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EDITORIAL: New year shaping up very well

As Weyburn and area residents enter the year 2011, they leave behind a very good year in terms of growth and expansion, and continuing activities and prosperity in most every sector.


As Weyburn and area residents enter the year 2011, they leave behind a very good year in terms of growth and expansion, and continuing activities and prosperity in most every sector.

For the City of Weyburn, the statistics for construction shows that this city is bustling with further growth, very close to the record-breaking levels of 2008, and there are indications that next year will also be quite busy, as the city again had very strong sales of residential lots for new homes.

Over the last five years, about 250 lots have been sold by the city, and this year alone there were around 70 sold, which presumably will now see construction of new homes in 2011, keeping construction crews hopping for a while yet.

A number of businesses are expanding or building new locations, both the St. Michael School and the Weyburn Comprehensive will see construction in 2011, and the renovations and new construction at the city's two arenas should be completed in the new year.

In the oil sector, the oil companies have begun outlining their budgets for the coming year, and again there are indications of drilling to continue, with the Bakken resource play again a big factor in maintaining a busy level of employment here in the southeast.

As for agriculture, the commodities are subject as always to the cycles of the markets; the cattle industry is starting to see some improvement in prices, but then this is after a protracted period of depressed prices, and a tough agricultural year in 2010. Grain producers certainly had a challenging year, and the prices are strong going into 2011, but this only benefits farmers who have anything of good quality to sell.

On the provincial level, the Wall government is promising a good budget in the spring, and then of course there will be a provincial election in November, which will make things interesting in many ridings around the province.

If the coming year lives up to expectations, it will be a very busy and active year for Weyburn and area residents.