By Greg Nikkel
Weyburn citizens saw a new direction and tone set by city council in 2017, and will see the fruits of this work in the coming year, said Mayor Marcel Roy in a year-end interview, adding he has a sense of optimism about the New Year for the city.
“I feel as this council came in, we have a common ground. As former Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson said, we have expanded our common ground,” said Mayor Roy, adding of the current council members, “I think we have worked together quite well.”
Some of the highlights of this past year included the implementation of the curbside recycling program for all residential properties, and combined with that the plans being set in place for the future of the city’s landfill, which will be greatly helped by the uptake in recycling by city residents.
One of the largest infrastructure projects Weyburn has ever had was also begun in 2017, with the construction underway for the new city reservoir and replacement of all residential water meters, plus replacement of lead water lines and of some sewer lines coming up in 2018.
“This puts us in a position to be ready to handle increased population as we grow, and protects our citizens from concerns related to lead pipes,” said Mayor Roy, adding the new meters are also “taking advantage of the new water technology to be able to accurately manage our most precious resource, water.”
The mayor also made reference to the ranking of Weyburn by MoneySense magazine as the fifth best place to live in all of Canada, and the best community on the Prairies, and paid tribute to the city employees, businesses and residents for this top ranking which came out in 2017.
“We continue to come together to support the various people and programs to help ensure our city continues on a course of sustainability and growth. From our city crews working tirelessly managing snow clearing last winter, to community members funding and organizing sports initiatives like hockey rinks and minor football lighting, to our local businesses driving major fundraisers for things like the Family Place or the playground at Riverwood park to name just a few,” said Mayor Roy.
With a new city manager, Roy Hardy, joining the team at City Hall this past year, council has been working on new initiatives such as changing the City Procedures bylaw to make council’s operations more transparent, plus putting city council meetings on YouTube in addition to the broadcasts by Access Communications on the community channel.
Mayor Roy noted the Police Commission is expanding by two members to allow two more members of the public to be members, and the council is placing a youth member in the new year. The student who will begin this position in January, Landon Field from the Weyburn Comprehensive School, will have a non-voting position on council, but will be able to bring forward a voice of the youth on any issues that pertain to them.
“We’re wanting more involvement with council, and the community is somewhat more involved than it has been, and by expanding council to the youth member and the police commission, we’re trying to do that,” said the mayor.
In regard to infrastructure work in the coming year, the reservoir project will continue through the year, he noted, and said, “We’re going to be seeing more major infrastructure programs in the spring time, which will cause some inconvenience for people.”
One of the infrastructure projects he referred to will be the underground construction work needed to repair the street lights in the downtown area, particularly in the area of City Hall, and replacement of sewer lines on Government Road from First Avenue down to Railway Avenue.
“We’re still in talks with the school board on the fieldhouse project, and that will hopefully go forward too,” said Mayor Roy.
City council has also begun working on their budget for 2018, and the mayor hopes council will be able to finalize some of it early in the new year .
“We have a different budget process so that should be moving a lot quicker now. There’s always an issue when the government doesn’t have its budget until the end of April,” said the mayor, noting the concern of council is if they delay the budget, it will be too late to put tenders out for any city projects for contractors to bid on.
Mayor Roy added that he feels he and city council have a social contract with the citizens of Weyburn, as “they pay taxes, and we provide services in an organized administrated fashion.”
Asked about any big challenges the council has faced in this past year, Mayor Roy said, “No real challenges that come to mind or that we haven’t been able to overcome. Probably the biggest challenge is just remembering that if you try to make everyone happy, you end up making no one happy. But by making sure to take the time to not just listen to the concerns but really understand where persons with opposition are coming from, you can at least empathize and appreciate the concerns so that decisions can best serve the majority and for the greater good.”
