WEYBURN – Weyburn city council awarded the 2022 tree pruning contract to Green Drop Ltd. of Regina, the company which handled the pruning and inventory of city trees for the city last year.
The city’s budget allocated $30,000 for tree pruning this year in several boulevard locations around the city.
There are over 8,000 city-owned trees throughout the urban forest in Weyburn, and the Parks Department identified seven priority areas to be looked after this year.
The aim is for the contractor to work through the priority areas in order, pruning a maximum of 350 trees to avoid going over budget.
The first priority for pruning this year is Saskatchewan Drive, followed in order by Third Avenue NW in the 400-600 blocks; Elgin Street, 500-700 blocks; Scott Street, 500-600 blocks; Bannerman Street, 500 block; Elizabeth Street, 500 block; and Alexandra Street, 500 block.
These areas have a high number of elm trees, which will be prioritized as the Parks Department tries to address the prevalence of Dutch Elm disease. If the contractor is not able to get to all of the areas on this priority list this year, they will be carried over to the 2023 pruning program.
• In other council business, council awarded a contract to Industrial Electric for a project to replace the electrical distribution hub in Jubilee Park.
The City wishes to remove the west washroom building, but as it houses the electrical components for use in the park, these will need to be relocated prior to the demolition of the old washroom building.
Industrial Electric bid $31,043 for the project, and starting in April they will have eight weeks to complete it.
• Council approved a request from the Weyburn Senior Beavers Baseball club to sell beer at Tom Laing Park this coming baseball season.
City officials spoke to the police chief and leisure services, and there were no concerns about this request.
“I want to thank the Beavers for getting back at it this year,” said Coun. Jeff Richards, referring to the loss of the last two ball seasons for the Beavers due to COVID.
• Council approved the list of 2021 year-end property tax arrears which have not yet been paid, or for which arrangements for payment have not been made.
The tax arrears list has 92 properties owing a total of $245,147.78 in taxes.
The property owners will have 60 days, upon receiving notice, to pay all arrears and applicable fees. After 60 days, a lien will be registered against the property title.
Asked how this list of arrears compares to past years, finance director Laura Missal noted that last year the total was under $200,000, so the number of arrears has gone up for this year.
“We do work with them with payment plans,” she added, pointing out the city is following the requirements of the provincial Cities Act.
