efforts to secure a truck bypass around the town of Moosomin.
The town has been working on the issues with Saskatchewan highways, and currently is part of a study jointly with the highways department and the RM of Moosomin that should be completed this year.
The Highways department cannot discuss the status of the report, however, until after the provincial election.
Councillor Chris Davidson will attend the next meeting of the Southeast Transportation Planning Committee April 26 to discuss the truck route, which would carry heavy truck traffic between Highway 1 and Highway 8 without going down Main Street.
Park area planned
Rec director Mike Schwean is working on plans for a park area at the Bradley Park sports grounds.
The park area would have picnic tables, a permanent outdoor stage, and possibly a gazebo. It would be developed without taxpayer funding.
Wood chipper bought
Town council agreed at the last meeting to buy a wood chipper it had been renting to get a lot of tree trimming work done around town.
The cost of the chipper is $19,500, but rental fees of $2,200 can be applied to reduce the purchase price.
Director of Public Works Kim Looyenga said the chipper has made a huge difference in the time it takes the town crew to trim trees, as branches can be chipped on-site rather than hauled away.
