The City of Weyburn’s Environmental Resources committee will put together a business plan as they research potential options for curbside recycling in Weyburn.
The committee was told that since council has had detailed information from engineering assistant Jesse Watamanuk, the council now needs to see specific information, including what the financial impact will be to residents.
Councillors Winston Bailey and Laura Morrissette will meet with the director of engineering to discuss the specific details of what the committee would like to see in a curbside recycling program.
The business plan will also have such information as what mixed materials will be accepted, a one-bin system, the cost for home owners, and any funding programs or grants that might be available.
City council approved a request from the committee to issue the landfill coupons twice a year, in the spring and in fall, instead of just in the springtime.
On average, the landfill sees around 600 coupons used each spring, which equates to a revenue loss of around $4,500, if the 600 coupons are split between cars and trucks.
Coun. Bailey said the committee would like to see people do more cleanup in their back yards and back alleyways if the coupons were available twice a year.
Mayor Debra Button pointed out the city used to do more with cleanup when the Golden Garbage Can campaign was on.
Coun. Bailey said the committee would like to rejuvenate that campaign, and the coupons are an integral part of making that a success.
“It’s also part of the public education process. Maybe we can take this opportunity to tell people what we offer for recycling in the city,” added Coun. Morrissette.
The library report was presented at council, including a verbal report on the semi-annual trustees meeting held on Nov. 1 for the regional library system.
From the latter report, Coun. Morrissette noted the preliminary budget for 2015 was presented which will seek a three-per-cent increase in the municipal grants, the amounts that all cities, towns and villages pay to the regional library to help the organization stay running.
She said she hopes the communities will accept the increase, noting, “Public libraries benefit the entire community, as they can be a catalyst for economic development.
In the librarian’s report for September, it was noted the fall book sale at the library netted a total of $2,859, which will be used for buying of books and materials for the library.
The library also noted they have developed a working relationship with Southeast Regional College, as three days a week a tutor from the college tutors 12 students in English at the library.
During that month, 145 children and 237 adults took part in the various programming at the library, including the numerous groups that use the library for meetings, such as the knitters group, Writers Group, International Women, quilters, carvers group, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Sharing the Journey women’s cancer group, a youth group, and genealogy workshop, among others.
Dave Harazny of the Southeast College’s Education Foundation met with city manager Bob Smith about the city’s annual scholarship, which is currently at $1,000 a year.
The city was informed that the amount could effectively be doubled as the ministry of Education will match any scholarship funding provided to the college.
Some of the possible scenarios are to divide the $1,000 into two, and use the matching grants for funding; the scholarship could be increased to $1,500, with either the grant split to two $750 scholarships with a matching grant of $750 each from the ministry, or they could leave the Adult Basic Education scholarship at $500, and the post and advanced education scholarship could be set at $1,000, with a matching grant of $1,000.
If council leaves the grant as it is with no designation, then there would be no matching funding from the ministry.
Coun. Rob Stephanson recommended that this proposal be set over to budget deliberations, when council decides on their spending for 2015.
City manager Smith paid tribute to the work that Mayor Debra Button does as the president of SUMA, and in representing the province on the FCM (Federation of Canadian Municipalities) board.
“It’s important for the public to know … There’s a lot of information we get as administration from these conferences and meetings and everything else she attends,” said Smith.
“It’s appreciated, particularly when you know the size of the dollars that are coming down the pipe. We’ve been able to benefit from that and from networking with people in other municipalities. It certainly does help us in administration,” he added.
