A new mower for the City of Weyburn, along with a new street sweeper. Those were two of the items on the agenda at last night’s city council meeting, with the councillors unanimously approving the recommendations from the administration for both of the items.  

The mower is a 2024 Kubota zero-turn mower, with the tender from Tractorland being accepted. The bid came in at $28,111.92, which was below the $50,000 allocated for the purchase of the mower in the 2024 budget. It was explained this mower would be used for the cemetery, with the existing mower being moved to the diamonds at Tom Laing Park.  

Some of the discussion of the mower was sparked by Mayor Marcel Roy, who noted at the SUMA convention last year, that there was talk of robotic mowers that would operate autonomously using GPS and sensors.  

Municipal engineer Renee Cugnet clarified for the mayor they haven’t looked into that sort of mower as of yet. The idea, though, still fascinates Roy.  

“That is truly where everything is, so much more robotics, are moving forward, where it’s just all GPS,” Roy stated. “Although the unions may not like it, because we’re taking away jobs on it, but it most certainly also helps with simply that you don’t have to keep hiring people.” 

The tender for the new street sweeper came from a company called RSS Equipment based out of Regina. Their bid, at $306,877.26, met all of the requirements of the city, including the capability of dumping into a tandem truck. The sweeper is replacing one that was purchased 10 years ago.  

It was explained the old sweeper had reached the end of its life cycle, necessitating the purchase. Cugnet was asked if 10 years is the typical life cycle for a street sweeper.  

“Minimum ten years, that’s what we kind of go for,” the engineer explained. “In that ten years, the technology changes. Also, this RSS Equipment supplied one has quite an advanced technology basis with safety cameras, backup cameras, 360 view. They come quite a bit more advanced in that ten years.” 

Among the bylaws that were passed during the meeting, the councillors approved a lane closure, and sale of the lane, to Kevin Melle. The lane is located on Regina Avenue and Hunt Street. The lane is being closed to eliminate the chance of vehicles using the property adjoining it as a shortcut.  

The bylaw for the sale and closure was before the council for its second and third reading. After the first reading on February 26th, there were no public responses submitted, and the councillors had no further concerns with the issues, so it was approved unanimously.  

A second lane closure was before the council for the first time. This one would see a lane between 5th and 6th Street Northwest being closed and sold to PAHC, who are in the process of purchasing the land and starting the construction of a larger facility. Council gave the bylaw proposing the closure its first reading, and it will be back in front of Weyburn City Council on April 22nd for its second and third reading after the public has had an opportunity to provide its input.