Committees at city hall in Saskatoon face weighty agendas today

Policy committee members at city hall in Saskatoon will have to shake off the Labour Day cobwebs and get down to business with a number of pressing issues.

The Standing Policy Committee on Planning, Development and Community Services along with the policy committee of Finance will meet today.

While both committees have a full agenda, it is CPD & CS that is dealing with issues likely to generate a few headlines today.

Safety

One of those will be a request today to permanently fund a program that promises to make downtown safer, or at least feel safer.

The Community Support Program has been operating as a pilot project. It puts uniformed officers on the street to deal with a variety of minor disturbances.

According to the city, 90 per cent of businesses surveyed support the program.

The annual budget could be as much as $450,000 a year.

Medical marijuana

The committee is also pondering a request to regulate medical marijuana dispensaries.

The first of its kind opened recently in Saskatoon and the man running it has asked the city to recognize the need for the service and to regulate its operation.

There has been some backlash, and today there is new concern from one of the pioneers of the industry and a local medical marijuana producer that employs 125 people in the area.

Brent Zettl with Prairie Plant Systems and CanniMed intends to speak today with a policy committee at city hall to outline his concerns.

He wrote in a letter to council that storefront cannabis operations sell to minors and are often associated with organized crime. Zettl also questioned the quality of their pot, saying it's often contaminated.

Zettl believes the current system under Health Canada meets the needs of patients.

Community

CPD & CS will also receive a report on an inner city rec centre.

There is a desire for a new rec centre in the core area.

A feasibility study, however, throws a few wrinkles into the plan. The report suggests it would only work if the YMCA and possibly the White Buffalo Youth Lodge cease their current operations.

That said, the city continues to receive further interest from groups who want to help bring a new recreational facility to the core neighbourhoods.