麻豆视频

Slowly but surely, the City of Estevan's consultation meetings are gathering some momentum.

After attracting two people in 2009 and eight in 2010, the 2011 spring meeting drew over 20 people to the small Legion Hall last Wednesday evening. And along with attracting more people, the meeting was also rather productive as those in attendance came with plenty of opinions and ideas to share with the members of City council and staff members.

City manager Jim Puffalt said he was happy with both the attendance and the interaction and felt the meeting was a productive one.

"There were great comments from people and great input. We are trying to do better with public consultation and I think we had a good turnout tonight," said Puffalt who noted the input received from the 23 people who attended the meeting will help them shape their future plans.

"We brought forward a number of issues that we are looking at for the 2012 budget and upcoming things. Lots of people were shaking their heads in agreement and of course we will continue to get comments from people."

A big focus of the meeting was recycling. The City is looking at the idea of curbside multi-material recycling pickup but is clearly loathe to move forward without gaining a solid consensus from the public.

Mayor Gary St. Onge said although the majority of those at the meeting were in favour of recycling pickup, a couple were not and he would like to get more input before they decide.

"I think we need to have a lot more consultation and I hope people let us," said St. Onge. "There are obviously a lot of people that have thought about it."

The mayor noted there a couple of important issues at play as far as a recycling program is concerned. First off, they have to determine what type of system to use. St. Onge touched on what other Saskatchewan cities do and focused on the plan currently being used by the town of Carlyle where they have a door-to-door recycling program that is reportedly very popular with residents.
According to the information St. Onge provided, the Carlyle system uses three different bins, which are quite a bit smaller than garbage containers, to sort their recyclable items.

"By far the majority of our residents are using the program and are happy with it," St. Onge said as he read from a letter provided to him by the Town of Carlyle.

Although the City has not asked for tenders, they have held preliminary talks with both Regens Disposal and Waste Management and both firms have told the City they would only consider front pickup.

Cost is also a major factor. St. Onge said unless the City made the program compulsory, the cost would be much higher than if they just allowed residents to opt-in. He used Moose Jaw as an example, noting their recycling system is an expensive one because they didn't make it compulsory.

The City currently pays just over $72,000 for the recycling depot on Sixth Street. They take in $63,000 from residents and receive $8,000 in financing from the provincial government which is considered bridge funding until a more comprehensive provincial plan is created.

"So we are trying to find out what kind of interest there is for door-to-door recycling," St. Onge said to the crowd. "If there is a lot of interest, we can go fairly soon and if there is no interest at all, we can just leave the depots where they are. We could wait until the government puts in their program to see how much we are taking in because that would affect how much we have to raise to pay for it."
Although such concerns as size of bins and the impact recycling trucks would have on roads were expressed, the majority of the crowd was in favour of door-to-door recycling.

"I would gladly pay those dollars personally to have that service to my door," said one of the attendees. "I'd like to see us grow as a community and not the landfill grow with," added another.
A number of other topics were addressed at last Wednesday meeting. Among them were:
Garbage pickup

St. Onge admitted that back lane garbage pickup has been somewhat of a headache for the City due to the above average snowfall the area has received over the past two winters and the resulting wet conditions. He added they have also received a number of comments from homeowners who would prefer the City move to front side pickup full time with convenience cited as the main reason.

Among the suggestions presented were giving the option of a smaller bin for seniors and moving pickup beginning in November until things dry up in the spring. Concerns were also expressed about how the bins would be picked up on some of the city's busier streets.

Health levy

An update was provided on health levy the city began collecting on taxes in 2010. It was noted the money was initially collected to help with fundraising for a new nursing home but that mandate has expanded due to the doctor shortage in Estevan.

St. Onge said the City was not interested in getting involved in health care, but felt they had no choice to with doctors in such short supply.

"We found out since we put the levy in place, the committee of the RM of Estevan and the City, we are spending most of our time, so far, with doctors and trying to get equipment. As you may have seen, we finally were able to talk Sun Country into providing ultrasound services if we provide (the machine) and we are in the process of purchasing one for $185,000 with that fund," St. Onge said.

The mayor also touched on the difficulties the City and RM have had in dealing with the Sun Country Health Region and said if they hadn't force the administration's hand, ultrasound would not be returning to St. Joseph's Hospital.

"The whole administration there lives in Weyburn and personally I don't know if they care about us."
Modular homes south of Estevan

The City is considering the development of a modular home subdivision on land they own south of the Willow Park Greens mobile home park.

Although many details need to be hashed out before they move forward, the idea behind the park is developing lots that would be more affordable to younger families.
Master Pathway Plan

The City is moving forward with plans to either build or improve the pedestrian pathway system and have a masterplan that was created by a Regina firm.

This year the focus will on building a pathway from King Street to Rooney Road.

"We are going to find a way to connect the city and get people moving," said Councillor Lynn Chipley.

Dog Park

It was noted the City has been asked by residents to look into the possibility of an off-leash dog park in Estevan. They would like to hear more from the public on the matter before moving ahead.
Roads

The City is considering introducing road bans within city limits due to the damage that has been caused to streets this spring. They plan to consult with the RM of Estevan on how they handle roads bans in their municipality.

The discussion also generated an interesting suggestion from the audience as the idea of adding one or two mills to taxes, which would raise money strictly for roadwork, was broached.

The audience member who raised the idea felt the City could place the idea on the ballot for the next civic election which is in the fall of 2012.