Weyburn City Council last night voted in favour of a utility request made by Prairie Sky Co-op. This for the rural commercial utility connection for water and sewer for their new Home Centre being built near the Cardlock Gas Bar.

"We currently have a connection that goes out to the gas bar on Highway 13, and for us, a request came to connect to their current building, so that's not an issue for us to do that, it's a current line," explained City Manager Matthew Warren. "The volume right now, it can handle the added pressure, especially what they want for that building, it isn't a whole bunch of added pressure for that building."

Administration recommended Council approve the request, which comes with a $25,000 connection fee.

"Any rural connection goes through a review process," Warren noted. "We'll do some extra checks to that line as we move forward, but there's no concerns at this time."

Prairie Sky Co-op's original utility connection agreement for the gas bar was made in 2004, but since it expired in 2014, a new agreement will be established for 10 years, and one similar to the agreement for the gas bar will be developed for the Home Centre, also with 10-year terms.

City Council also approved an amendment to the Borrowing Bylaw during last night's meeting. The bylaw, which was just passed on January 27th, entails a loan to help with the construction of the Weyburn Recreation and Cultural Centre. The terms for this loan have now been amended with a lower interest rate, which was originally set for 2.70 per cent.

"We went and looked at some loan options for the facility, and at last council meeting they approved a loan back to us, and the interest rate actually lowered down when we came back, which is really good, and it's really great to hear. 2.55 [per cent] is a really great interest rate to receive back for the term we're looking for," commented Warren.

In fact, Director of Finance for the City, Laura Missal, pointed out that the lower rate will save the City $15,000 per year in interest.

"It's really good news to see more savings on the project when you see it that way," he added. "So for us, it's a really good thing to have as we move forward with the construction of the facility. It's always great to have the funds available and to make sure that we're able to move forward."

Council also received an update from the Superintendent of the Water Treatment Plant.