What state is our city in?
Humboldt is humming, according to the mayor.
Mayor Malcolm Eaton addressed a capacity crowd at the Humboldt and District Chamber of Commerce (HDCC) luncheon on May 26, there to hear his annual "State of the City" address.
Attended by many members of the HDCC, the luncheon also attracted two people from Toronto and Montreal, in the city to do human rights impact assessment interviews for BHP Billiton, in relation to their proposed Jansen-area potash mine.
Eaton began his speech by reading a vision statement for the community developed by Action Humboldt in 2006.
That statement read that by 2009, Humboldt and region is a growing, thriving hub in Saskatchewan that is attracting new families and businesses, and that its overall success is being used as an economic development model for Western Canada.
Are we there?
"Indeed we are," Eaton said.
He then read a draft of a new vision for the community, which is being developed by city council as part of their strategic planning process. Eaton called his draft of it "Humboldt 2020 vision."
In this vision, Humboldt is the community of choice in Saskatchewan, he said.
"In the year 2020, the City of Humboldt has a population of 10,000 residents. Humboldt has a reputation throughout Western Canada as an attractive, vibrant, safe, hospitable, progressive community full of energy, enthusiasm and economic activity. The city is a major regional retail business and service centre as well as a centre of excellence for a wide range of educational programming at all levels. The region is recognized as one of the major economic hotspots of the province's growing economy as a result of extensive agricultural and mining activities. Humboldt's central location and excellent cultural, recreational and convention facilities make it a major conference and event centre for the province."
From all this, it is clear that city council firmly believes that Humboldt is going to grow, and grow quickly over the next few years.
"The significant growth in population in our community and our region will bring profound changes to the community. There will be many benefits to the growth and development we will experience over the coming years, but also some new issues and challenges," Eaton said.
The new BHP mine near LeRoy and Jansen will likely be the most significant factor in Humboldt's growth, he noted, but other business and industry developments will also drive it, including agricultural manufacturing and service businesses.
" We see new business, new land development interests, new opportunities, new investments, new ideas and a great deal of excitement and enthusiasm throughout our city and our region," Eaton said.
"There is a real hum in Humboldt these days," he added.
The challenge for the city is to plan for and manage the growth that is expected.
"We cannot do it alone," he said. "The community engagement process... is an important part of the process."
To that end, the city has recently produced its first ever annual report, copies of which they handed out at the luncheon. It will also be available online.
City council, Eaton continued, is currently making some pretty major decisions about our city.
Early one day in May, Eaton noted, he, city councillors and city staff met with representatives of a paving company set to do $1.3 million worth of work in the city. At noon that same day, they met with representatives of a land and housing development company that would like to purchase property in Humboldt.
This is potentially a $750,000 land sale and a long term investment of infrastructure of over $2 million, Eaton noted.
Later on in the day, council met with a BHP Billiton representative to get an update on the Jansen project, which, he said, is becoming very real.
Still later that day, council had a meeting with their auditors to discuss the 2010 city financial reports, with a budget of $14 million.
"This is not a daily occurrence, of course, but I raise it with you so you understand the scope of the issues that council is working with and making decisions on as we move towards that vision."
Council, he added, makes the best decisions they can using the best information, input and advice they can get.
"We know that our decisions will, at times, be controversial. One of our biggest challenges has been to try to frame our discussions in terms of long-term impacts," he said.
"I hope that 25 years from now, someone will say that our council made some good decisions that really made a difference for the families and the children and the grandchildren who will be here 25 years from now," he noted.
Humboldt is currently facing some changes as we move to a level of acting like a growing city while maintaining "the small town community character we all love about Humboldt," Eaton noted.
The biggest challenges facing the city right now, Eaton believes, are fixing infrastructure, housing and land development and the budget.
The city will be spending about $1.3 million on road work pavement improvements this year.
"No one is more disappointed or frustrated with the lack of progress in making improvements to our roads and streets than city council and our city staff," he stated.
The past two wet summers - last year the city got approximately 45 inches of rain - has meant that many paving projects could not be completed.
The wet weather has also further deteriorated roads, alleys, streets, cemeteries and ball diamonds.
This year, the city will make the biggest investment in roadwork ever. The tender has been awarded, and the city has been told the paving company will be here in June.
That paving will include patching work where water line repairs have gone on, local improvements in new developments, and repairs of other streets.
"I'm sure, when it's all said and done, we'll wonder where that $1.3 million went," Eaton said.
The city has also purchased a pothole patcher for $70,000, which will allow city workers to fix some roads.
