RM Mount Hope 279 - Shop Building

We have received a lot of questions and heard concerns from the ratepayers of the RM of Mount Hope No. 279 regarding the process of building a new RM shop. Below you will find a detailed timeline from the start of the process to the present day. We hope this will provide some clarification and answer some of the questions that are out there.

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Written by Ashley Greenshields, Administrator of RM 279

We have received a lot of questions and heard concerns from the ratepayers of the RM of Mount Hope No. 279 regarding the process of building a new RM shop. Below you will find a detailed timeline from the start of the process to the present day. We hope this will provide some clarification and answer some of the questions that are out there.

Council began by sending out letters to the Village of Semans and Town of Raymore asking if they were aware of any land that would be available to build a new RM shop on. We received a proposal from both municipalities. The proposals included the following:

Village of Semans

  • Give the RM 279 20 acres of land located on the West side of NW 23-28-20 W2;
  • Village of Semans will provide water and sewer onto the proposed site;
  • Gas and power are accessible at the South edge of the property;
  • Three phase power is closely available on West side of 641;
  • Property will be very accessible for heavy equipment and day to day work traffic; and
  • We will work with the RM to find a suitable entry approach onto the site

Town of Raymore

  • 15 acres of land giving ample room for buildings, supplies, equipment and storage at the cost of $1.00;
  • RM would be responsible for all the cost of services to the 15 acres required for building the shop including environmental studies and subdivision costs;
  • 8-inch watermain across the tracks – give ample water to service the shop; and
  • Stipulation – a shop must be built on this site, cannot be used as a storage site

The full process began after a failed attempt at putting out a tender to construct an RM shop. The research was incomplete, and we were missing a lot of key information to continue with this tender.

Council then decided it would be best to hire a consulting firm to assist us with this, so we put out a tender in search of a professional consulting firm. We received twelve bid applications from various engineering and consulting firms. Driftstone Consulting Inc. was selected at our November 10th, 2020 Regular Meeting of Council. Driftstone Consulting Inc. has been contracted to provide services including, location review and recommendation, shop design, preparation of tender for construction, review and assistance selecting the successful applicant, and overseeing the construction of the RM shop until complete for a cost of $28,000 plus taxes and site visits.

Council met with Driftstone Consulting Inc. on November 19th, 2020 to discuss the process of selecting a site, information the RM has to date on both sites, Council’s expectations of Driftstone Consulting Inc. and vice versa. Administration provided the environmental studies on both sites that were completed in 2015, information from the proposals including locations, utilities and costs the Administrator received from SaskEnergy and SaskPower. 

Council received the initial report from Driftstone Consulting Inc. on January 8th, 2021 which recommended the Raymore site provides the best long-term service to the RM. Administration reviewed the report and advised Driftstone Consulting Inc. that there were two errors within the report according to information the Administrator had at that time. The corrections made by Administration were regarding site servicing including water and sewer service.  These changes prompted a new report received on January 11th, 2021 and as noted by Driftstone Consulting Inc. access to water and sewer was a significant determiner, in their view thus Semans became the recommended site to provide long-term service for the RM.

The shop committee met on Monday, January 11th, 2021 to discuss the recommendation reports. After much discussion, the committee’s recommendation to Council was that it was felt that the report was incomplete and ask the Administrator to contact Driftstone Consulting Inc. to clarify the costs associated with site grading, installation of phone and data, and water line installation. Council approved this request at the meeting held Tuesday, January 12th, 2021. The Reeve also sent a letter to Driftstone with more detail on what was asked by the Administrator.

A new report was received on February 12th, 2021 which included the additional information as requested by the Shop Committee as well as community opportunity which includes characteristics of each site that will impact the business operation and current and future opportunities for the RM. 

These characteristics include: 

  • populations of the Village of Semans compared to the Town of Raymore;
  • Raymore has a larger population – offers a greater workforce to draw from;
  • location of the Village of Semans and the Town of Raymore relative to the RM boundaries;
  • Town of Raymore offers gas stations, tire shop, mechanic shops;
  • Raymore is located in the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region, Raymore Community Health and Social Centre, Raymore First Responders, Raymore and District Volunteer Fire Department, nearest hospitals – St. Joseph’s Integrated Care Centre (Lestock) and Wynyard Hospital;
  • Semans is located in the Saskatoon Health Region, Semans and District Fire and Rescue – a dedicated group of volunteer firefighters, nearest hospitals – St. Joseph Integrated Care Centre (Lestock) and Lanigan Hospital; and
  • Raymore has secondary services such as a school, restaurants, pool, and upcoming daycare – impacts the location that prospective workers choose to work and live. Semans is not able to compete in offering these services.

At the Regular Meeting of Council held Tuesday, February 16th, 2021 Council approved and accepted the latest updated report received from Driftstone Consulting Inc. by resolution. Council also passed a resolution to approach the Town of Raymore to purchase the proposed land for $1.00.

Council held a Special Meeting on Tuesday, March 2nd, 2021 to meet with Driftstone Consulting Inc. to go over shop design and discuss the next steps in our timeline.

The next Regular Meeting of Council will be held Tuesday, March 16th, 2021. If there are any questions or concerns regarding the shop or any other matter please feel free to contact the RM Office, Councillor for your division or the Reeve for assistance.

*Please also note that the minutes of a council meeting are not posted until after they have been adopted by Council at a subsequent meeting.

- Submitted by Ashley Greenshields, Administrator of RM 279

Information in this article was provided by RM 279. LMT is not responsible for any errors. Only the title was changed. This was printed at no charge to the RM.