ESTEVAN - Estevan city council gave the green light at its July 25 meeting for a project in northeast Estevan to proceed.
Second and third readings were granted to a bylaw to rezone land from urban holding district to industrial, to accommodate the development of a possible greenhouse and biomass plant.
Land development services reported in a letter to council that it did not receive much feedback on the proposal, except from an adjoining landowner to the east in the RM of Estevan who voiced support.
A detailed proposal has not been submitted for either project, so passage of the bylaw does not mean approval of either development is guaranteed.
“The city would still retain the ability to evaluate each proposal on its merits and conformance to our planning policies and bylaws,” land development said in its report.
•••
Council received a letter from local resident Greg Choma regarding water pressure at his family’s residence. Choma said city water pressure has been inadequate for a number of years. Last year it was discussed with both Mayor Roy Ludwig and Shane Bucsis, the manager of the city’s water and wastewater treatment plants.
“This year the pressure is as bad or worse than previous years,” Choma wrote.
He purchased a pressure system to ensure the household appliances and lawn sprinkler work properly and that costly malfunctions could be avoided. They are asking that they be reimbursed for the pressure system and installation.
The city is going to use a pressure logger at the residence, but it will take time to get a suitable reading. Bucsis said he wanted to see if there are any anomalies.
“I did put a pressure logger on there two years ago and the lowest the pressure got was 39.3 (pounds per square inch, or PSI),” said Bucsis.
At one point, the recording at the residence was 26 PSI, which Bucsis said is fairly low. The city’s benchmark is 40 PSI.
Areas in the city’s north end and at the bottom of hills have better water pressure than others, he said.
Council tabled Choma’s request so Bucsis could get more information.
•••
Council awarded a tender for traffic signal supply and installation to Can Traffic Service Ltd. for $380,000. Lights will be located at the intersection of King Street and Pine Avenue.
Norm Mack, the manager for public works’ roads and drainage, noted this was not the lowest bid, but the other company would require six weeks delivery for the poles, and the controller box for the intersection was 20 weeks away from the point of ordering.
Can Traffic has a controller and all traffic lights are in stock, and the traffic poles would have a delivery time of six weeks.
The project is in conjunction with the new east entrance for the Estevan Market Mall, which will align with Pine Avenue.
The traffic lights are being funded through the federal coal transition fund, in co-ordination with the development at the mall.
•••
Seven building permits worth $1.12 million were issued in June, bringing the total for the year to 26 permits worth more than $4.2 million. One permit was a multi-family project for $1.05 million.
