NORTH BATTLEFORD - The City of North Battleford has opted to go outside City Hall for professional planning services.
At their meeting Monday, council voted unanimously to authorize administration to enter an agreement with Northbound Planning Ltd. to provide planning services to the City to the end of 2023 on an hourly basis, which shall not exceed $30,000 including $1,698.11 in PST. This would be effective immediately and ending Dec. 31, 2023.
This move is being taken to fill the current vacancy left by the departure of Ryan Mackrell, who recently left as City Planner to take on a similar position at the Town of Battleford.
According to a city memo, North Battleford had advertised for planners and to date has not filled the position for a registered professional planner. The city is required, under the Planning and Development Act, to either employ or retain a registered professional planner within six consecutive months of a registered planner vacancy or without a contractor to maintain their Approving Authority status.
To retain their Approving Authority, the plan now is for the City of North Battleford to retain the planning consultant to handle the approval process, but also to supervise and mentor a junior planner once he or she is hired by the City.
City Manager Randy Patrick indicated they hope to have people in fairly quickly, but they won’t be full registered planners. “This is not doing the full job — the people we hire would do most of the work, give it to them, they’d go ‘yes’… this is a return to what we had about four or five years ago.”
City administration sent out an RFP to planning companies listed on the Saskatchewan Professional Planners Institute website and had received back eight proposals. In the end, the city has gone with Northbound Planning Ltd., based in Meota. It was noted the company has relevant municipal experience and their planning services range from simple planning oversight to full planning services.
