It is my great pleasure to welcome the residents of River Heights to Ward 5. I have taken the time to acquaint myself with the local issues pertaining to your neighborhood. If I am re-elected I will continue to press those issues at Council.

It has been an honour for me to represent the residents of Ward 5 for the last six years on Council. During that time we have not only seen unprecedented growth in the city but also some important infrastructure developments move forward. Locally, we have seen some substantial enhancements to the Wastewater Treatment Plant which has significantly reduced the odour emanating from that plant. Projects addressing odour abatement commenced in 2004. There have been significant capital costs associated with this project and I am very pleased that City Council recognised the urgency of the need for change at the Wastewater Treatment Plant as it relates to quality of life in the surrounding community.

More recently, we are seeing the completion of the twinning of Waneskewin Road with the construction of the attendant sound attenuation. The sound barrier will continue down Lenore Drive to Russell Road thereby alleviating a considerable sound issue for those residents who back on Lenore Drive. Those residents were experiencing readings in the 63 decibel range which greatly affected their quality of life especially when it came to enjoying their backyards.

The four-laning of Waneskewin will also include traffic signals at Adilman and Goerzen which will in themselves alleviate a long standing safety issue on Waneskewin Road. It should be noted that Waneskewin Road will be twinned all the way to 71st Street and that there are ongoing discussions in order to secure sufficient funding to widen the road all the way out to the Prince Albert highway.

I am pleased to report that the City of Saskatoon has again had it's triple A credit rating confirmed. The financial strength of Saskatoon enables the city to leave certain funds from the Federal Government and the Provincial Government to deal with infrastructure issues that we experience. As Council we will continue to address our infrastructure deficit with both levels of Government and through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

From a city perspective, we continue to see the ongoing development at River Landing which is a development we can all be proud of. Also, we continue with plans to move forward with the South River Crossing and in that regard, residents of the city will see some significant work on that project beginning in the spring of 2010.

There are many other initiatives and plans that your Council is working on and I invite you to visit the City of Saskatoon website at www.saskatoon.ca for further information. There you can also find exciting details with respect to the City's waste reduction strategy and all the information about the upcoming civic election.

Again, it has been my great honour to represent the residents of Ward 5 for the last six years and it would be my great privilege to represent you for a further three years. As always, if you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me. There are many exciting issues going on in the City of Saskatoon as we continue to grow and prosper.

Best personal regards,

Gordon S. Wyant