Estevan city council will have more meetings in open in 2021, according to the meeting schedule that was passed at the Jan. 25 meeting.
The schedule calls for 23 meetings this year, with 21 regular meetings and two budget meetings. One of those budget meetings, for the 2021 financial plan, was held in January.
There is also a meeting scheduled for November to discuss the 2022 document.
There will be one regular meeting in each of January, February and July, and two meetings the other nine months.
Council met once a month in 2020, and there were a couple of special meetings. It was decided they would meet twice a month this year to help with the adjustment for the four new city councillors.
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Council approved two memberships for 2021. One is for the Municipalities of Saskatchewan (MoS), formerly the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association. The city will pay $554.98 for each of its seven voting delegates in MoS, for a total of $3,684.86, and .60 per capita for the city’s 11,483 residents, for $6,669.80. Total membership is $11,313.39.
Council also approved its membership for the Hudson Bay Route Association for 2021 for $300. Mayor Roy Ludwig noted the association is looking at options for shipping oil and grain to Hudson’s Bay. The city has supported the route association previously.
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The City of Estevan’s budget document for 2021 is now available on the city’s website. A meeting was held on Jan. 11, when each of the department heads explained their needs for this year. People can view the document and provide feedback, and then council will give the budget final approval on Feb. 22.
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The visitor information centre and the information desk at the Estevan Leisure Centre have received a number of requests to use the Shop Estevan Bucks for such services as facility passes, or even to pay for utilities and taxes.
The Shop Estevan bucks were introduced last year to promote spending at participating retail and hospitality businesses.
The city is not accepting Shop Estevan Bucks at this point.
“I think the intention of those bucks was to help local businesses to give people reason to shop at those businesses,” said Councillor Travis Frank.
Councillor Kirsten Walliser wanted to know if merchandise from local businesses was available at the Visitor Information Centre. She argued those items could be a suitable use for Shop Estevan Bucks.
Councillor Rebecca Foord added that Shop Estevan Bucks shouldn’t be used at the concession or for concert tickets once those services resume. She believes there could be logistical challenges if the Shop Estevan Bucks are accepted for some items but not others.
Council ultimately tabled the motion, as they wanted to see what the Shop Estevan committee thinks before making any decisions.
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The list of land in arrears shows that more than $1.2 million in property taxes were in arrears at the end of 2020. The previous year, the owing list was more than $737,000. City manager Jeff Ward noted there are some larger amounts this year, including $145,000, $139,000 and $216,000.
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Building activity was up in Estevan in 2020. There were 53 permits worth $3.9 million issued last year, compared with 32 permits worth $1.9 million in 2019.
There was one single-family permit in 2020, two commercial permits, one industrial permit, one institutional permit, five garage permits and 43 miscellaneous permits.
While miscellaneous permits accounted for the bulk of the activity, with a total of $2 million, the one institutional permit was for $1.5 million for the expansion of the police station.
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During the inquiries portion of the meeting, Councillor Shelly Veroba asked about train whistle cessation. She has been asked by a couple of people whether trains can be asked to stop blowing their whistles, especially during the evening.
Mayor Roy Ludwig said he has spoken with a regional representative for CP Rail, who told the mayor the city would have to take out an insurance policy to cover off liabilities in case a train were to strike somebody. The cost of the insurance is not yet known.
