Overlapping rural and urban landscapes in Saskatchewan aren’t quite at the level of British Columbia’s Fraser Valley, but that suburban area is starting to develop.
Speakers at the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities recent midterm convention in Regina said it’s time for awareness and education.
Tom Harrison, a councillor in the RM of Lumsden, said it surrounds six towns, villages and resort villages.
“We’ve transitioned from what was purely an agricultural community to one now where we’re seeing probably 70 to 80 percent of our tax revenue come from non-farm rural residential,” he said.
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Harrison said that has led to discussions about water, waste water and annexation. However, the rural-urban interface hasn’t been discussed much, he added.
“One of the things we’re facing is … we have people coming out and moving into our community that don’t understand what maybe normal farming practices are,” he said.
He received a call from a resident complaining about the smell from someone spreading manure — he was that someone.
RM of Weyburn reeve Carmen Sterling chairs the Rurals Bordering Urbans committee set up in 2012 to examine that interface.
She said the disconnect works both ways.
“We had a producer say to us, ‘I don’t understand why those guys are watering their lawns. They live on a farm,’ ” she said.
Saskatoon mayor Don Atchison said he lived for a time in a rural residential area and he learned about plowing his own snow, taking care of his own garbage and other issues that rural people deal with all the time.
“When you talk about watering the grass, we did,” he said.
“You have people (moving into rural areas) that have lived in urban areas thinking that the rural life is the panacea for them.”
They, as well as industrial users who buy cheaper land outside a city, expect all the services they received in the city. He said education is required, which is why it’s important for rural and urban municipalities to keep talking.
Saskatoon and the RM of Corman Park have been working together for years, Atchison said.
Last week ,Regina and the surrounding RM of Sherwood settled an annexation dispute and signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a better relationship.
Kelly Lafrentz, reeve of the RM of Estevan, said the relationship between the RM and the City of Estevan has evolved because of the oil boom.
“Prior to 2003, we basically hated each other,” he said.
“But out of necessity we had to start working together and we’ve made some great leaps and bounds.”
Lafrentz said it isn’t always roses, and jurisdictions have to learn to give up protectionist attitudes.
“For the most part we do put what’s best for the region first,” he said.
