ESTEVAN - Estevan city council discussed a couple of community events to occur this summer during their latest meeting on June 27.
Councillors unanimously approved a permit for the Downtown Street Dance on July 23 from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m., featuring country music singers Brock Andrews and Brody Siebert.
Councillor Rebecca Foord noted that she'd like to see extra attention be paid to the Garden on Fourth to ensure it won't get vandalized. City manager Jeff Ward confirmed that there will be security and he'd make sure they keep an eye on this part of the downtown.
The council also approved a request from The Black Grasshopper owners to change the date of a previously approved outdoor event permit from July 9 to Aug. 13, so they could host a parking lot party similar to the one last year. They plan to have the event from 6 p.m.-2 a.m. Within the gated area in the parking lot, there will be live music on stage, a bar, food available and multiple picnic tables set up, as well as porta-potties.
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Also at the meeting, council approved a resolution from the Town of Whitecourt, Alta. They submitted a resolution to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, asking the Government of Canada to promote and encourage the consumption of Canadian oil and gas products over the use of those that are imported; and to implement a policy that requires all imported oil and gas consumed in Canada to meet the same laws Canadian producers must adhere to, including governance, environmental and human rights standards.
Whitecourt asked that Estevan joins their effort, and endorses and submits the resolution to FCM for the board's review.
"I just want to say, good on Whitecourt. And hopefully, we can also start standing up for our Canadian resources. And one little tidbit that everybody may not know is foreign oil that comes into our country does not have to pay a carbon tax. Let's get that changed," said Councillor Tony Sernick.
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Gale Tytlandsvik submitted a request to slightly move The Wave sculpture, which is the Grad 2020 legacy project she is currently working on. She said the monument would still remain at Torgeson Park, as originally planned, but suggested it should be installed on the west side of the path, where it would look better. She noted that the artwork is ready to go whenever Dart Services will have time to install it.
Council approved the request.
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The Souris Valley Museum board of directors and staff decided to retract its request to install a plaque commemorating Henry Youle Hind at the museum. They've notified Parks Canada about the decision.
Councillor Kirsten Walliser said: "Although there's no history that clearly indicates how Mr. Hind interacted with Indigenous peoples, the idea that funded his exploration of the Souris Valley was … funded specifically to take land away from Indigenous communities."
"The current mandate of the Souris Valley Museum simply doesn't have the size, the scale, the resources to really unpack topics like that in the museum of our size and we'd rather focus on the good things that have happened in this area. And for that reason, they chose to remove their request," Walliser noted.
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City engineer Kiflom Weldeab informed council about the progress of the Arthur Avenue construction.
As part of the initiative to resurface residential roadways, engineering services was directed by the previous council to look into resurfacing Smith Street, Yardley Place and Hastings Place. As part of the process of decision-making for resurfacing roadways, the condition of all underground utilities, including water and sewer services, has been evaluated. Once water and sewer crew completed the condition assessment, the proposed roadways were approved for resurfacing.
In the case of Arthur Avenue, an investigation of the utilities indicated that several sewer services would require reconstruction. Thus, resurfacing Arthur will be postponed until all utilities are rehabilitated.
Weldeab said that it's going to be a while before they get to the Arthur Street undergrounds.
He also submitted a recommendation to construct a monolithic curb, gutter and sidewalk on the east side of Kohaly Avenue and south leg of Lynd Crescent to connect to existing sidewalk on Nicholson Road and Lynd Crescent east leg. The work was originally approved for that area, and Waldeab needed the green light to build a monolithic system instead of the old curb that needs to be removed due to watermain replacement.
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Responding to inquiries from the community, the city's leisure services, parks and facilities manager Rod March submitted a lengthy report explaining how Estevan approaches mosquito problems. March noted that as of right now, there are no reported cases of west Nile virus spread by mosquitos, and the situation is being closely monitored.
The city doesn't use fogging, as it's a pricy and not a very effective measure, since new mosquitoes move back into the fogged area in a matter of hours. To control the populations of two species of mosquitos in the area, the city uses control measures for larvae, which significantly reduced the numbers. However, mosquitos can fly up to 20 kilometres, and total elimination is impossible.
"We are in mosquito country. Take precautions, wear repellent. Try to avoid the dawn and dusk high activity times, wear light-coloured loose clothing, screen the windows and diligently eliminate any water sources on your property as they are major sources of breeding grounds, which are outside of the scope of the city's larvicide program," March recommended.
Walliser noted that Estevan is one of the three communities in Saskatchewan that are chosen for monitoring since mosquitoes do typically show up in the southeast corner first. The Ministry of Health's website offers an update weekly, and the report clearly indicates what the expected risk of the west Nile virus is.
March also noted that within the larvae monitor and control program, they monitor all potential habitats within three kilometres of the city limits. His full report can be found under the June 27 council agenda on estevan.ca.
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The city also discussed boulevard parking opportunities on Fourth Street for DMS Services Inc. and AMP Motors Ltd. DMS asked for one stall for curb parking in front of their store, and four stalls in front of the old Husky property that's now fenced in.
After a discussion of individual situations, council agreed to allow for one parking spot for DMS in front of the store, and also send a further request to the traffic committee as well as reach out to the Husky property owners for their input on the situation.
They also agreed that if AMP pays for the curbing in front of their property (about six metres of curb), the city will allow for them to have parking space on the street.
