By Joel van der Veen
KENASTON — Mayor ML Whittles says a community plan is the best way for her village to move forward.
She told the Leader last week that Kenaston is in the process of developing such a plan, forming a committee with representatives from local schools and the Sun West School Division.
The plan will include strategies for the village’s infrastructure and service agreements for potential developers, as well as business and housing retention and development.
“If you’re growing, you absolutely need to have a community plan,” Whittles said, expanding on what she had written for the latest town newsletter.
The mayor said she is also working to engage the councils from the adjacent rural municipalities of McCraney and Rosedale, since many of their residents use facilities in the village and attend school there.
She also said she believes they will have more clout working together than separately when it comes time to apply for infrastructure grant funding.
The village has engaged senior community planner Tim Cheesman, formerly with Saskatchewan Municipal Affairs and now working as an independent consultant.
Cheesman came to the village through the WaterWolf district planning commission. In the past he has worked with nearby Davidson on its development strategy.
Whittles said he also continues to be engaged with White City and Emerald Park, guiding those communities through their recent exponential growth.
The planning committee met for the first time on Monday and has so far planned to move forward to hire an engineer to complete a study.
Whittles said the village has been dealing with some infrastructure concerns, including water line breaks and potential problems with the lagoon.
She said the community plan will be an essential tool for engaging with developers for the village’s future housing needs.
The recent growth of the Distance Learning Centre (DLC) is having a major impact on the village’s planning, though not all of the newly-hired staff are opting to live in Kenaston.
The mayor had the opportunity to speak briefly to education minister Don Morgan during his visit to Kenaston in September, voicing her concerns and discussing the village’s plans.
“It went as I expected,” she said of their chat, continuing to reiterate that in terms of the growth it is bringing to Kenaston, the DLC is “our potash mine.”
The next meeting for the planning committee is scheduled for Oct. 13, at which time the members hope to hear more about the progress of the study.