Estevan city council approved two bylaws during its monthly meeting on March 16.
The first was the taxi bylaw, which will regulate taxi cabs in the community. Council has received some feedback from taxi cab companies in the community, and so those have been incorporated into the document.
The bylaw will bring more regulations for the cabs in the city, including standards for the vehicles and fines for violating the bylaw.
Lori Meyers, who operates Energy City Taxi Service, sent a letter to council, voicing concern with wait times, in which taxi drivers are forced to wait extended periods of time for customers.
“If you … do not have the wait time (provision), the customers sometimes take advantage of taxi time and that holds us up from getting to another trip,” said Meyers.
Customers should be paying for fares if they are holding the taxi up to get their goods at a drycleaner, convenience store, grocery store, friend’s house or elsewhere, she said.
The bylaw calls for $5.50 for the hiring of a taxi, $0.25 for each additional 100 metres or part thereof, and $-.65 for each 60 seconds of wait time.
If a flat rate is offered, the rate may not exceed the amount shown on the taxi metre at the final destination.
The other bylaw was a fees for services document, which establishes the rates for a variety of services in the community. Those fees range from a facility pass at the Estevan Leisure Centre, to rent a city facility or a park, or to have a service completed by city hall.
A report from program manager Erin Wilson showed that Estevan’s rates for minor sports, adult sports and last-minute ice rental were consistent with many communities in the area,
While many of the fees have been shelved due to the closure of the leisure centre, Affinity Place and other recreational facilities, they will take effect once the facilities are open again.
