News and notes from the Feb. 21 regular meeting of Estevan City council.
Council approved a request from the Quota International of Estevan president Stacy Drebnicki to provide the group with 200 pins for them to distribute at the Quota International Conference this July in Hawaii.
Drebnicki said local Quota members are hand sewing 200 jewelry bags to sell at the conference and would like to include the Estevan pins in the bags.
Councillor Rod Beatty agreed to be the council representative on the Creighton Lodge Management Committee.
Council had earlier received correspondence from the committee informing them that the former Creighton Lodge Trust Committee was being morphed into the management committee which will provide guidance to the managers of the lodge and that they would like a City representative in their group. Councillor Brian Johnson had served as the City's rep on the former trust committee and said he was not interested in being part of the new group.
There was much praise for City of Estevan employees as well as volunteers from the Estevan Bruins and Estevan Rotary Club for their work at the Hedley concert Feb. 18 at Spectra Place. The concert was a major success as the City sold just shy of 3,000 tickets for the show which included four acts in total.
City staff members from a number of departments worked around the clock to get the arena ready for the concert, a process which includes putting down the temporary floor and removing the glass and netting. The same employees were also responsible for getting Spectra Place back in shape to host hockey the following evening for the Bruins final regular season game against the Weyburn Red Wings, a match that attracted over 2,100 fans.
City manager Jim Puffalt, who is also the acting leisure services manager, praised the work of all involved for the quick turnaround. Puffalt added he will be later coming to council to request some items that will make hosting events such as concerts easier for City staff. He also thanked the volunteers who served as ticket takers, ushers and beverage servers. Council also thanked the Bruins for moving their game to the following night to allow the concert to take place.
Puffalt also commented on the recent census announcement, noting that although the figure of just over 11,000 was lower than expected, it was still positive growth.
"A two per cent annual growth is considered a very high growth rate based upon our history and we are making huge efforts to ensure there is a good supply of housing as that is the most limiting factor on our growth."
Puffalt also noted there are still well over 1,200 jobs listed on saskjobs.ca for the southeast.
Although a big year is expected, 2012 got off to a slow start for the City in terms of construction.
According to the building permits report, one permit with a value of $15,000 was issued in January.
