Municipal Update: April 20, 2020

Town, Village, and Northern Caucus Meetings on COVID-19

The challenges and stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic are unprecedented in the province, and Municipalities of Saskatchewan recognizes that many hometowns may be struggling to find the answers they need about how to keep their day-to-day business going. To give members an opportunity to bring forward concerns and interact directly with their vice-president and the rest of the Municipalities of Saskatchewan Executive Committee, we are hosting online caucus meetings for towns, villages, resort villages, and northern communities this week from 7:00-8:00 p.m. Find the date of your meeting below. The northern meeting is held in partnership with New North SANC Services.

There is no cost to attend the caucus meetings, but advance registration is required.

Town Caucus Meeting

April 20, 7:00-8:00 p.m.

Village Caucus Meeting

April 21, 7:00-8:00 p.m.

Northern Caucus Meeting

April 23, 7:00-8:00 p.m.

COVID-19 Resources

Municipalities of Saskatchewan is dedicated to keeping members updated with the latest COVID-19 information. That's why we created a COVID-19 resource hub on our website and introduced a weekly update that provides municipal leaders with provincial updates, links to new resources, and more.

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Mayors, councillors, and administrators from Saskatchewan's towns, villages, resort villages, and northern municipalities are invited to come together on May 12 for the annual Town, Village, and Northern Sector Meeting.

This year, the meeting will be held online using Zoom. But don't worry, it will follow a similar format to past sector meetings, including an advocacy update from Municipalities of Saskatchewan, a presentation from CentralSource, and of course, discussions on topics that matter to Saskatchewan's hometowns. If your municipality is interested in introducing topics for discussion, be sure to include the topics in the "Questions and Comments" section of your registration form.

There is no cost to attend this online sector meeting, but advance registration is required.

COVID-19 Relief Fund for

Communities from Saskatoon to the Far North

Cameco has announced a $1 million COVID-19 relief fund for communities from Saskatoon to the far north. The fund is designed to help communities cope with the challenges of COVID-19 and will be directed to ongoing program support, targeted COVID-19 community response, or specialized programs.

Who can apply?

Not-for-profits, charities, municipal offices, and First Nation band offices from Saskatoon to the far north.

How much funding is available?

Applicants are eligible to receive a one-time grant of up to $50,000.

What projects are eligible?

Funding is available for projects that assist the community in the hardships caused by COVID-19. Examples include:

Organizing a remote access grocery delivery service
purchasing technology allowing municipalities to provide necessary programs for the community such as fitness programs or learning opportunities that would typically be held in person.

How does my community apply?

Submit a funding request connected to COVID-19 and its impact on your community along with a detailed budget outlining the use of the funding.

When is the grant deadline?

April 28 at midnight.

Apply for funding

What Can and Can't Be Recycled:

Lorass Seeing Increased Recycling Contamination with COVID-19

Municipalities are being asked to remind residents what can and can't be recycled after a Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) audit conducted at the Lorass Recycle Materials Recovery Facility in Saskatoon found that the facility sees an average of 10 HHW items per hour and 606 HHW items in a 5.5 hour period. And the number has grown with COVID-19 according to a letter from Lorass .

Since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a worldwide pandemic, the amount of "human bodily fluid contaminated items" received at the recycling facility has grown by an estimated 20-50 per cent.

Communities are being asked to communicate with their residents on what is recyclable. The Saskatchewan Waste Reduction Council has a recycling search engine where residents can find out where they can properly and safely recycle items including batteries, tires, power tools, and more.

Add us to Your Safe

Senders List

Is someone in your municipality having trouble receiving emails from Municipalities of Saskatchewan? We've heard from a number of municipalities who are not receiving emails like Municipal Update, webinar invitations, or updates about COVID-19.

Here are some tips to make sure the information you need lands in your inbox:

Check spam or junk mail folders.
Be sure to add the Municipalities of Saskatchewan domain, @munisask.ca, as well as suma@suma.ccsend.com to your safe sender list.
If using an antivirus program like Norton Antivirus, it is recommended that rs6.net is specifically added to the antivirus safe sender list. The address rs6.net is a URL that our email program uses when we add links in our emails, like links to another website or a document.

Scam Using the

CentralSource Name

We have received reports of individuals using the CentralSource name in an attempt to solicit funds. Callers, claiming to be from CentralSource, are demanding funds to ship products to municipalities and become aggressive when told no.

These callers are not affiliated with CentralSource - CentralSource does not carry vendor product for resale and would not place demands on municipalities.

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre is warning that fraudsters are exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tips to protecting your municipality against scams and fraud include:

Don't be afraid to say no and don't be intimidated by high-pressure sales tactics. If a telemarketer tries to get you to buy something or send money right away, request the information in writing and if they won't take no for an answer, hang up.
Always verify that the organization you're dealing with is legitimate - look online for contact information for the company that supposedly called you, and call them to confirm. Don't use the number the telemarketer has provided.
Don't give out information on unsolicited calls.

Building on Canada's

Navigable Waters

Do I need permission to replace or build a dock, boathouse, or other structure on a navigable water?

Transport Canada says every case is different. Depending on where the property is located and what you want to build, you might need to submit an application for approval.

For more information about requirements to construct or modify a work on navigable waters, or to submit an application for work (i.e., structure, device, dumping of fill), visit the website: www.canada.ca/contact-navigation-protection-program

You can find information on works in your community’s navigable waters by visiting the Government registry .

What is the Navigation Protection Program?

Transport Canada’s Navigation Protection Program (NPP) helps keep Canada’s navigable waters open for transport and recreation. The program manages and enforces the Canadian Navigable Waters Act. The Act regulates works that could affect Canada’s navigable waters.

What is the Canadian Navigable Waters Act ?

The Act:

ensures protections for navigation on all navigable waters in Canada;
now includes a more inclusive schedule of navigable waters where owners of works that may interfere with navigation must apply for an approval to the NPP;
establishes requirement for owners of proposed works on any navigable water to receive comments on their proposed work that may interfere with navigation;
allows all works that don’t interfere with navigation and meet set criteria to go ahead with the proposed works without NPP’s involvement.

The Act applies to anyone, including industry, government and the public, who:

owns a work on a navigable water
deals with anything that affects navigation in navigable waters, or
is planning a work that could affect navigation in navigable waters

Need more information?

Contact your local regional office: NPPPNR-PPNRPN@tc.gc.ca

All-Net Webinar: Keeping Council Connected

With COVID-19, councils are looking for ways to stay connected while they practice social distancing.

Tomorrow at 10 a.m. join CentralSource partner All-Net.ca for a 45-minute webinar to learn how All-Net Meetings is being used by local governments across Saskatchewan to share information and manage their council meetings.

Time is Running Out to Submit Your Application for the Richardson Pioneer Community Celebration

The application deadline to apply for the Richardson Pioneer Community Celebration is April 30.

The celebration is a contest for small-to-medium sized communities in Saskatchewan who are looking to give their fundraising initiatives a boost. Six communities will be awarded a $25,000 grant for an existing health and wellness initiative that focuses on sport, culture or recreation.

Learn more and apply

Events

Upcoming Events

Town Caucus Meeting

April 20

Village Caucus Meeting

April 21

Northern Caucus Meeting

April 23

Town, Village, and Northern Sector Meeting

May 12

Convention 2021

Last Chance to Submit Your Theme Idea for a Chance to Win

Do you have a great theme idea that could set the tone for Convention 2021? If the answer is yes, submit your idea to events@munisask.ca . We greatly value your suggestions and read every one. Plus, if you submit a theme idea, you will be entered to win a great prize.