ESTEVAN - Estevan Mayor Roy Ludwig is asking snowmobilers to stay off the city’s integrated pathway system.
Speaking after the Jan. 9 meeting of Estevan city council, Ludwig said the city has received complaints about snowmobiles being on the pathways. While there are a few designated areas in the community that snowmobiles can access, pathways are not among them.
This is not the first time the city has had to contend with issues involving unauthorized users on pathways. In the past, there have been complaints about all-terrain vehicles and even horses on the paths.
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Council has joined the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) in calling for a change to the dates for the next civic election.
In a letter to council, SUMA noted that urban municipalities encountered problems in 2020 due to the close proximity of the provincial and civic votes. The province held its election in late October 2020, forcing the municipal election to be pushed back from its traditional late October date to Nov. 9. A storm rolled through parts of the province that day, pushing some municipal election dates back.
Ludwig noted having two elections in short order caused confusion for some.
SUMA is calling for the towns and villages to have their vote in September 2024, and for cities to go to the polls in the spring of 2025.
“We have requested the province to give us a spring election date three times,” said Ludwig. “As of yet, they have not agreed.”
The mayor noted that in the final report on the 2020 election, chief electoral officer Michael Boda called for a change in the date for the civic election.
Councillor Lindsay Clark, meanwhile, said that since SUMA has been rejected three times, the organization might have to focus on other things.
“I know the larger cities are adamant that this take place, because it is a big inconvenience for them,” said Ludwig in response.
He’s not sure why the province continues to fight the cities on an election date.
Councillor Rebecca Foord noted SUMA pushed to have the cities vote in May 2024, which would have cut the current council’s term short by about six months. When the province said no, SUMA offered the spring of 2025 instead.
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The building permit report for December showed there was one commercial permit for $150,000 issued, bringing the total for the year to 40 permits worth more than $6.14 million.
In 2021 there were more permits issued at 47, but the value was $5.47 million.
Last year in Estevan saw two single-family permits issued worth $1.42 million, two multi-family permits worth $2.85 million, three commercial permits worth $475,000, 10 garages for $375,000 and 23 miscellaneous permits for $1.02 million.
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Council gave first reading to a bylaw to officially rename the Highway 47 North service road to Dryden Road, in honour of the city’s first police officer, S. Dryden, who arrived in Estevan in 1906. The change is expected to reduce confusion for emergency services personnel and delivery drivers, among others.
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Snow removal came up repeatedly during the inquiries portion of the meeting. Councillor Shelly Veroba asked about removing snow from sidewalks along King Street and Souris Avenue Â鶹´«Ã½AV, as those are areas used by those who have limited access to transportation to reach other areas of the community. She noted the sidewalks are higher, and she wanted to know about equipment needs.
Clark wanted to know about clearing snow from pathways. City manager Jeff Ward said he would get a report to council, and Ludwig said the city had to take care of roads first.
Councillor Kirsten Walliser, meanwhile, praised snow removal efforts because it took about 60 hours to clear the city’s streets of snow following each December storm, which she said was much quicker than some other cities.
