Town makes deal on land for lagoon
by Kevin Weedmark
Moosomin Mayor Don Bradley said at last week’s council meeting that the town will purchase 20 acres of land to expand the town’s lagoon.
The announcement came three weeks after the mayor said that, based on legal advice, town council couldn’t read or discuss a letter from concerned citizens suggesting that council would have public support if it decided to settle a dispute over the price of the land out of court.
“I’m pleased to announced that we have purchased 30 acres of land,” Bradley said at the council meeting. “It’s been a long and difficult struggle. I know some people thought we were . . . not doing anything, but we got it done.”
He said the work is being done now to turn a verbal agreement between the town and landowner Murray Bruce into a legal agreement.
“It was done on a handshake,” Bradley said. “It’s in the lawyers’ hands now, and details will follow. It’s a done deal. It’s a satisfactory deal to the town of Moosomin and the landowner.”
The mayor said he’s happy with the outcome. “Everyone’s happy it didn’t go to the courts,” he said. “Everyone’s happy with it.”
Councillor Chris Davidson made the motion to enter into an agreement with the landowner, which council passed unanimously.
The town has been in a dispute with Bruce since 2009. It first tried to buy additional land next to the existing lagoon cells to expand the lagoon to accommodate population growth up to an additional 1,000 people.
In June of 2009, the town was approved for $2,255,332 in federal-provincial infrastructure funding to build the lagoon, which would cover two thirds of the cost. The town would be responsible for the other third of the cost. The condition noted at the time the grants were announced was that the project needed to be completed by 2013.
The town needed 30 acres of land to accommodate the expansion. Bruce, who owns the land next to the lagoon, was approached by the town in the summer of 2009, but council thought the price Bruce was asking—$15,000 per acre, for a total cost of $450,000—was too high.
At the Aug. 19, 2009 meeting, Moosomin town council decided to explore its legal options to expropriate the land from Bruce rather than coming to a deal.
Saskatchewan Environment has let the town know that it will not approve any new sewer mains until the town has more capacity in the lagoon.
The letter the town had received from concerned residents raised worries that a delay in lagoon expansion would stop development in the town, and that any further delay would put the more than $2.2 million in grants for the project in jeopardy.
The letter noted, however, that those who signed it would respect any decision the town made on the issue.
The engineering has been done for the lagoon expansion, and the work will be tendered in the spring.
