A regular meeting of the Weyburn City Council was held on October 12, here are the major points of interest:
*Council denied two requests from CEO of HELP International Rodney Sidloski, after he pled his case before Council to keep the 8-acre leased City land that HELP currently occupies. Sidloski was seeking a 30-year lease on the property on Queen Street or a chance to purchase the land. He also requested permission to move two cabins onto the site to be used as temporary office and programming space.
Mayor Debra Button said that although the City is supportive of the work that HELP is doing, the City does not wish to tie-up land that may become a valuable development in the future, as plans to develop the near-by Souris Valley area are in the works.
*Council was disappointed with South East Cornerstone School Division's (SECSD) decision to not partner with the City and Weyburn Minor Football to develop a football field in the centre of the Weyburn Comprehensive School track. Council decided to re-approach the division to convince them that this is the best option for everyone.
Other options presented to the school board included a new stand-alone field with a price tag of $468,000 or the use of existing fields at Jubilee Park and the high school with the risk of scheduling and equipment storage conflicts, at a cost of $13,000 for new goal posts.
"I won't support a stand-alone field," said Councillor Rob Stephanson. "We need to go back to them and say this is a serious issue and it has to be resolved."
Stephanson said he was nervous about the City going into a partnership with SECSD for the future Performing Arts Centre at the Comp if they cannot see fit to partner with them on the football field project.
*Council denied a request from Ryan Demchynski to trap muskrat and raccoons on Nickle Lake.
