Public meeting held on Yarbo restructuring into Esterhazy

July 21, 2025, 11:32 am
Ryan Kiedrowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Around 60 people attended a public information meeting last week at the S.N. Boreen Centre in Esterhazy regarding what happens next with the Village of Yarbo. Last year, the village of 49 people was supposed to dissolve into the RM of Langenburg, but a last minute decision from RM council negated that notion. As the natural course of action for villages in Saskatchewan that dissolve is to be absorbed by their surrounding rural municipality, Yarbo was in a state of limbo—with not enough councillors and an RM that didn’t want to take them.

“The RM of Langenburg did not want us,” explained Yarbo’s Mayor Clayton Kotyk when the question was posed during the meeting on July 15. “They put up a big fight for unforeseeable reasons. Every concern they had, we gave them numbers, facts, and they just kept saying they didn’t want us.”

Earlier this year, the Village of Yarbo approached the Town of Esterhazy with a plan never seen before in Saskatchewan: have the village dissolve into the town.

“We’re neighbors,” said Esterhazy Mayor Randy Bot. “They’ve been coming to Esterhazy for years, so that relationship’s already here. They use our grocery stores, our schools. To have that relationship with Yarbo and to have that regional partnership, it’s just another step in the right direction—not only for the community, but for the province. If something like this comes up somewhere else, they can look back at what we’ve done, they can work on that, and hopefully we can make a difference to another small community that’s taken on by a municipality in their area.”

Both Yarbo and Esterhazy councils have met and approved the idea of a merger, culminating with a restructuring agreement signed by both entities in May. Copies of the agreement were available for those attending the public meeting.

Joining Mayor Bot from the Town of Esterhazy were CAO Tammy MacDonald, and Councillors Marty Pfiefer, Bryant Campbell, William Gale, Nicole Kripki, and Dana Paidel. Representing the Village of Yarbo with Mayor Kotyk was Alderman Bentley Prazma and Administrator Maggie Rowland (who also sits as an Esterhazy Town Councillor). Two representatives from the provincial Advisory Services and Municipal Relations were also present, being Executive Director Karri Kempf and Advisory Services Manager Megan Istace.

“We’re here tonight to help answer any questions that you may have about what restructuring is, about the Village of Yarbo’s proposal to restructure with the town of Esterhazy, and just to talk about what that process looks like,” Istace explained.

She began by outlining what restructuring is and what happens when a village in Saskatchewan is faced with the action.

“Under the Municipalities Act—that’s our legislative framework for our Saskatchewan municipal system—that allows for different types of restructuring,” Istace said. “It could be an inclusion into another municipality. It could be merging two municipalities together. There can be different reasons why a municipality may choose to restructure. Maybe they have people that are just not willing to continue to run for council. Maybe their administrator is no longer wishing to stay on, or they’re without an administrator. They have a difficult time finding an administrator that is certified or qualified to take over. Some also see it as an opportunity to bring two governments together to have consistency and continuity between the municipalities in the area.”

Questions from the public ranged from what tax rates will look like, representation in municipal decision-making, infrastructure concerns, and ultimately what the cost would be.

“We are the regional hub, we can take on this responsibility, and we feel like it will be better for the area,” Mayor Bot said. “As of right now, with the information that we have, we believe that we’re in the best position to have this happen.”

He emphasized that the point of the public meeting was to gather information and feedback as the next step in the journey. Mayor Bot also proposed the idea of a survey as a way to gather more public opinion.

“We’re going to put it out again to our ratepayers, we will have a survey out there, and we’re going to get as much feedback as we can,” he told the World-Spectator. “This isn’t a decision that council has taken lightly. We’re looking at anything that we could run into, we’re weighing all our options. As of now, we just believe that it is the right thing to do to have that regional partnership.”

When asked if Yarbo is feeling pressured into a merger with Esterhazy, Mayor Kotyk confirmed that was not the case.

“We’re not being pressured directly,” he said. “There hasn’t been any support from the townspeople to carry on what we’ve been doing. I’ve been forced into my position for two runnings. Maggie (Rowland), the same thing. I think she’s wanted to be done for the last two years. It just keeps getting prolonged, and she’s had enough.”


What’s in the agreement?

Under the current restructuring agreement between Yarbo and Esterhazy, the former village would become part of the town. This means Esterhazy Town Council would govern the former Village of Yarbo. While those living in the former village would be voting for Esterhazy municipal candidates, all current bylaws and resolutions made under Yarbo would remain in place for either one year after the date of inclusion or until repealed—whichever comes first.

Assets and liabilities of Yarbo would then become Esterhazy’s upon inclusion. Any grants received by the town in recognition of the former village would be set aside for the provision of service and/or benefits in Yarbo.

As for integrating staff, contracts such as the water treatment plant operator contract with Renata Arnason and the waste disposal contract with Loraas Disposal—both running a duration of three years, set to expire in 2027—will continue to be honoured. Esterhazy will continue to provide fire service to Yarbo, but a third party contractor will be hired for duties such as street maintenance, snow removal, mowing, and spraying services within the former village boundaries. Esterhazy will also continue with tax enforcement in Yarbo, but when the property has been transferred to the town, all demolition costs would be considered the cost of the former village.

Back to the round tables

Of course, the agreement can be amended, and most likely will see some changes as the two municipalities progress. For now, both councils will have a lot to talk about around their respective tables.

“I wasn’t surprised by the responses,” Mayor Bot said in an interview after the public meeting. “I knew that there were going to be questions, answers, and concerns. We’re going to take those back to our council in Esterhazy here, and we’re going to discuss every concern that was talked about tonight. We’re going to make a decision based on what we believe is the best for the community. That’s all we can do.”

Mayor Kotyk agreed, adding “we’ve got stuff to talk about.”

“We will have more discussions,” he confirmed. “Just like in any town, if somebody’s got a concern, you bring it forward.”

The proposal of a village merging with a town minus a shared border is unprecedented in Saskatchewan.

“This is the first situation of two urban municipalities that I’m aware of that do not have a common boundary,” Kempf said. “Back in the early 2000’s, three Resort Villages came together to form one urban municipality, but their common boundary was the shoreline, and that’s what we know as the District of Katepwa.”

Mayor Bot also noted that Esterhazy has the people-power required to handle not only the transition, but any additional work that results from it.

“We’ve talked to our administrator, our staff, and they said that they can take on the workload as well,” he said, answering a question about why the town would consider taking on more responsibility. “We’ve never looked at it as a headache and more so as an opportunity.”

With continued talks between the municipalities and the provincial government, in addition to more public consultation, an answer to the merger question is still a long way off.