For better or worse the Rural Municipality of Dundurn is changing.

The RM’s population is increasing daily due to the rapid growth of Saskatoon and the desire of the city folk to escape the concrete jungle that obscure their vision during the hours of 9 to 5 to a place more in tune with nature for the rest of their day.

Fred Wilson, Reeve of the RM of Dundurn, confirmed the municipality’s population grew by around 81 per cent between 2006 and 2011 to about 1,148 citizens. He said the growth has been a challenge, but they are prepared for even more people moving to the municipality in the near future.

“We’ll take it as it comes,” said Wilson. “We have made preparations for future expansion. It’s like everything else. It’s changing the perspective of our municipality considerably. When change comes you have to adapt to it, so we’re adapting.”

Wilson said the RM has increased their fire protection services, outside staff and equipment base in the past few years to meet the needs of the increased population. He said they have been able to cope primarily due to their dedicated staff who is working to keep the municipality moving smoothly along and because of the locations where the majority of new residents are moving.

“Everything that has been happening has been in fairly close proximity to Highway 11, which is our main artery to Saskatoon,” he said. “That has helped the development quite a bit. We’re not having to build a lot of extra roads. We are refurbishing our roads all the time, that is a cost, but the expansion of the tax base has helped cover the cost of that.”

The majority of the subdivisions being developed are at the north end of the RM, said Wilson, noting that land is not friendly to large farm operations, so when the farmers that were there retired nobody was around to take it over.

“That’s how the developers came in,” he said. “They sold the land to developers and that is how it actually started happening. The developers were prepared to pay considerably more money for the land than what the local farmers were prepared to pay for it.”

Wilson said to meet the growth experienced in the past seven years the RM has been increasing the residential subdivisions in the municipality considerably and they are now filling in with houses. He said two more subdivisions have been recently applied for and approved with 30 lots per subdivision and construction is beginning on those already.

To read more please see the Sept. 16 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

The next time you drive or walk by Steven Barlow’s brick building on Railway Avenue, stop, look up and learn to appreciate.
Barlow, who operates a registered massage therapy clinic inside, sees the building as a piece of art.
He’s been steadily restoring it for the last couple of years since he bought it from Dr. Al-Katib in 2011. He says most people fail to notice its architectural features because it is so close to the street.
There are three brick pilasters at the top and two arches that gracefully cover the second-storey windows.
To get a better look, try stepping back, going as far as the railway tracks. From this distance take a trip back in time and imagine you are a passenger on a Canadian Northern Railway train, pulling into Davidson for the first time. It is from this perspective the building is meant to be viewed. Back then the railway, not the highway, was the town’s main street.
Brick buildings like Barlow’s, although modest in size, were built not just for function, but also for beauty. They were to impress people and to demonstrate that this is a progressive, prosperous community where a businessman could afford to erect a building that would last a century.
Now that it’s in Barlow’s care, it should last another 100 years.
The building on Railway Avenue was built in 1906 by general merchant W. J. Robinson and was known as the “Robinson Block”. It became a medical centre in 1908 when Dr. H. G. Craig arrived in Davidson and opened an office in the brick building. Ever since, the main floor served as a medical clinic until Dr. Al-Katib moved his practice to Saskatoon in 2001.
Barlow has invested much time and money restoring the solid brick building and its stone foundation.
The most recent phase of the work was completed last week when masons, who have spent most of the summer re-pointing the brick on the front wall, packed up their scaffolding and headed for home.
Barlow is pleased with their work.
Master Stone Masonry did the restoration.
Last week, master stonemason Wayne Kent was on the job.
“My great-grandfather was a stonemason, my grandfather was a stonemason. My father was a mason, but he figured there was a warmer way to make a living,” says Kent, who followed his grandfather into the family profession, which, he jokes, is also one of the world’s oldest. Kent is proud that his son Adam now owns the company, carrying on the family tradition.
He said he and Adam were splitting stones in a field and nearby was a house that stood on a stone foundation built by his great-grandfather and grandfather.
That day, “my son was the fifth generation stone mason splitting stone in that yard,” Kent says.
To read more please see the Sept. 16 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Summer is out and school is in for children, teachers and staff across this area.

