Weyburn city council held their first meeting of 2017 Monday night, and tackled a number of issues. The most discussion at the meeting centred around The Creeks development on the east side of the city, with a presentation made by Doug Rogers with Terra Developments.

Rogers asked the city to allow Terra to move forward with a stormwater management plan that would be preliminary in design, with the detailed design being done in phases by their engineering firm, Stantec. The city had originally asked for a detailed design to be submitted before any approvals could be made, but Terra argued if a detailed design is submitted, it would hamper further development, such as the addition of a school at a much later date.

Weyburn’s director of engineering advised that if Stantec followed the guidelines for design as per the regulations for the City of Regina, which is used as a guideline for many municipalities in the province, then everything would be good to go. Councillor Dick Michel introduced the motion, and it was passed unanimously for the request to be allowed.

The second part of the presentation from Terra revolved around the original development levy for the parcel of land on which they will be building a strip mall. They had originally applied for a development permit in 2015, with the levy to be paid by August of that year. Terra then cancelled their request for a servicing agreement for the parcel, and no work was done beyond the building of a foundation, as there was a lack of potential tenants due to market conditions at the time. The city, however, had left the money owing for the levy on the books.

Terra was requesting the payment be deferred, and the original agreement amended to allow for the levy to be paid at the time of a servicing agreement for the parcel coming into effect, or the end of August this year. Council voted to allow for the levy payment to be deferred as per the request. Terra said they do have plans to begin work again on the project in May of this year, so there wouldn't be any further delays, whether with the work, or the payment of the levy. The motion was also passed unanimously by the council.

The meeting started off Monday night with the regular presentations from various committees and boards The reports included the Airport Board, the Environmental Committee, the Economic Development Committee and the Water Treatment Plant.

The Airport Board report covered the usage of the airport in the previous month’s, and discussed some of the key maintenance issues. The biggest maintenance issue that has faced the airport in the past few months has been snow removal. Council Heard the efforts have been continuous, due to the amount of snow received in the area so far this year. The snow removal has been especially crucial for STARS and the provincial air ambulance service.

The water treatment plant report indicated everything's running smoothly at the plant. The new boiler heating system has been put in place, although there are still some tweaks to the system being performed by the contractor. The amount of water that was drawn from Nickle Lake was also provided. In 2016, there was a total of 1368.13 million litres of raw water taken from the lake, or an average of 3.8 million litres a day. The lack of rainfall and runoff in the past few years is having an effect on the lake, as it is at an historic low, 48.34 inches below what would be considered full.

Council heard the Environmental Committee has approved the draft of an insert to go into the January water bill, asking Weyburn residents about recycling practices, and what they would like to see in terms of curbside recycling going forward. The survey will also be available on the city's website. Public consultations on the process will begin in late February or early March.

The Economic Development Committee submitted their report to the council. The committee advised they are looking to update an investor’s guide for the city, which would look to attract investment into Weyburn, whether it is from existing businesses expanding, or new businesses coming into the community. The Economic Development Association will also be looking to enter into a new contract with the City of Weyburn, and the R.M. of Weyburn, so a long term arrangement is in place going forward.

Council voted on the boards and committees for 2017 as well. These were passed unanimously, with only one addition for 2017 - the addition of Diana Woon to the Parks Board. The rest of the positions had been filled shortly after the 2016 municipal elections.

Mayor Marcel Roy brought forth the IT Allowance policy for councillors. Every city councillor in Weyburn receives a one-time $600 allowance to allow for the purchase of IT hardware. It was clarified at the meeting the allowance is a taxable benefit, so the councillors do not receive the full $600.

The other business of the day for council was the approval of a new sewing business in the city. The application was for the owner to operate out of her residence. The business was approved based on conditions presented to council in an unanimous vote.

At the end of the meeting, Councillor Jeff Chessall announced the Park Board will soon be making available calendars which features the Tatagwa Parkway. All of the photos used in the calendar were submitted from residents of the city along the trails. The calendars are expected to be available in the coming days.