The city is also continuing to work on alleys. They've spent $60,000 on gravel, and another $50,000 on roadway treatments, and have purchased a skid steer with special attachments for alley work.
The worst alleys in the city have been identified, Eaton added, and they will be fixed according to that list.
When it comes to water and sewer, the city is continuing to replace lines where needed, which means digging up roads.
Since the storm on April 13, 2010, which caused flooding, issues with sewer lift stations and sewer backups in many homes, the city has undertaken an extensive analysis of their systems, Eaton noted.
A number of corrective measures have also been taken, including the replacement of a six-inch line with a 10-inch line to the lagoon, at a cost of about $500,000.
The city is also budgeting $28,000 for storm drain repairs, as well as other repairs and maintenance.
The city needs to keep communicating the fact that rain water should not be entering the sewer system, Eaton added.
Humboldt is involved in two projects related to infrastructure issues - the Communities of Tomorrow organization in Regina, and the National Asset Management Strategy Australia (NAMS) pilot project for asset management in small communities.
"We will be hosting some visitors from Australia in mid-June as we work with them on the process of inventory and assessment of our infrastructure," Eaton said of NAMS.
"Both of these initiatives put us in the front lines of innovation and research for municipal infrastructure in Saskatchewan," he said.
As for housing, the city's Housing Task Force recently released a report providing direction to council "and some steps that we feel can help us work with developers and builders and community to encourage the development of a variety of housing options," he said.
Land development, Eaton noted, is a critical part of the growth and development planning the city needs.
The city will have 40 lots for sale this year - the end of the Heidgerken development in the north, and the Bill Brecht park development in the south.
"Lot prices have gone up," Eaton said. "The decision to put a price on our lots for sale at these levels was not taken lightly."
The city, he added, will continue to consider additional land acquisitions and new developments. The Westwood Group has entered into the initial stages of an agreement with Northridge Developments of Saskatoon, he reported.
"This is a major development. We are aware of the very successful work that Northridge has done in Martensville (and other communities)," Eaton said, "which has provided a variety of housing options in their developments in these communities."
The city is also working with another company that would also bring several acres of private housing development to the city, he added.
"We feel that the long-term housing needs of the city to meet the population growth we anticipate will best be met with private development and private investment."
The city has no resources, he noted, to develop significant parcels of land.
The city's 2011 budget is late - it has usually been adopted by June - but this year, the budget process has been lengthy and complicated, Eaton said.
They have had to add accounting for capital tangible assets, sort out land development costs, and negotiate the contract with union employees, among other items.
Taking everything into consideration, this has likely been, Eaton said, the most difficult budget process in his time on council.
The budget should be finalized within the next two weeks.
"We have some difficult decisions to make. We certainly are trying to make... long-term financial decisions," he said, and will also be talking about putting funds into reserves.
"We have a health reserve," Eaton noted, "but we are going to draw on that in the next few years."
Humboldt is also looking at some big opportunities in the next while, Eaton pointed out.
First on the list is developing downtown.
They are "applying aggressively" to be a part of the Main Street Saskatchewan program which is designed to support communities wanting to revitalize historic downtown areas, Eaton said.
Humboldt is also hoping to form a downtown Business Improvement District (BID) to implement plans and projects to keep the downtown area growing and alive, he said.
Second is continuing the development of the Uniplex, to make it a destination centre.
It's already attracting provincial and national events, like the upcoming 2012 RBC Cup, he noted.
The city also wants to begin formulating a vision for the expansion of the facility, with the addition of a second ice surface, a multi-purpose facility and a theatre arts centre.
These things have been part of the vision in the past, he noted, but now it's "time to move it to another level."
Parks and recreation continue to be important to the city, the mayor noted.
"We have a younger community here than people realize. We have a growing young family population here," he said.
Further trail development in the city will depend on funds available, Eaton said in response to a question, adding that he hopes it can begin soon. It will be discussed in the budget process, he noted.
"No one around our table is not wanting to support that," he said.
Infrastructure is also an area of opportunity that Eaton sees.
A 4,000-man camp at the BHP mine site, within a half-hour of Humboldt, will mean that Humboldt is going to need some support services, he noted.
As an economic hotspot, we will also need to pay attention to roads, health care, policing and social services.
What else is humming in Humboldt?
There's a definite sense of spirit and enthusiasm here, Eaton believes.
"There's lots going on in the community," he said, thanking the volunteers for their efforts in making Humboldt "the community of choice."
Let's keep the buzz about Humboldt going around the province, he encouraged.
"There are some challenges, but we are working hard to meet those challenges. Let's keep the hum in Humboldt," he concluded.
