News/Announcements

    New Election Resources for Citizens Running for Council

The Ministry of Government Relations, in consultation with the municipal associations (Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association, Urban Municipal Administrators Association of Saskatchewan and Rural Municipal Administrators’ Association), developed the following resources geared toward citizens who are thinking about running for municipal council:

• Guide – Consider Running for Municipal Council – A citizen’s guide for candidacy in municipal elections.

• Consider Running for Council Video Series – Four pre-recorded videos that break down the guide content into shorter video clips by topic.

  1. Democratic Governance, Purpose of a Municipality and the Role of Council

  2. Learn more about your Municipality, Considerations before Running for Council, Time Commitment and Responsibilities

  3. Key Standards and Values and Responsible Conduct of Council Members

  4. How to Run for Council, Campaigning and Key Documents after Being Elected

M E M O R A N D U M

DATE:   September 12, 2024

TO:    All Residents of Lebret

FROM:    Lloyd Virag

             Mayor, Village of Lebret

RE:     Lebret Community Centre

There are many things happening in the Village right now and we would like to keep our residents updated and informed.  Communication is very important and we have always urged our residents to come out to our public meetings, contact our Administrator, Council Members, or be a delegation at our Council Meetings if you have any questions, suggestions or concerns.

Everyone will remember when we announced in March, 2021 that we were approved to receive a Community Centre Revitalization Grant to put an addition on the Community Centre. This was for a 1,200 sq ft expansion that included new washrooms and additional wheelchair accessible space for more diversified use of the building.  As part of our EMO strategy the expanded building was also intended to be used for short term emergency shelter for anyone displaced from their homes due to fire or weather-related emergencies such as floods, tornadoes, winter power failures etc.  This grant was specific for an addition and improvements to the Community Centre and could not be used for any other purpose.  The estimated cost of the expansion was $300,000 made up of $240,000 provincial and federal funds along with $60,000 provided by the village.

What could possibly go wrong you might ask?  The Village needed to purchase a small amount of land to accommodate the expansion, but our Zoning Bylaw did not allow for an expansion on lands adjacent to the building.  No problem, we had already drafted a new Zoning Bylaw that was being reviewed by Community Planning that revised the zoning area to allow for an expansion.

However, Community Planning refused to approve the new Zoning Bylaw because of flood way, flood fringe and residential development issues.  The Zoning Bylaw we were replacing included the old Flood Hazard Map, created from information collected many years ago, that incorrectly concluded a significant portion of Lebret properties were located in the flood way.  Flood way is the portion of land that would be flooded to an elevation of 1 metre or more during a 1:500-year flood event.  This became a very serious issue for Lebret after the 2011 flood when new regulations prohibited new development in the flood way.  These regulations also placed restrictions on existing homes located in flood way that were considered non compliant with the new regulations.

You might appreciate how difficult it is to deal with government agencies to resolve these kinds of issues in a satisfactory manner.  It involved setting up a series of meetings with the Minister of Government Relations, who is responsible for decisions made by Community Planning, and meetings with Water Security Agency (WSA) to try to resolve the impasse. From these meetings it was decided that a new flood hazard map was required to determine the correct flood hazard elevations. The cost of a new flood hazard map was approximately $120,000 and not affordable. Eventually a WSA grant became available that would pay for ½ of the cost of the new map and we partnered with Star Blanket Cree Nation to reduce our cost to approximately $30,000.

We engaged Associated Engineering to carry out the new study with complex computer modeling to more accurately calculate and define the flood way and flood fringe elevations in the village. The new Flood Hazard Map determined that Council was indeed correct and the lands called flood way in the old map were actually in flood fringe designation where development is permitted subject to approved flood proofing measures.

This all took time but finally, after 3 years of delays and complications, the New Zoning Bylaw, with the new Flood Hazard Map, and the zoning ability to build the Community Centre addition, was approved by Community Planning in August 2024.

We immediately took steps to initiate and re tender the expansion project. Unfortunately, the costs of the project had increased by 50% to approximately $450,000. If project costs increase the government portion stays at the original amount with any increases to be made up for by the Village. Considering this and that the water main replacement project is beginning this year, with a total project cost of $1,411,500 and our portion of the cost at approximately $470,000, the Community Centre addition became simply unaffordable. Once again grant funding is very specific to the project detailed in the grant application and the government funds can’t be obtained or used for any other purposes.

At a Special Meeting held on September 4, 2024. Council voted unanimously to cancel the Community Centre addition and use the Village’s funding portion to go towards the Ellisboro Trail Water Main Replacement Project.  Phase A of this project has been awarded to Gee Bee Construction Ltd. of Regina. It is expected to begin very soon and will involve boring in the new water main adjacent to the old deteriorating cast steel line.

Of course, it is disappointing not be able to afford both projects but the Water Main Replacement Project is the highest priority we have and very good news for everyone in Lebret. Upon completion this project will finally end the rusty water issues that have been occurring in this village not just this year but for a very long time.

Council has done a lot of hard work and has had to make some very difficult decisions over the past 6 years. Our village will be in the enviable position of having replaced its critically important aging and failing wastewater and water infrastructure systems.  These projects all supported by ICIP grant funding with total costs approaching $5,000,000 will serve our community well into the future for many years to come.

Respectfully submitted by:

Lloyd Virag

Mayor, Village of Lebret

The Precautionary Drinking Water Advisory has been lifted effective immediately.

While every effort will be made to hand deliver a notice, the rain may hamper our efforts.  Think of it as an opportunity to talk to your neighbour - spread the word...we appreciate it!

Sorry for the inconvenience, we appreciate your patience!

Effective immediately Lebret is under a Precautionary Drinking Water Advisory.  Please see the notice below.  This notice will be hand delivered to each household.

Maintenance will be flushing the fire hydrant on rue Tache on July 26th.  You will experience little to no water pressure for about 10  minutes.

A huge thank you to our community-minded volunteers - Lloyd & Rose Virag, Tina Cameron & her grandkids, Lyle & Dolores McDonald, Grant & Roberta Vipond, Samantha Gillies, Joanne Pelletier, Marvin Skinner and Rodney Mann for joining us at the Village clean-up event. We were so pleased with the turnout! Many hands did indeed make light work. We collected 15 garbage bags of debris! 

Due to the Civic Holiday, garbage pick-up will be on Tuesday August 8th.

The Village office will be closed on Monday, July 3rd for the Canada Day long weekend. We will be open for regular hours on Tuesday, July 4th.

Have a safe and memorable long weekend!

A pair of eyeglasses have been handed into the office.  Please come into the office or call to make arrangements for pick up.

The Village office will be closed on the following Fridays -  April 14, 21, and 28, 2023. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

Please join The Village of Lebret and Star Blanket Cree Nation at the Grand Opening for the new Wastewater Facility.

Please join us at the Lebret Community Centre behind the post office at 1:30. There will be coffee, tea, baked goods, displays, a few speeches and a ribbon cutting ceremony.

“If we can all reconcile ourselves as human beings, we hold the hope that the future will be brighter” – Chief Joseph 

See below for information on your 2022 Property Assessment