Michelle Graff and Bernadette Wright are back on the Estevan board of police commissioners for a second straight year.
They were appointed to the police board as members at large during the Jan. 13 meeting of Estevan city council. They were the only two individuals who applied for the roles.
When they submitted their names for the police board last year, five were vying for the two member at large positions.
Both said in their submissions that they really enjoyed their time on the board.
The first meeting of the year for the police board will be Jan. 20.
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Council approved its membership with the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association for 2020 for $11,313.39. The fee is based on 60 cents per capita, and with Estevan’s census population of 11,483, it amounts to $6,889.80. There is also a $554.98 fee for each of the seven voting delegates on council, which amounts to $3,884.86.
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Council also approved its membership in the Hudson Bay Route Association for $300. Council backed the membership request because it views the route as a possible means to get grains to market, as well as another possible way to ship oil.
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Council approved the new city vehicle use policy. Vehicles are provided to employees during work hours for the purpose of completing city business. Personal use of city vehicles is not permitted due to the potential liability, direct costs and negative public perceptions.
When authorized, in extenuating circumstances and weather events, such as winter storms, floods or other business needs, city vehicles may be permitted to be taken home in the evenings.
The policy does not include city vehicles provided to the fire chief and deputy fire chief, who are on call.
The policy dictates general driving conduct, business travel guidelines, requirements, and responsibilities for the city during the hiring process. It also includes what happens if a traffic infraction occurs while driving a city vehicle.
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The monthly building permit report showed one permit worth $1,500 was issued, bringing the total for the year to 32 permits worth $1.94 million.
Twenty-five of the permits last year were classified as miscellaneous, with a total value of $1.18 million. There were also three single-family permits worth $641,375, and four garage permits worth $120,000.
In 2018, there were 35 permits worth $2.1 million.
The 10-year averages were also released. There were 983 permits issued from 2010-2019, with a total construction value of $280.6 million, and total permit fees were worth more than $2.1 million.
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The monthly water quality report from water/wastewater manager Shane Bucsis showed that 147.6 million litres of water was treated and 122.5 million litres were pumped into the distribution system. There weren’t any plant upsets for the month.
