News and notes from the March 21 regular meeting of Estevan city council.
The City announced at Monday's meeting that Paul M. Ennis has been hired as the new leisure services manager.
Ennis, who comes to Estevan from Edmonton, replaces Helen Fornwald who transferred to the position of safety co-ordinator in late 2010. In a brief statement to council, Ennis said he was looking forward to his new job.
"The facilities that you have here are simply amazing for a community of this size," said Ennis. "The emphasis that is put on recreation and leisure services by council and the community I think is outstanding.
"I welcome any commentary that anybody would have to say or anything that the public would like to be involved in. My door will be open anytime to come and visit me and give me your thoughts."
Council approved three community event permits for the Estevan Exhibition Association. The EEA plans to hold the annual Rumble in the Dirt cabaret June 18 at the Estevan Curling Club. They will hold a beer gardens in conjunction with the fair which is scheduled to run from June 20 to 22 this year. They will also have beer gardens area open during the Estevan rodeo which is set for July 7 to 10.
Although a formal proposal has yet to come before council, the topic of changing the transportation flow at the intersection of King Street and Souris Avenue was discussed again Monday.
The Estevan Board of Police Commissioners is considering a motion that would prohibit northbound drivers on Souris from making a left hand turn or continuing north towards 13th Avenue. Traffic would instead be restricted to a right hand turn only.
The move seemed to cause some confusion for council, notably Councillor Brian Johnson who was surprised to learn drivers would not be able to continue north towards 13th Avenue.
"What the heck?" was Johnson's response after learning of the proposed change.
Mayor Gary St. Onge, who is a member of the police board, said they felt it was the best option to improve the safety at one of Estevan's busiest intersections and that drivers will eventually learn that they should take Eighth Street instead of going north on Souris.
Councillor Chris Istace, who is also a member of the board, noted any such move would also prohibit pedestrians from crossing at the intersection. He said the City wants walkers to cross at King Street and Souris Avenue where there are traffic lights.
In his report to council, city manager Jim Puffalt said tickets for the Spectra Place grand opening concert featuring Tom Cochrane and Kim Mitchell are going fast.
Puffalt added that after focusing their advertising solely on Estevan and southeast Saskatchewan, they are now branching out to such locations as Regina, Brandon and Minot.
The City Page will continue to be found in the Estevan Mercury for at least one more year after council approved a tender from the Mercury and Â鶹´«Ã½AVeast Trader Express at Monday's meeting.
Although it was noted the overall tender from the Lifestyles/Newsbreak publications provided a lower overall cost, city clerk Lyndon Stachoski noted the Mercury/Trader package provided more coverage. He also pointed out that the Mercury/Trader offered a cheaper price for colour printing and since the City Page is often in colour he recommended going with the Mercury/Trader.
Stachoski also received permission from council to make future contracts for three years instead of doing it one year at a time.
The decision to approve a tax break for the St. Joseph's Hospital Foundation was formally approved Monday.
It was previously reported (March 9, Estevan Mercury) that council had decided to forgive the taxes the foundation owed on the Primary Health Care Centre at the hospital. The total taxes cancelled came to $45,226.
St. Onge also responded to criticism that the decision was made during a closed session of council and not in public. He said there were issues that had to be discussed in private but admitted the final decision should have been made public and that it was an oversight on council's part.
Council also approved three tender packages from the public works division. The largest package was to purchase four new trucks from Estevan Motors.
The building permits report for February was also released Monday. The City issued 11 permits in February which had a total value of $1.54 million.
Through the first two months of the year, 17 permits worth $3.6 million have been issued. That is slightly behind the pace of 2010 when eight permits were issued with a value of $4.44 million.
Despite the decline, St. Onge said he expects 2011 to be another big year in terms of local construction.
"Just to know what is being built in the next year, there is lots of things happening yet."
Council also gave permission to city treasurer Tim Leson to borrow $10 million for Spectra Place.
However, St. Onge was quick to point out that this is not money the citizens of Estevan owe on the facility, but it was needed because many of the donations for Spectra Place were spread out over an extended period, some as many as 10 years.
