The City of Moose Jaw will be signing on to a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Education, Prairie South School Division, and Holy Trinity School Division for a joint-use school with Westheath Phases 5 and 6.

The motion passed city council on Monday night with Coun. Brian Swanson opposed. Swanson said, while he isn't opposed to the school, he is opposed to the location because there is no interest in developing the subdivision.

City manager Jim Puffalt said it is a positive step forward in bringing a new school to South Hill.

"We know that it is an important project for our community and certainly for South Hill. We've done everything in partnership with them to resolve any of the outstanding issues we had on the land," Puffalt said.

On Feb. 10, city council passed a motion to allow the school board to market and facilitate the development of Westheath Phases 5 and 6 on behalf of the city for a price of $15,000 per acre for a total of $2.5 million for 34.5 acres of land, although the school would only need 10 acres.

An Expression of Interest of put out on May 4 and only one proposal came back. That proposal was reviewed by the school division, the Ministry of Education and the city and deemed it to not meet the criteria of the Expression of Interest.

Without a successful Expression of Interest, the Memorandum of Understanding including the sale of only 10 acres at a cost of $15,000 per acre.

When the school was first proposed, city administration did come back with several potential issues, mainly in relation to the traffic impact on the area and policies contained in the Official Community Plan.

The Ministry of Education contracted a consultant, who advised that there could be traffic issues and suggested a Traffic Impact Assessment (TIA).

The TIA is expected to be completed by the end of this month.

If the TIA comes back in favour of the new school, a new concept plan will be created to show the school's site. There will also be new background assessments and public engagements will be held.

If the TIA results in a high cost for mitigation, there is a clause in the Memorandum of Understanding to allow the city to back out of the agreement.

"The ministry, boards or their designate shall lead the project in close consultation with the city," said acting assistant deputy minister Rory Jensen, who presented to city council. 

"Unless otherwise noted, the ministry shall pay all costs associated with the project including cost of any mitigation measures proposed by the TIA."

Also present was Holy Trinity director of education Sean Chase, Holy Trinity board chair Derek Hassen and Prairie South board chair Robert Bachmann.