The City of Weyburn will allow events for Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighters in the city, following legalization of the sport in Canada by federal legislation in June before Parliament broke for the summer.
The City of Weyburn will allow events for Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighters in the city, following legalization of the sport in Canada by federal legislation in June before Parliament broke for the summer.
At the council meeting on Monday evening, the first reading was given to a bylaw which will allow the Central Combative Sports Commission, based in Alberta, to oversee any MMA events hosted in Weyburn.
The House of Commons passed Bill S-209 on June 5, which removes the Criminal Code prohibition on MMA fighting in Canada; this bill was given Royal Assent on June 20.
As Saskatchewan has yet to enact a provincial commission to oversee MMA events, such events here will follow the commission established for Alberta in the meantime.
The city will work with the Attorney General of Saskatchewan and the Weyburn Police Service along with any future MMA promoters to make sure the right protocols are followed.
"We want to bring events as much as we can to the community. The big thing for us is we don't have the time or the expertise to do the work as a commission; we found a group in Alberta who do hundreds of shows, and there will be no cost to the city," Mathew Warren, director of Leisure Services told council.
The city first hosted an MMA event on April 13 with promoter Prestige Fight Club MMA, and the event was a sellout; as a result, the promoter indicated a wish to continue bringing MMA events to Weyburn.
The final reading for the bylaw to allow MMA events will be given at the next council meeting, to be held on Monday, Aug. 19.
City council approved a proposal from the Holy Family Separate Roman Catholic School Division to turn the former St. Dominic Savio elementary school into their board offices.
The approval to change the use of the school for offices is subject to two conditions.
The first condition is that an off-street loading area must be developed; and secondly, that a parking plan be provides for a minimum of 46 parking spaces for the use of the building as office space.
Meantime there is 4.24 acres of land zoned residential and will be available for a variety of possible uses, although it is not known at this time what might be developed there.
Trimount Weyburn Developments was given permission to change their initial plans to build 32 townhouse units in the Assiniboia Park Phase II area north of Fifth Avenue, just off Fifth Street.
Trimount is proposing to build instead 14 duplex units in seven buildings, rather than 32 townhouses.
As duplexes are a discretionary use in multi-family areas, council approval was required.
The duplexes will be built on a 1.66-acre parcel sold to Trimount by the city. Neighbouring developers were asked for their opinion on this change, and none voiced any concerns about the change.
In information provided to council, the area where this development is going in is expected to have 93 townhouses and 124 apartment units built on neighbouring properties, and these would be the only duplexes in the immediate area.
Conditions of approval include one off-street parking area for each duplex; green space to be developed on no less than five-per-cent of the land; development of paved access to all units; and garbage disposal and snow removal will be the responsibilities of the condominium corporation.
Construction activity, meanwhile, continues throughout the city with less building permits issued than last year but with a greater dollar value than last year.
According to the Building Department statistics as of the end of June, the city had issued 54 building permits worth a total of $16,011,650, creating 30 dwelling units worth $6,239,150.
Of these 30 dwelling units, nine are for single family homes, and 21 are multi-family dwellings. In the month of June alone, there were six dwelling units created, all multi-family units worth $950,000.
Last year at the same time, there were 89 building permits issued, but they were worth $9,078,400.
Also, last year there were 31 dwelling units created which were worth $5,249,000.
A new agreement will be drawn up between the city and the Weyburn Dog Park board; in the agreement, the city will cover the dog park under the city's insurance coverage (at no extra cost to the city), and the city will maintain the grass cutting.
The dog park volunteers, meanwhile, will still be responsible for picking up the garbage, upkeep of the fence, and cleanup of animal excrement.
