LITTLE SASKATCHEWAN FIRST NATION Chief Hector Shorting, Councillors Albert Shorting, Leroy Thompson, Wilfred Anderson Jr., and Rosalind (Lucy) Pruden Flood Update This will provide an update of current events and plans that Chief Hector Shorting, and his Council, Albert, Leroy, Wilfred Jr, and Lucy have been working on. Chief Hector, and his Council, has been working on trying to get band members back to the community. In this process, they met with the Honorable Bernard Valcourt, and Eric Robinson. In this meeting the Honorable Bernard Valcourt, commended Chief Hector Shorting, and his Council on the progress they’ve made within the last few weeks. He said there had been no movement the past two years, and that there has been a lot of progress since this new team had been assembled. The Engineers for Little Saskatchewan are now GENIVAR, Tim Nykoluk, Ross Mitchell; our Project Manager is Whitehorse Plains, Tom Rhoades. The original plan was to move forty (40) homes from the radar base, to a site that was bought by Little Saskatchewan Development Corporation, for Little Saskatchewan First Nation. This site was designed as a town site, 30 metres apart. The Chief and Council have opposed this plan, and are working on a plan that will give members a little more room to live, the lots they are working on have a little more footage, the houses from the radar base remain an option, although rumours on the condition on these houses have raised a few flags, and have prompted closer inspections to ensure the quality of these houses before being accepted by Chief and Council. There are ongoing meetings with the Federal, and Provincial Governments, These discussions are due process for acquiring lands, and having them transferred to Reserve Status. There has been discussions on acquiring more land base for reserve, and Chief Hector Shorting, and his Council have received an Agreement in Principal for some land to be expedited to reserve status. There are currently six sections of land that has been identified for housing allocation. There is also a requirement for a Comprehensive Community Development Plan that was to have been developed, this plan is to identify where we need roads, where to place houses, administration buildings, and so on, and this is now nearing completion. There have also been meetings with the RM of Grahamdale, these discussions deal with land use, and zoning, currently the locations that are being considered for housing are zoned as agricultural lands. This in itself creates some difficulties in planning for residential areas for our band members. We needed to do an agreement with the RM for service delivery, a Master Service Delivery Agreement and identify what type of service we need from the RM. The RM has its own process on accepting our proposal on land use, and are currently in the process of reviewing our proposal with its municipality. There are other restrictions, how far we can place driveways, and so on, that Chief and Council are working on to get lifted. Other issues that have been raised include the lot sizes, the Chief said that the footage they are trying to impose is not acceptable, which is 30 metres, the houses from the radar base are being inspected by our engineers to see if they would be a good investment. These houses are not free, they come with a cost, and we want to make sure that these houses are worth it. Chief and Council are working on getting the best possible deal for the community. The start date of this work is currently in discussion, but the target date of getting some people home is end of August 2013, the first forty homes, we are also currently negotiating for an additional forty, plus the band office, and a church. We are also trying to get a meeting with the community scheduled to formally update, and get your input as to how you want the community to look, and be able to determine if we are on the right track. As we are allocating houses, some of you will be receiving visitors informing you of your allocation, and requesting information as to where you want your house located. The Chief and Council have also met with the Canadian Red Cross, they will be doing assessments with community members.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Jul 2013 01:22:32 +0000
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