The proposed parking realignment for the 300 block of 11th Avenue is going to proceed.
Estevan city council gave second and third readings to a bylaw for the realignment at their meeting on Monday night. Parking on the east side of the avenue between Third and Fourth Street will be switched from parallel parking to 90-degree parking, creating 22 lots on that side of the street.
Parking on the west side of the street in front of city hall and the fire hall will retain its current parallel configuration.
The speed limit for the block will be 20 kilometres per hour.
Council first brought the concept forward in the summer. They considered multiple options, including making the 300 block of 11th Avenue a one-way road.
Councillor Brian Johnson voted against the bylaw, citing his concern that a change could result in more accidents.
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Council members passed several recommendations from the city’s traffic control committee. The most contentious one was to make the intersection of Spruce Drive and the Estevan Comprehensive School’s access road a three-way stop.
Most members of council believe it would alleviate some of the congestion on the access road during peak traffic times, but Johnson voted against the motion because he’s concerned with traffic congestion on Spruce Drive. He expects more motorists will use the Comp’s access with Kensington Avenue.
Other motions from the committee approved by council include adding a pedestrian crosswalk on Arthur Avenue in front of St. Mary’s School, removing the “no parking” restriction for the 800 block of Fifth Street, relocating the school zone sign for Pleasantdale School on Victory Road, so the sign will be further away from the school; and moving the school zone sign for Sacred Heart School from Gibbs Road onto Wellock Road, to the west of Gibbs.
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Wayne Meier, Clayton Meier, Ryan Thiessen, Travis Elkin and Darrell Saby of MuniCode Services Ltd., have been appointed as the building officials for the City of Estevan until Estevan’s new building official is hired.
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Bylaw enforcement official Michelle Pickering handled 175 infractions and complaints in September. Included in her incident volume were 44 parking tickets, 27 parking complaints, 27 animal calls, 23 unkempt property violations and 20 general clean-up calls.
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Eight building permits worth a total of $1.43 million were approved in September, bringing the total for the year to 64 permits worth more than $9.25 million. The numbers for the year remain well below the pace for the first nine months of last year, when 120 permits worth more than $29.46 million were approved.
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The Southeast Regional Library will be seeking a two per cent increase in funding from the city next year. Estevan switched to a library levy earlier this year, rather than including the library grant in the operating budget, so council would have to increase the levy to meet the regional library’s request. The funding increase will be discussed during council’s budget deliberations, which will likely happen before the end of the year.
