The Town of Battleford says it is still negotiating with landowners on the Highway 4 corridor after passing a bylaw giving the town the authority to expropriate land for the purpose of twinning of the highway in Battleford.
The bylaw covers eight lots and three parcels of land to be used as part of the highway twinning project, all located to the west of Highway 4 and south of Highway 16. Most of the property affected is narrow strips of land next to the road.
The bylaw passed Sept. 6.
Despite this, Mayor Chris Odishaw says the town remains committed to negotiating suitable deals with landowners along the route.
"As far as process, you need to put in an expropriation bylaw, which allows us to expropriate if we can't negotiate the land," said Odishaw.
Many of the deals with landowners have already been signed and put in place, said Odishaw.
"Most residents and most landowners have been very gracious in dealing with the town. And I think it's what everybody wants - they want to grow, they want to move forward."
The mayor also said negotiations will be continuing with landowners.
Odishaw expressed some misgivings about having to pass an expropriation bylaw, but said he was listening to the advice of lawyers who said the bylaw needed to be in place. He told reporters the town had "to do things for the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people, and the laws of the land are put into place to protect those rights."
