By Greg Nikkel
The public is being asked for their opinion about a proposed group care facility in a former school.
Developer Mel Van Betuw is seeking the blessing of the City of Weyburn to amend the zoning bylaw for the property so he can develop the facility at Dominic Place, the former St. Dominic school building at 433 Fourth Street.
The request came forward at Monday night’s council meeting, for which Van Betuw excused himself as he is the owner of the company, Van Bee Holdings.
Group care facilities are defined as “a supervised residential dwelling unit, licensed or approved under provincial statute, for the accommodation of persons, excluding staff, referred by hospitals, courts, government agencies or health professionals.”
Even if the zoning bylaw is amended, any proposal for a group care facility may only proceed at the discretion of council. The request is to add this as a discretionary use, as it is not a permitted use. This will ensure that all area residential property owners will be notified of the proposed use of the property.
Currently, the property is zoned as Neighbourhood Commercial Zone, which includes such properties as Brady’s House of Flowers, and LJ’s Hillside Store.
Notices were sent out to the public about the request for the zoning amendment, and council will decide on the amendment at its meeting on Monday, Feb. 8.
The city’s Environmental Resources Committee will move ahead to develop a recycling program for the city, which may see additional recycling bins around the city or curbside recycling.
The multi-material recycling program was reintroduced by the province at the end of 2015, and it was felt the city’s current recycling bins on East Avenue qualify the city for the program and for funding from the province.
The goal of the committee is to have the recycling program in place by October of this year, and the city will be signing and submit-ting an agreement to the provincial government to take part in the provincial MMRP program.
The committee will now work on establishing a recycling policy, with progress reports to be made to council throughout the year.
The committee is also looking at reviewing the bylaw for the committee, and wants direction from city council as to what is classified as “environmental”, whether that means just waste, or if their objectives should include air emissions, waste water, lagoons and so on.
The committee also extended the deadline for landfill coupons to December 2016. In 2015, there were 627 coupons redeemed, which is an average number compared to past years. A draw was held from the redeemed coupons, and resident Kevin Bakken won a three-month swim pass to the Leisure Centre.
The City’s Communities in Bloom committee held its first meeting of the year, and decided to hold a public meeting on Friday, Feb. 12, to discuss the possibility of entering the competition at a competitive level.
The city competed on an evaluation basis this year, earning four blooms out of a possible five. Volunteers will be needed if the city does enter the contest.
