ESTEVAN - The City of Estevan is once again encouraging the public to switch to paperless utility billing amid the ongoing Canada Post strike.
In a post on its website, the city said the strike means documents such as utility notices will not be mailed to residents. The City of Estevan has a bi-monthly billing cycle for water and other utilities.
"Please submit payments accordingly to avoid penalties," the city said.
The city encourages people to use its online platform to go paperless, set up for pre-authorized payments and view utility information.
"Our team is available to answer any questions by contacting us at 306-634-1800," the city said.
People can go to the City of Estevan's section on the cityonline website. Using a computer to register is recommended.
Coun. Shelly Veroba brought up the issue at Monday night's city council meeting. When she asked if interest would be charged on those who don't pay their bill on time, city manager Jeff Ward said yes.
"This doesn't abdicate the responsibility that you have a water bill to pay and to come in and check it. Unfortunately, with the strike, you may not get the bill as regularly."
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Council approved proceeding with the request for title for a number of properties in the city, which is the second phase of enforcement for land with taxes in arrears.
In her report, city assessor Trina Sieben said every effort has been made to collect on these accounts, and the recommendation is to proceed with enforcement.
The land can be redeemed by any person paying the arrears, which would stop tax enforcement.
"The majority of the time, when this happens, it's a formality," said Veroba. "People will come forward and pay their taxes. They don't want the city to take their property, but in the event that someone hasn't, that's when the city will become the new owner of that property."
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The monthly water quality reports and the building permit reports for September and October were approved.
The city treated more than 132.4 million litres of water in September and pumped more than 124.8 million litres into the distribution system. In October, more than 104.8 million litres were treated, and more than 99.4 million litres were pumped.
According to water and wastewater division manager Matt Angell, there were no plant upsets and all regulated parameters for drinking water were met.
As for building permits, 10 were issued in September with a total value of $2.843,300. Two of the permits were commercial, and their total value was $2.375 million. Two were garages worth a combined $81,000, and the others were classified as miscellaneous, with a value of $387,300.
In October, four permits worth $638,656 were issued. One was commercial with a value of $510,656. There was also one for single-family residential ($3,500), one garage ($110,000) and one miscellaneous ($15,000).
Forty permits were issued through Oct. 31, 2024, with a total value of $9,848,257. By comparison, in the first 10 months of 2023, there were 39 permits with a total value of $2.93 million.
