weyburn city council 1


Weyburn City Council held their regular meeting last night at City Hall.

It was a short meeting, with not too much on the agenda. The meeting opened with the passage of the previous meeting's minutes. Council then heard from the Airport Board, which presented the report from its regular meeting. In that report, there was some information concerning maintenance that will be ongoing at the facility, including the installation of a new security gate, as well as the recapping of the runway at the airport. The city had applied to receive funding from the federal government, however, that did not come through, so the recapping will be taken from the regular budget. There is no word at this time if it will have any impact on the airport's finances as the year goes on.

Council then approved requests from the Weyburn Agricultural Society for use of the curling rink during the fair for a beer garden, and for a designated area to serve alcohol during the Weyburn Rodeo. The city also granted the request from the Ag Society to not book the baseball diamonds for use by teams for games or practises during the fair. 

A contract was approved by the City of Weyburn and the Kinsmen and Kinettes of Weyburn for the naming rights of the new "train" play structure that was recently built by the Soo Line Historical Museum. The rights come in exchange for an $18,000 donation to the Parks Board for use along the Tatagwa Parkway by the Kinsmen. The donation will be paid out in three installments of $6,000 over three years, and the naming rights will be in place for ten years, with the Kinsmen have right of first refusal upon renewal.

Two zoning blyaws went before council. One of those bylaws was for the rezoning of portions of The Creeks subdivision from Urban Holding, which is a placeholder designation, to Residential Suburban Multi-Family, and Highway Commercial. The residential subdivision is to allow for the development of a seniors oriented complex, and the commercial rezoning would pave the way for a new hotel along Highway 13. At council, there was no word as to who would be developing the hotel, but there has been word that Choice Hotels is looking to build an extended stay hotel here in Weyburn. These proposed rezonings will go before a public hearing, which is to be held on July 21st. 

The other zoning bylaw is for the north side of Highway 13. It would see the changing of portion sof The Meadows from Urban Holdings to Highway Commercial, Multi-Family Residential, and Detached Residential. This would allow for a variety of commercial and service use activities along Highway 13, and provide partial Phase 1 development of The Meadows. This bylaw was read a second and third time, and passed by council.

The final item that went before council was for a new digital billboard to be placed at Pump Jack's Saloon and Steak House on 18th Street. The request was approved by the city, with some conditions. The signboard will only be permitted to operate from the hours of 7am until 12am, and will have to be dimmed after sunset. At this time, there is no word when the 24 foot billboard will be in place.