Mayor’s Message

Good day, since my last message on our newly refurbished website, Nokomis was in position to receive a community wide network of fibre optic carrying up to 2.5Gbps (up and down). I’m happy to relay to you that we were successful in our work in meeting the challenge of reaching out to the community and gaining their support to bring in this new modern-day utility! The connectivity now accessible to both residents and businesses in town is beyond anything we thought possible.

Support from Flexnetworks and Redbird Communication has made this new community asset a reality. We see other communities in our region getting connected to the network as well. We welcome these developments in making our community and region more resilient and able to meet the demands of the digital era and the new technologies to come. And, yet again, Nokomis finds itself at a new “junction” of 3 of these high-speed networks, with greater levels of connectivity to come.

Since my last message the Town of Nokomis has also brought its new wellhead online and we look forward to hosting an event with the community and media in the spring/summer of 2023 to celebrate reaching this milestone. This large scale renewal of a critical piece of infrastructure was made possible through funding support from the Federal and Provincial governments through the Clean Water and Waste Water Fund (CWWF).

Council has been focused on infrastructure renewal for over a decade now and is reaching the end of a list of projects helping bring the community up to modern requirements including the ability to expand. Our focus on core services and renewal helps residents and businesses in Nokomis meet the needs of each day with confidence. These investments made together put Nokomis in a very good position to continue to grow and take advantage of the unprecedented growth we see in our region.

In addition to renewing our raw and treated water infrastructure, Nokomis has also secured funding through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) to expand our lagoon to allow the town to expand water and sewer mains to meet the needs of future growth. Without this expansion communities are unable to explore options for growth. It’s exciting to be in a position to take advantage of new opportunities due to these investments.

In recent months, I have been focused on encouraging community members and municipal leaders in our region to defend their needs and think abundantly about the future. To not stand idly by while we see services challenged or taken away. Nokomis and our fellow communities in the region deserve support and make significant contributions to the provincial and federal economies. I have always argued that the smaller modern rural community in Saskatchewan is due to a vast private investment into agriculture. With this investment we have exchanged labour for capital, making us more efficient and productive! A major achievement sometimes not given the credit it deserves.

Standing up for what we need and believe is possible is a critical ingredient in being involved in local government, especially in a rural setting. I’m confident of the future of Nokomis and our region. We are working with the communities of Govan, Semans, Strasbourg and Bulyea to work together to support each other’s interests. What we all share in common is the need for local spending. We all know that we don’t offer everything for everyone but all know we offer a foundation for your day to day needs.

We ask you consider the importance of spending locally and helping keep your money in the community to help our local economies thrive. We are stronger together and shifting more of your spending to your community will have a huge impact! We will continue to provide you with a stable foundation of Core Services to meet your needs. We ask you to help your local businesses in their efforts to provide crucial goods and services.

I thank you for your time and continued contributions to our town and region. Please be in touch with Council or the Town Office if you have any questions or concerns. We can work together to continue to keep Nokomis well connected today and into the future.

Sincerely,

David Mark

Mayor