Weyburn City Council held their first regular meeting for the month of May in council chambers on Monday, May 8th at 6:00 p.m. The meeting was packed, with lots to cover on the agenda.

Mayor Marcel Roy was away for the meeting. During the meeting, Deputy Mayor Laura Morrissette read a proclamation to declare May 8th to 12th Economic Development Week and May 8th as Indigenous Economic Development Day in the city of Weyburn.

Abby Kradovill, Safety Coordinator with the city of Weyburn, was welcomed to the meeting to say a few words, and then Deputy Mayor Morrissette read a proclamation to declare May 7th to 13th as Emergency Preparedness Week in the city of Weyburn. As well, May 14th to 20th was declared as National Police Week in the city of Weyburn.

Weyburn Police ServiceCity Councillor Laura Morrissette, Police Chief Jamie Blunden with the Weyburn Police Service, and Deputy Police Chief Brent VanDeSype with the Weyburn Police Service. (Photo taken by Mallory Cawthra).

Requests for Proposals (RFP's) were reviewed for the 2023 Infrastructure Revitalization Program (IRP), which includes sidewalk repairs, and road repairs along Railway Avenue and on Fifth Street.

One concrete proposal and four asphalt proposals were received by the city of Weyburn. All of the proposals were reviewed to ensure bidders understood the scope of the work involved, met the RFP requirements, and to ensure the project delivery schedule could be met. All five of the proposals met the full requirements.

The qualifying bidders included FH Concrete Supplies and Services Ltd. for $214,446, Genco Asphalt Inc. for $763,228.18, Site Management Services Regina Inc. for $1,040,221.41, Torrent Energy Services Inc. for $1,114,636.08, and Southern Asphalt Services Ltd. for $1,150,706.77.

It was recommended that the proposed concrete projects under the IRP be awarded to FH Concrete Supplies and Services Ltd. It was recommended that the proposed asphalt projects, Part two (Fifth Street) and three (Brownlee Street) under the IRP be awarded to Genco Asphalt Inc. for a total amount of $400,867.14 plus taxes. It was recommended that an overage of $55,313.14 come from the city's local improvement reserve fund. The motion was carried.

Director of Engineering with the city of Weyburn, Jennifer Wilkinson, said that, "We just want to thank all the asphalt and concrete companies that do bid for us and the excellent pricing that we are getting for these larger projects." 

Plans were discussed for the 2023 pedestrian ramps and sidewalk trip hazards, trail paving, water treatment plant, and a portable fence for the landfill. 

Only one concrete proposal was received for the RFP for the 2023 concrete. It was recommended that both the 2023 Accessible Pedestrian Ramps at $28,800, and the Sidewalk Trip Hazard Repair project at $24,570, be awarded to FH Concrete and Supplies. This motion was carried.

The 2023 Parks Department has allotted $60,000 for paving the remaining portion of East Coteau Trail and a portion of Signal Hill Trail. A total of four proposals were received by the city of Weyburn and all proposals submitted met the necessary requirements. The qualifying bidders were Genco Asphalt Inc. at $56,121.46, Site Management Services Regina Inc. at $89,836.88, Torrent Energy Services Inc. at $72,331.89, and Southern Asphalt Services Ltd. at $70,422.50.

It was recommended to award 1,707.55m2 of asphalt surfacing to the East Coteau and Signal Hill Trails to Genco Asphalt Inc. of Estevan, Saskatchewan. This motion was carried.

The city of Weyburn's water treatment plant (WTP) requires an upgraded Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system. The city requested proposals from qualified engineering firms to conduct a condition assessment of the existing HVAC, a detailed custom design of a recommended upgraded HVAC system and procurement services for the supply, installation, and commissioning of the recommended upgrade.

A total of seven proposals were received: PS. Engineering Inc. at $9,222.18, Triple AEC Ltd. at $39,853.49, WSP Canada Inc. at $63,104, Kontzamanis Graumann Smith MacMillan Inc. (KGS) at $65,153.43, Associated Engineering (Sask.) Ltd. at $81,955.50, 3N&M Innovation Ltd. at $97,902, and Green PI Inc. at $143,856. PS. Engineering Inc. did not include the detailed design for construction, among others, in their proposed fees, so their bid received a lower ranking than Triple AEC Ltd.

It was recommended that the 2023 Commercial HVAC Design and Installation at the WTP be awarded to Triple AEC Ltd. This motion was carried.

2023 Mill Rates for Taxation were reviewed, and the bylaw was voted on, which will establish mill rates and mill factors. The bylaw had three readings and was carried unanimously. 

A portable litter fence landfill was discussed, and the recommendation was that the supply, fabrication and delivery of five portable litter fences for the landfill be awarded to Endeavour Metalworks Ltd. of Weyburn for a submitted bid of $42,750. The motion was carried.

A controversial home-based business application was discussed to operate a general contracting business out of the individual's residence. The application was considered a controversial use as it does not comply with the zoning bylaw and there were several objections received from neighboring residents, including clients and/or employees attending the home throughout the day.

City council recommended refusal of the home-based business permit, and the motion was carried. The applicant Justin Horsman was in attendance and was invited to say a few words to council regarding his application, and was thanked by the councillors for attending the meeting.

Councillor Morrissette said, "We get a lot of applications for home-based businesses. It's really great to see so many people wanting to be entrepreneurs in our city ... We never want to discourage businesses from coming to Weyburn, we encourage them to work with our administration at city hall, we have some great programs that help with taxes and even finding individuals a suitable location."

Weyburn Fire Chief Trent Lee was welcomed to the meeting to say a few words regarding the Fire Services Minimum Standard Declaration. Fire Chief Lee recommended that the city of Weyburn declare the Weyburn Fire Department a Full-Operations service level department as required by the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency. The motion was carried unanimously. 

Weyburn City Council voted on a $75,000 contribution towards the repair of two roads that are jointly owned by the city of Weyburn and rural municipality. The rural municipality has offered to manage the construction, pay all costs up front and provide grading and snow removal on the city portion for two years. The rural municipality has also offered a repayment plan in 2024 due to the city not budgeting this in 2023. The motion was carried unanimously.

City Curator with the Weyburn Arts Council, Regan Lanning, was welcomed to the meeting to say a few words regarding a crosswalk painting request, a flag raising on June 5th at city hall, and a request that the week of June 4th to 10th, 2023, be proclaimed "Pride Week" in the city of Weyburn. 

Lanning said that in advance of June 4th, the Weyburn Arts Council would like to paint the crosswalks at Coteau and Third rainbow, with traffic paint provided by CUPE 90. This motion was carried unanimously. 

Wilkinson highlighted Wey-Clean week this week, and thanked everyone for participating. Deputy Mayor Morrissette expressed congratulations to all of the Women of Distinction nominees and winners. 

The meeting was adjourned at 7:18 p.m., and the next meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 23rd.

 

Economic DevelopmentCity Councillor Laura Morrissette, and Executive Director with Weyburn Regional Economic Development, Monica Osborn. (Photo taken by Mallory Cawthra).
Fire DepartmentCity Councillor Laura Morrissette, Safety Coordinator for the City of Weyburn, Abby Kradovill, and City of Weyburn Fire Chief Trent Lee. (Photo taken by Mallory Cawthra).