Before it got down to business, council recognized an Estevan resident for his impressive achievements.
Sage Dayman received a certificate of excellence from the City for capturing first place in the boys' division at the provincial wakeboarding championships and then continuing on to win his division at nationals.
Council also had some housekeeping to take care of at the meeting as they voted unanimously to reinstate Councillor Rodney Beatty.
Beatty had been absent from council for over four months while he received treatment for bipolar disorder.
Mayor Gary St. Onge noted that under provincial municipal bylaws, a councillor is disqualified from his duties if he misses three consecutive months. However, because Beatty was dealing with a medical issue, he was reinstated, albeit for one final meeting before today's municipal election in which he is running for re-election.
In his regular report, city manager Jim Puffalt noted the economic/tourism development committee held a meeting recently in which they learned the results of a municipal readiness test for economic development that was conducted by the Chamber of Commerce.
Puffalt said the City scored high in the test, which looks at such factors as land-use planning, property inventory and communication.
Puffalt's report also included an orientation for the next council which will be selected in today's election. The swearing in ceremony and reception is set for Oct. 29 while their first orientation session is Nov. 1.
The first open council meeting is Nov. 13 and the first budget meeting for the new council will be Nov. 28.
One of the first orders of business for the new members of council will be deciding upon how they are paid.
In a report from city clerk Judy Pilloud, it was noted that council had requested that an investigation of the salaries paid to council members be reviewed.
Pilloud recommended in her report that council should be paid for hours spent on council work. She said the average for the month of September was 38 and all councillors informed her that it was not considered a busy month. In the City's current policy, it says councillors are paid $30 an hour based on 29 hours a month, but Pilloud noted that 40 hours a month would better reflect the amount they work.
Council voted to purchase a new street sweeper from Joe Johnson Equipment of Winnipeg.
In a report from Puffalt, it was pointed out that the City used a sweeper from Python Equipment of Regina over the summer but had numerous problems with the machine and decided to cancel the contract.
The new unit, a 2013 Elgin Eagle Dual Street Sweeper, will be delivered to the City in March of 2013 and they will have a year of warranty to test the unit. The security deposit for the sweeper is $239,980, and at the end of 12 months the City will have the option of purchasing the sweeper or not. If they move forward, the remaining balance of the deposit will go towards purchase.
Council approved a revised land agreement with a local group that is interested in purchasing undeveloped land in the Trojan Subdivision.
The new agreement was needed after one of the parties involved backed out of the arrangement. The two other partners have plans to move forward and are part of the new deal, which would see them purchase 15.18 acres of land from the City for $1 million according to a draft of the deal presented at council.