The kids headed back to class or to class for the first time last Tuesday for the first day of the 2013-2014 school year. Although the first week is always hectic for teachers and staff at the numerous schools to get to know the names that go with the new faces that are suddenly staring up at them, everyone seemed to be excited to get going.

Enrolment numbers at each of the schools remained fairly constant with those from last year and despite a few subtractions and additions to the teacher ranks at each school those who occupied a certain classroom last year are for the most part occupying the same one this September.

Now that the first week is over, it is full steam ahead for the schools to implement any new and previous initiatives that are in place to get the kids learning to the best of their abilities.

Dundurn Elementary School

Jason Hill, principal of Dundurn Elementary School, said there are 151 students enrolled at the pre-Kindergarten to Grade 6 school including 27 kids in the Kindergarten class. He said the school is also welcoming one new intern to their teaching ranks this fall as Julie Belina would be helping out with the Grade 5/6 class.

“One of our new goals this year is to provide tools, skills and opportunities of inquiry to improve student engagement and achievement,” said Hill. “Inquiries is a newer focus within the curriculum and we’re hoping (to focus) on technology and use of technology as tools in relation to inquiry.”

Hill said the school got off to a great start this year with their annual opening day pancake breakfast. He said close to 300 people came out for flapjacks smothered with maple syrup including representatives from most of the families that have children enrolled at the school.

Loreburn Central School

Loreburn Central School principal Jill Long said 100 students are enrolled at the Kindergarten to Grade 12 school this year including four in Kindergarten. She said there are no interns at the school this fall, but they do have a new teacher in Blair Frederickson, who is taking up the career development position at schools in Loreburn, Kenaston and Davidson, and a new custodian in Michelle Lafontaine.

Long said there will be a focus on reading and physical health and wellness during the 2013-2014 school year. She said they are also continuing with their Leader in Me initiative this year where priority is placed on teaching kids the seven habits of highly effective students in the 21^st Century.

“Our first (habit) is be pro-active,” said Long. “The second is begin with the end in mind. The third is to put first things first. The fourth is think ‘win win’ and seek first to understand and be understood. Habit six is synergize and habit seven is sharpening the saw.”

The principal said they would be hosting a Leader in Me day later this year where they invite people from around the area to come to the school and see what the program is all about. She said the students run the whole day including the assembly and the planning of it.

To read more please see the Sept. 9 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Members of town council expressed a desire to develop a long-term infrastructure plan dealing with sewer pipe restoration at their monthly meeting Aug. 20.

As discussed at the meeting, council is considering entering into a long-term contract with Acme Sewer Service out of Regina to install fiberglass liners in problem sewer pipes in town. Acme Sewer Service has done similar work in Saskatoon, Yorkton, North Battleford and many other cities and towns throughout Saskatchewan.

It would cost taxpayers $49,400 to put in a liner along a whole block. This amount covers everything involved in the job including inspecting the pipe with a camera, installing the liner and pre- and post-video of the job.

The first block that would be worked on in town is a section of Hamilton Street. A sewer pipe along Hamilton Street is in need of repair due to breaks in the pipe and tree roots digging into it.

Council stated at the meeting the advantage of going with this type of work is there would be no need to rip up the street when putting in these liners. The liners are shot into the pipe by an air compressor and harden and contour to the shape of the pipe once they are in.

Installing a liner takes around 10 to 12 hours and comes with a two-year warranty. The expected life expectancy of a liner is 50 years.

There is nothing in the budget to begin the work on Hamilton Street this year, but council stated it could be done in the next budget year. Council intends to hold a planning meeting in November to come up with a long-term infrastructure plan to restore the remaining problem sewer pipes in town.

To read more please see the Sept. 2 print edition of The Davidson Leader.