The Weyburn Chamber of Commerce held their Annual General Meeting and Presidents' Luncheon on Wednesday. The event saw Mayor Jeff Richards describe the upgrades the community will see coming up.
He begins regarding the team of councillors now having these discussions.
"I can confidently tell you, the six people that I serve with today at City Council are the best leadership team I have ever seen the City of Weyburn have.”
He continues saying the city is in good shape, commenting on the various infrastructure upgrades and repairs being invested in this year, beginning with our water system.
“We're going to spend about $800,000 on upgrades to our dam. We're going to spend over $2 million on upgrades to lift stations and sewage systems. And we're planning on a major modification to our water treatment plant, to the tune of about $1.7 million. Those are the investments we're making.
He says these changes will be hard to see, but will be felt by the community stating “if we can't get fresh water into our community, and get unfresh water out of our community, then none of this stuff's going to matter. That's key. We've got to have water.”
Richards moves on discussing a major repaving project planned for Fifth Avenue, the location of the new Weyburn General Hospital. He says they plan to have the street finished before the facility opens next year.
In the same vein, he says this year will see frequent use of the infrared pothole repair machine.
“By the end of April, we will have used more hot mix in 2025 than we did in all of 2024. So we are taking the street seriously. It might be hard to see sometimes, but we are taking it very, very seriously.”
“We're going to work that poor infrared pothole machine. We are going to work that thing to within an inch of its life this year. I can promise you that.”
A key topic in the community is the indoor pool, which has been indefinitely closed since a catastrophic leak a the beginning of last fall. Richards addresses this project, beginning with the recent contract awarded toward a feasibility study.
“We know that we have to build a new pool, but what do we have to build? Do we want to build the pool that we needed three years ago? Or do we want to build the pool that our kids and our grandkids need in 25 years? Because that pool has got to last us 30 or 40 years. So we want to make sure that we get this right, because now is the time to invest in that stuff.”
He says they have consulted with the community and user groups as well to make an informed decision about the facility’s needs.
He notes other projects set to see its first steps this year include the Young Fellows Park and former site of Haig School.