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Blackstrap Park ski hill not in development plans

Two bids have been submitted to develop Blackstrap Provincial Park, but the “very public” idea by one developer to reopen the ski hill at Mount Blackstrap and build a year-round resort is not one of them, said an official with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Parks, Culture and Sport.

Kevin Engel, manager of business development and leasing with the Ministry, said he couldn’t go into detail on the two bids they did receive in response to their public request for proposals (RFP) that closed in April because they are still in negotiations. However, he said British Columbia developer Torey Spink did not “put in a proposal” to rebuild the park into a year-round resort with a reopened ski hill, despite his public attempt to gain support for his plan on social media.

“At the end of the day, it is the (Government of Saskatchewan’s) final approval that’s required and they have the right to fully consider and approve the projects before we go public with them,” said Engel. “That’s what we found a little bit strange with Torey Spink deciding to go very public with his interest in reopening the ski hill, but I guess he had his own thoughts on how he wanted to approach this. Unfortunately, he chose not to go forward.”

Engel said the two proposals they received both have local ties to Saskatoon and the Ministry is currently meeting with both groups to negotiate development and lease agreements. He said both developments could be accepted.

“In our RFP we indicated that it was fairly broad and we knew that we might get proposals that would complement each other,” he said. “In this case both would complement (each other), so we’re working going forward with both of them.”

Once negotiations have finished, Engel said the development proposals go to cabinet for approval through an Order in Council due to park’s legislation that requires any development over $250,000 to gain this approval before it can proceed. He said it is not known when this final approval would be given as that is tied to how busy the government is and when they can get on their agenda.

“Neither project had anticipated doing any construction this summer though and both projects still have a lot of work to do as far as finalizing plans and engineering designs. Both would anticipate at the earliest starting some work this fall, so (we’re) not in a situation where we’re holding them up.”

Four injured in two-vehicle collision outside of Davidson

The Craik RCMP are telling motorists to take caution on the roads after a spectacular two-vehicle collision just outside of Davidson earlier this month resulted in four minor injuries.

On the morning of May 3, a westbound white minivan crossed the southbound lanes of Highway 11 colliding with a green minivan at the Hwy. 11 intersection with Hwy. 44 at the north entrance to Davidson.

Members of the Craik RCMP, Davidson EMS and Davidson Fire all responded to the crash.

The driver of the white minivan and the three occupants of the green minivan all sustained minor injuries in the collision and were transported to the Davidson Health Centre by Davidson EMS. All were later released, but the driver of the white minivan was charged with failing to yield the right of way.

Craik RCMP Constable Ian Smith would like to remind all motorists to reduce their speed and drive with caution as the busy vacation season approaches.

Strongfield twins lead Terriers at Jr. A Western Canada Cup

The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s (SJHL) Champion Yorkton Terriers and the identical twins who man their blue-line came a post away from extending their season last weekend, but “it just didn’t work out in the end.”

Chase Norrish, a 20-year-old defencemen for the Terriers and a Strongfield product, said their 1-0 loss to the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s (AJHL) Brooks Bandits in the final game May 5 at the 2013 Crescent Point Energy Western Canada Cup (WCC) held in Nanaimo, B.C. was really close and despite the loss his team should be proud of themselves because they tried their best.

“Each team had their chances,” said Chase. “It was a great game. Everybody on our team was closely matched with them. We just didn’t put the puck in the net, but we hit a lot of posts.”

With the win, Brooks locks up the second and final spot in the 2013 RBC Cup National Junior A Championship held May 11 to 19 in Summerside, P.E.I. The British Columbia Hockey League’s (BCHL) Surrey Eagles took the other Western spot in the national tournament by finishing first at the five-team WCC. Joining teams from the SJHL, AJHL and BCHL at the first-ever WCC were the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s (MJHL) Steinbach Pistons and the host Nanaimo Clippers.

Chase said the competition at the WCC was great and each team was similar talent wise to each other, so nobody was “blown out of the water” at the tournament.

“Everybody on our team was thrilled to be there,” he said. “It was the first one ever to happen and it would have been nice to win it, but just being there was pretty special too.”

Brady Norrish, Chase’s identical twin and partner on defence, said the games at the tournament were “pretty intense” and it was a great experience to be representing Saskatchewan at the Cup. He said they all had a “little bit of nerves” to start the tournament, which saw the team go 2-3 in round-robin play before defeating the Clippers in playoffs to advance to the final against the Bandits, but all the players stepped up and gave it their best effort.

