The City of Moose Jaw used $1.1 million in federal funding to establish the agri-food industrial park, and now, Ottawa wants confirmation that the money was used for that purpose.
During its Sept. 26 regular meeting, council voted unanimously to affirm to the federal government that the city’s Greenfield Phase 1 water and sewer infrastructure Clean Water and Wastewater Fund (CWWF) project has “incrementally been met.”
As part of its grant process, the Government of Canada requires municipalities to use the funding for the purpose designated for projects and confirmation that the initiative would not have occurred without the money.
The $1,155,825 from the feds in 2017 “certainly did” help establish the agri-food industrial park (AFIP), city manager Jim Puffalt said during the meeting.
The city established the industrial park in 2016, but council directed that no servicing occur until an anchor tenant was secured, he explained. It was not possible to locate a tenant since it is difficult for companies from another province or country to determine their servicing needs when focusing on establishing a proposed venue.
In 2018, council agreed to complete a detailed design for the park using the Greenfield Phase 1 water and sewer infrastructure CWWF project, Puffalt continued.
Once the municipality completed the business plan, it signed an agreement with SaskPower to sell 100 acres for the Great Plains Power Station. Further negotiations ensured that the city would bring water and sanitary sewer services to the park for SaskPower’s project.
In 2020, city hall established the land’s value at $200,000 per acre. The business plan also ensured that all land sale proceeds would be used to finance the servicing upgrades.
“Our strategic plan — that has been created by council — established the agri-food industrial park as the prime industrial growth area in food processing and certainly a strategic focus,” Puffalt said.
A council report noted that the goals and benefits of the AFIP are to:
- Keep risks to the city low
- Meet the industrial park’s business plan
- Encourage food processing to meet the strategic plan
- Sell the land at a serviced value
- Service the land in a phased approach
- Create property taxes, utility sales, jobs
The AFIP’s business plan ensures that the city will only service the land when businesses purchase land or the property requires it, instead of installing services and waiting for companies to purchase, the report continued. Since major construction projects take up to 24 months to complete, this gives the municipality enough lead time to complete further infrastructure work.
“As we go forward, the next purchase of land there, we’ll look to provide energy to the site as a whole in natural gas,” said Puffalt. “And then as we carry forward, as we sell land, we will do whatever infrastructure is required without putting money into the ground first.”
There are 120 hectares (300 acres) in the north end of the industrial park waiting for power and natural gas hook-ups, while a reservoir also needs to be installed as more properties sell, he continued.
Since an acre is $200,000, those 300 acres could generate $60 million in revenue. However, since future servicing costs will be $15 million, that would leave a net revenue of $45 million.
There are another 600 hectares (1,500 acres) in the area that city hall can add to the industrial park, which means it has a long-term growth plan for the AFIP, added Puffalt. The money from the feds allowed Moose Jaw to reach this point with the industrial park, which is an exciting outcome.
The next regular council meeting is Tuesday, Oct. 11.
