While there were a lot of items on the agenda for Weyburn City Council during Monday night’s meeting, one of the biggest topics of conversation came at the end of the meeting, as the councillors inquired about the status of some of the planned road repairs. Director of Engineering Jennifer Wilkinson provided updates on a number of the projects, as well as how things are going with the maintenance of things such as potholes.  

“We have done repairs on Highway 35 North, we have done some larger ones on Sims Avenue, we have been at Douglas Road and 13th Street, and then some various other small locations in through the city,” Wilkinson told the councillors. She also noted the status of one of the areas that has gotten the most attention from residents, 1st Avenue.  

“We are asking for the residents’ patience because we are limping that one along, and we know it is really bad, but we do have, within the next month, we are going to be tearing that street up and we are doing a full rebuild,” Wilkinson said. “We don’t want to invest a lot of money and time into that right now when we know it’s coming up on our radar.” 

Wilkinson added it is a similar situation for Railway Avenue, as they are planning a full rebuild of that street between 5th and 9th.  

The City of Weyburn has also looked at taking care of some of the work at night, with night shifts that can come out in areas where there are higher volumes of traffic during the day, such as the downtown area.  

Aside from the reports on the roads, the councillors also discussed some tenders and RFPs. One was for concrete crushing to be done out at the landfill, as the last time the concrete crushing was performed was in 2022. The contract was awarded to Swayze Concrete from Weyburn for $11.75 a ton, with a maximum of $120,000.  

The next tender was for work to be done at the Weyburn Public Library, as a large section of the roof needs to be replaced. There was $185,000 set aside in the budget for this project, but all the bids came in over budget. As there was no way to reduce the scope of the project to reduce the budget, the administration recommended covering the overages using reserves. This was approved by the councillors, and the contract was awarded to Duncan Roofing for $199,000 plus taxes.  

There were two bylaws introduced for the first reading during the meeting. The first concerned swimming pools, primarily permanent pools, as it was noted Weyburn is one of the very few municipalities in Saskatchewan without existing rules for swimming pools. The bylaw, if approved in June, will set out the rules for how pools can be drained, what the requirements are for safety, and more.  

The other bylaw increases the size of the City of Weyburn’s line of credit from $500,000 to $1 million. The move is needed to help pay for the major rebuild project scheduled for 1st Avenue this year.  

The City Clerk, Tina Clay, also outlined some of the information concerning this year’s election, which is scheduled for November 13th. This included the dates of polling, when nominations need to be in, and what the remuneration for the poll workers will be.  

The talk about the election also sparked one of the biggest pieces of news to come out of the meeting. 

“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the citizens of Weyburn for letting me represent them the last 12 years, and as such, I won’t be running for re-election in the fall,” stated Councillor Mel Van Betuw. He encouraged others to become informed, ask questions, and consider putting their name forward for the elections in the fall.