WEYBURN – The City of Weyburn’s building department was kept busy in 2021 with building permits, showing there was activity on both the residential and commercial sides, according to the annual report presented at city council on Monday night.
There was a total of 64 building permits issued with a total construction value of around $6.536 million, said development officer Janine Fletcher in presenting the report. The number of permits is up from 47 issued in 2020
Of those permits, 52 were for residential properties, worth $2.854 million; 11 were commercial permits worth $3.661 million; one was an institutional worth $20,000, and three new dwelling units were created, which is down from five in 2020 but is on par with previous years.
There were 15 home-based business permits applied for over the year, all of which were approved by council, three development appeals were made and one subdivision application was approved.
“One of the things that stood out for me is our commercial permits were 11 last year, which is the highest it’s been since 2017, and the highest dollar value since 2015,” commented Coun. Jeff Richards, who then asked Fletcher to “look into your crystal ball” and predict if 2022 will be a good year for the city.
“I think we’ll continue to see growth in that area, especially with the creation of the commercial incentive program,” she said.
If anyone wanted to make use of the incentive program, or had questions about, Fletcher said they could call or email her at city hall.
• In other council business, the engineering department’s annual report was also presented on Monday night, and city engineer Jennifer Wilkinson presented some of the major projects or programs that her department worked on in 2021.
One was the Radon test kit challenge, with kits made available for residents, and are just now being returned for testing. Wilkinson said the initial batch of 100 tests were quickly spoken for and picked up, so the city had another 70 tests were provided.
“Each resident will get a report, and the municipality will get a more general report,” she said. “We’re excited to see the results come in.”
Those residents who show high levels of radon will be provided directions as to what they should do next.
At the landfill, the Environment ministry approved the City’s operations plan in October for special waste management as the city was approved to take in asbestos. A total of 18,030 kg of asbestos came in during 2021, which is the equivalent of $4,500 in tipping fees.
At the water treatment plant, the City commissioned a biological waste water treatment program, using microbes from the company, Enbiorganics, which target such waste as oil, fat and grease.
Wilkinson said prior to this, workers were having to remove four to eight inches of grease from the pipes and walls of their facilities, and there is measurable reduction of sludge and grease as a result of using these microbes.
As a result, the City should be able to cease using Acti-zyme to eat away these materials, and the costs of dredging the sludge out of the sewage lagoons will be greatly reduced, she added.
• The City of Weyburn will make an application for a 50-50 shared grant under the Community Airport Partnership program (CAP), to make repairs to runways at the Weyburn Airport.
CAP will fund 50 per cent of a project up to a maximum of $275,000, with preference given to safety upgrades.
Weyburn is proposing to make repairs to the main runway of significant cracks and heaving in multiple spots, as well as crack sealing on the main runway and the secondary runway, along with line painting to freshen up all pavement markings.
• Council approved two tenders for new equipment. One was for a wheeled loader, with the approved bid for a Case 621G with a price tag of $208,000 from Redhead Equipment of Regina.
The second is for a utility works machine, and council accepted a bid from Bobcat Regina for a unit that costs $95,460, including a number of attachments.
