The City of Weyburn has followed the province’s directives in how to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, and will continue to do so, Weyburn Rotary Club members heard from Mayor Marcel Roy on Thursday at their virtual club meeting.
The club has been holding their meetings via Zoom in the last few weeks since gatherings of more than 10 people were prohibited by the province when a state of emergency was declared for Saskatchewan on March 18.
Mayor Roy and other city mayors have been having virtual meetings with Municipal Affairs minister Carr since the state of emergency was declared. The meetings had been held twice a week, but are now once a week as they discuss the latest directives from the Chief Medical Health Officer and Premier Scott Moe, and their implications for municipalities.
“We’ve had very few phone calls about groups not adhering to the rules,” said Mayor Roy, noting that the City closed all public facilities to the public, along with a request that outdoor facilities like ball diamonds, tennis courts and playground equipment also not be used during this time.
He noted other cities have closed off all public access to these amenities, but Weyburn has simply asked that the public respect these restrictions, and so far this has been working.
Some staff are still at work at City Hall (which is also closed to the public), with a drop box set up so residents can pay bills in addition to payments taken online or by pre-authorized payments for taxes and utility bills.
Council decided to defer interest charges on such things as outstanding utility bills until Aug. 31, he said, and pointed out that council is meeting now by Zoom like the Rotary Club is.
Mayor Roy noted also that the City and RM worked with Weyburn Economic Development and the Weyburn Chamber of Commerce to develop a business response plan, to help small businesses deal with restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, including six steps on how to handle the shutdown and what they could do when businesses are allowed to reopen again.
Rotary member Duane Schultz asked how the City’s finances are doing while they are dealing with the effects of the pandemic.
“We’re way better situate than some of the bigger cities. Some of the larger cities are having issues,” said Mayor Roy. “They’re also very heavily subsidizing their transit systems. There are a lot of dynamics to running large cities.”
He also pointed out that Weyburn doesn’t have a homeless situation like the larger cities do.
Asked if Weyburn has any actual cases of COVID-19, Mayor Roy said the province doesn’t release information like that about smaller centres, and pointed out that southern Saskatchewan has had a low number of infections.
The mayor spoke on the same day that Premier Moe released details of the “Re-Open Saskatchewan” plan, and the mayor noted this is a five-phase gradual plan with the first step to take effect on Monday, May 4, and the second phase on May 19.
“They’re moving ahead very slowly. I don’t think you’ll see any large events until later this year,” said Mayor Roy, noting the Weyburn Fair has been cancelled for this year, which was set for the last part of June and first part of July.
“Our summer is going to be very different. We’re going to have to do things very differently,” he said, noting that there are children out playing more now with a lot of front-yard activities going on.
Asked if there has been any federal funding for cities, Mayor Roy replied, “That’s a touchy one. That’s a contentious issue even with the province. They tell us that municipalities have to use everything in their toolbox before they’ll get anything. We’ve told them, ‘everybody’s broke. We’re not borrowing money to run the city, so what are you talking about?’”
He noted the Opposition leader, Ryan Meili, has put forward a suggestion for infrastructure projects, such as building hospitals.
With all of the information coming out about what should or should not be happening, Mayor Roy said he hopes at the end of this crisis there will be a federal debriefing about how everything was rolled out and dealt with by the levels of government.