“We have a great group of guys,” said Brady. “We were one goal away and on every chance we were giving it our all.”

To read more please see the May 13 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Davidson School Grade 8 science students challenged to build hydraulic machines

Davidson School Grade 8 science teacher Karielle Willner issued a challenge to her students two weeks ago to build a hydraulic machine using cardboard, wood, glue, water, tubing and syringes in an effort to engage the students in learning science through hands-on experience.

Willner said the task gives the students an opportunity to test their problem-solving skills over the two-and-a-half periods they were allotted for the challenge. She said the students had to come up with their own idea for what machine they wanted to build, research how to build it, build it, then present a report detailing their project.

“They could be as creative as they wanted,” said Willner, noting the kids also were allowed to choose what level they wanted to work at with level 3 being grade-level/satisfactory and level 5 being the most challenging task.

Geena Heinrich, who built a dump truck with Justin Sandsbraaten and Jessica Matheson that featured a hydraulic lifting open-box bed at the rear of the machine, said their project has a level 5 assessment. She said they initially wanted to build a car, but that didn’t quite work out.

“Then I was just looking at hydraulics on my farm and came up with this,” said Geena.

Willner said the project is based on inquiry-based curriculum that gives students opportunities of understanding concepts through activities such as problem solving tasks. She said through assignments such as these the kids get to learn as they go and then show her what they have learned through their work.

The project is a great learning tool because kids can experience “that ‘Aha!’ moment” when they find out for themselves what works and what doesn’t, she said.

Davidson Fields set to re-open

FHC Holdings Ltd. is bringing the Fields store back to its original location in Davidson with a grand opening scheduled for sometime in late June.

Fields president Jason McDougall said there isn’t an exact date set in stone for the re-opening as the company still has a bit of work to do such as hiring staff, putting up the store fixtures and bringing in inventory before they can cut the ribbon, but he said the former manager of Davidson Fields has already been secured and will resume the job.

“We’re excited to be back,” said McDougall, who grew up on a farm near Liberty. “We like to be involved in the community and part of the community and I’m enthusiastic to have a store close to where I grew up.”

The Fields store in Davidson closed last May after operating for around four years in the Garfield Street building that was formerly Larry and Judi Packet’s grocery store. The Packet’s continue to own the building, but McDougall said his company hopes to eventually buy it ensuring Fields stays in town for the long term.

“We entered into a lease agreement with the landlords, but we actually intend to buy the building at some point,” he said. “We have a lease with the option to buy.”

McDougall said this would be the third Fields store to reopen in Saskatchewan after FHC Holdings closed on its purchase of 57 stores from the Hudson’s Bay Company last spring. He said the discount store has already started operations in Unity and Tisdale and it just took a little bit of time to “gain our footing” before the Davidson location could be announced for re-opening.

“This store will create a better life for residents,” he said. “We’re like a small-town Walmart in a sense. We give people the ability to get their everyday needs without having to travel to the city.”

Etters Beach prepares for the flood

The Resort Village of Etters Beach is trying to stave off the potential of flooding this spring by leaning on the knowledge they gained two years ago.

Michele Cruise-Pratchler, administrator for Etters Beach, said the village has not had any flooding issues yet this spring, but the provincial Water Security Agency (WSA) has warned them there is potential for it due to the high water level on Last Mountain Lake. She said as a result the village is now in the process of building a berm and a drainage ditch to address the problem should it occur.

“The (WSA) April forecast was for a high water level of about 18 inches less than it was in 2011, which would put us in jeopardy,” said Cruise-Pratchler. “There should be a new forecast shortly and we’ll get a little better read on what they’re thinking as far as lake levels. At this point, we’re sort of in a wait and see mode for what may or may not be high water.”

Cruise-Pratchler said over the next couple weeks a contractor would be preparing the village for the possibility of flooding with funding support for the project coming from the WSA Emergency Flood Damage Reduction Program. She said the equipment is on site and workers began digging the ditch last Wednesday.

“Generally water that comes from the west sort of works its way right through the village, so we’re constructing a drainage ditch to divert it around the village,” she said. “Then we’re putting a section of berm up along the water shoreline side that will help to make the entire shoreline level 492 metres above sea level, which was the high water flood level of 2011.”

The reconstruction of the Etters Beach community recreation facility that was supposed to be completed this spring is still going ahead as planned, said Cruise-Pratchler. She said as soon as the weather warms up they will start work on the outdoor structure, which was damaged in the 2011 flood, and it would be ready for use this summer.