ICYMI: Janke ensures late Councillor Michel's 'name was in the minutes'

While it may have seemed like business as usual at the Monday, April 22nd meeting of Weyburn City Council, the right opportunity arose for one Councillor to mention the name of a dearly-remembered and trusted mentor.

Amid a discussion of regular business from the City's engineering department, Councillor Ryan Janke was spurred to suggest that Council informally refer to some traffic lights set to replace a four-way stop as 'Richard Michel Memorial lights', as a tribute to the late City Councillor Dick Michel.

The vote was still pending on the camera-sensor traffic lights at First Avenue and Government Road, with the four-way stop at First Avenue and 16th Street being slated next for new traffic lights with the same technology.

Janke shared why he chose to interject this sentiment.

"We don't need to have ribbon-cutting or a plaque or anything, at least not yet, but Councillor Michel, just by virtue of his many years of experience, was something of a mentor to a lot of us, and we certainly miss his voice around the table," he explained. 

"If he was here tonight, he was very passionate about infrastructure, he was very passionate about four-way stops, and I'm positive he would have had something to say about replacing a four-way stop with a light. So I wanted to at least make sure that that got recognized and that his name was in the minutes." 

Whether Michel would have been for the lights or against them, Janke added, "Just making these kinds of decisions without giving a lot of thought, sometimes Dick would take the position to make sure it was well thought through, or sometimes he just wanted to have a good joke. If nothing else, apart from his experience, Dick's sense of humour is something we miss as well." 

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