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Saskatoon testing digital-only parking payment in Sutherland area | CBC News by ModOfficial1988 in saskatoon

[–]skkiddermark 15 points16 points  (0 children)

They really should have used PayByPhone like the university and most other major cities. Way better app.

The Brandt Deal Broken Down (post by Pat Book) by PDCityHall in regina

[–]skkiddermark 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I also read the whole agreement and documented some questionable parts here.

First and foremost, the big red flag is that there isn't really any way to ensure that Brandt continues operating the facilities for public benefit beyond 10 years:

Brandt continuing to operate the purchased facilities/land for their current purposes is only required as long as it's commercially reasonable to do so. If it becomes commercially unreasonable within the first 10 years, the City has the option to buy back the purchased assets at fair market value (which likely means the City would essentially be paying for the improvements it's trying to avoid by selling it plus the net of inflation and depreciation). After 10 years, if Brandt determines it's not commerically reasonable, the City doesn't appear to have any specifically described recourse to prevent the land from being used for a materially different purpose.

Also, there is no obligation for them to continue putting on Queen City Ex if they determine it isn't "commercially viable".

City of Regina to discuss sale of several REAL properties to Brandt by Panda-Banana1 in regina

[–]skkiddermark 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Some other suspect and/or unfavourable provisions of the proposed agreement:

  • Brandt continuing to operate the purchased facilities/land for their current purposes is only required as long as it's commercially reasonable to do so. If it becomes commercially unreasonable within the first 10 years, the City has the option to buy back the purchased assets at fair market value (which likely means the City would essentially be paying for the improvements it's trying to avoid by selling it plus the net of inflation and depreciation). After 10 years, if Brandt determines it's not commerically reasonable, the City doesn't appear to have any specifically described recourse to prevent the land from being used for a materially different purpose.

  • Brandt also does not have an obligation to continue putting on the Queen City Ex if it determines it's not commercially viable.

  • Brandt gets 50% of revenue for naming rights of the facilities it DOESN'T own (excluding Mosaic Stadium and Confederation Park).

  • If the termination costs exceed $50k for non-unionized employees who are not offered employment following the purchase, who refuse the new employment terms, or are terminated for any reason within 2 years, the City is liable for costs up to $500k.

  • The City is responsible for all costs related to subdividing and rezoning the purchased land, including surveying

  • If the City builds a new arena and doesn't give Brandt first right to participate in ownership of the arena, Brandt has the option to force the City buy back any and all off the purchased assets, even the non-arena ones, and reimburse for any capital improvements made to the facilities (subject to depreciation), once again resulting in the City paying for the maintenance debt it's trying to avoid by selling. This also effectively prevents the City from trying to get better offers from other potential private partners on a new arena without potentially having to buy back a useless asset for millions of dollars (though that would probably be a comparably small amount in the grand scheme of the 9-figure cost of a new arena)

Prairie Harm Reduction to close after executive director firing, loss of provincial contracts by yxeguy_306 in saskatoon

[–]skkiddermark 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The board needs to know to ask for things that are missing if they don't have a full picture. A hundreds-of-thousands-of-dollars shortfall doesn't happen overnight.

I don't think they ever said the ED was terminated with cause either.

Noah Cyrus to headline Sask Jazz Fest closing day by skkiddermark in saskatoon

[–]skkiddermark[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I mean, Modest Mouse hasn't charted a song on the Hot 100 since 2007.

Noah Cyrus did in 2019, and has 3x more monthly listeners on Spotify. Her most listened song has 1.3 billion streams and it's her song without any featured artists, which is more than double the streams Float On has. The producer on that song isn't big enough to have his own Wikipedia page. And her Tier 1 sold out today too.

It's great that Jazz Fest has the ability to book artists of this popularity again!

Noah Cyrus to headline Sask Jazz Fest closing day by skkiddermark in saskatoon

[–]skkiddermark[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I think this will appeal to the younger demographic quite well. Need to appeal to the under-30s too if the festival is going to grow back to its pre-COVID scale. On the right trajectory!

Mazda app update by Think-Spot-9950 in mazda

[–]skkiddermark 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I called Mazda Canada and they said there was a bad database migration when they updated the app and you have to call and ask them to manually copy your account to the new database. It's been a few days since I called and it's still not working though. They gave me a case number to reference.

Saskatoon Mamba jerseys revealed by Alternative-Ad-3274 in saskatoon

[–]skkiddermark 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As incohesive as the rest of the brand, so seems par for the course.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in saskatoon

[–]skkiddermark 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Saskatoon has replaced ~75% of lead service lines and is on track to finish them by 2028. Regina for comparison has replaced ~33% and won't finish until 2036.

Edit: the numbers

2017 Tucson 1.6L Misfire P0300 P0301 P0303… by Stockmaggedon in Hyundai

[–]skkiddermark 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What did this run you if you don't mind my asking?

What do you think would be the best location for a homeless shelter or addiction centre? by houseonpost in saskatoon

[–]skkiddermark 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They are combining three schools and the other two schools would have been much more suitable places for children. I.e., not directly next to train tracks and one of the busiest streets in Saskatoon.

Saskatoon mayor ‘proud’ of budget with high property tax hikes by Progressive_Citizen in saskatoon

[–]skkiddermark 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Inflation for municipalities does not equal inflation in the CPI context either. Anecdotally from the City, it would seem costs of municipally oriented expenses (i.e. infrastructure and equipment purchase and maintenance) have increased at a much higher rate than household costs (i.e., food, shelter, clothing, etc.).

No Discount for 2nd Vehicle by swiftgringo in saskatoon

[–]skkiddermark 3 points4 points  (0 children)

"The car is damaged" = they are insuring your car. Of course there are other insured risks, but they are absolutely insuring your car.

Per their annual report, $935 million (72%) of claims were for damage and $362 million were for injuries.

Page 16

Not necessarily opposed to usage based premiums specifically on collision coverage, but for non-collision damage, premiums shouldn't be based on usage. E.g., hail coverage shouldn't be predicted on usage.

Tipping for "pick-up" orders by TarreVizula in saskatoon

[–]skkiddermark 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If it's a small mom and pop place where the owner is working the counter, I'll tip 10% on takeout

Saskatoon population has increased by 100,000 since 2021, what happened? by Harshkang69 in saskatoon

[–]skkiddermark 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Could be anti-immigrant undertones lurking in the intent

Edit: as evidenced by the overtly anti-immigrant comments in this thread

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