WEYBURN – The City of Weyburn will develop a strategic plan for the next four years along with the 2024 budget using comments and data from consultation with stakeholders, and a citizens survey conducted from May 29 to June 16.
The results of the citizens survey were shared with council on Monday evening by communications manager Paige Tenbult, and her report is posted on the City’s website.
A total of 375 members of the public were heard from, with 336 of those filling out the citizen survey, and of those, 307 are residents of the city, and 209 respondents work in Weyburn, with 44 respondents owning a business in the city.
Two-thirds of the respondents, or 63 per cent, have lived in Weyburn for 20 years or more. Tenbult commented the city will consider other methods in the future to reach younger residents.
Asked if she thought the number of respondents was what they had expected, Tenbult said they hadn’t done this kind of a survey before and didn’t know what to expect. She had hoped for 1,000 respondents, and the ideal for her would’ve been 4,000 responses, but the number was 336, which she feels is a good number to judge these issues.
Coun. John Corrigan said he would like to see more surveys done, so they can track responses from one survey to the next. “It tells me that how we inform the city of what we’re doing is so important. We’ve got to keep getting that message out,” he said.
The survey indicated Weyburn’s greatest strengths are community safety (17 per cent), location (14 per cent), parks, trails and open spaces (13 per cent), community spirit (11 per cent) and affordability (11 per cent).
Just over half of respondents, or 55 per cent, were satisfied with the city as a place to live, work or do business, 14 per cent are very satisfied, nine per cent are dissatisfied and two per cent are very dissatisfied.
Asked for suggestions to make Weyburn better, answers included improved transportation (better roads and sidewalks, walking paths); increased opportunities for entertainment and recreation; more options for shopping for groceries and retail.
Just over half, or 52 per cent, are satisfied or very satisfied with the overall quality of services from the city, and 17 per cent are dissatisfied or very dissatisfied.
In regard to the amount of taxes paid in relation to the services received, 37 per cent don’t feel the taxes they pay is reasonable, 32 per cent feel the amount of taxes are somewhat reasonable, and 30 per cent feel their tax bill is reasonable.
When asked to choose the top three issues for Weyburn for the next four years, the majority of respondents, or 239 votes, said aging infrastructure is the top issue, followed by affordability (157 votes) and taxes (129 votes). The respondents also feel the focus of council should be on improving streets (265 votes), investing in leisure facility upgrades (128 votes) and improving city services and modernizing processes (123 votes), followed by financial sustainability (115 votes), economic development (82 votes) and community engagement (49 votes).
For the 2024 budget, the top focus should be in attracting new or supporting existing businesses; looking at reducing city spending; maintaining or increasing capital spending; and increasing the level of city services.
The 2024 budget timelines will be presented at the next council meeting on Sept. 11, and the strategic plan for 2024-27 will be presented at the Sept. 25 council meeting.
• In other council business, council was told the Weyburn Leisure Centre outdoor pool, Credit Union Spark Centre and Weyburn Art Gallery will be closed for two weeks, for annual facility maintenance, starting Monday, Aug. 28.
The WLC indoor pool and Spark Centre/WAG will reopen on Monday, Sept. 11. The temporary shutdown of the facilities is important to make sure they stay well-maintained and function properly.
