City council took the first step towards an expanded and renovated Weyburn Public Library to join with the new headquarters for the Southeast Regional Library next door on Bison Avenue.

At council's regular meeting on Monday evening, library board chairwoman Isabelle Butters made an appeal for council to consider an expansion to the library as a millennium project, if the architect's drawings and designs could be completed now.

She estimated the cost of the architect's plans to be around $20-25,000, and city comptroller Stan Runne estimated the addition would cost around $500,000 and renovations would cost $200,000.

Council wouldn't commit to the addition at this point, referring the project to budget deliberations for next year, but did approve paying for an architect's services to get plans in place. Councillor Debra Button's original motion was to refer the entire project to next year, but fellow council members pointed out this would also delay getting the architect's plans done until at least January.

Runne noted that council's original discussions on the five-year capital plan was to get drawings done next year and do the expansion and renovations the following year.

Part of the renovations would be to remove the ramp on the front of the library building, Butters told council, as the ramp is a hazard in the wintertime; a new front lobby with an elevator and new washrooms would be constructed to make the building more accessible. With the elevator, she put the cost of the addition closer to $600,000, depending on how the tenders come in.

The proposed addition would go in between the current library building and new regional library headquarters, which is nearing completion. The library board is hopeful that tenders will be called in January for a spring start on construction and an opening by October. The regional library board will host the official opening of their new headquarters on Saturday, Nov. 6.

Council will be hosting a public meeting on Monday, Oct. 4, at 7:30 p.m. in the Legion's Vimy Room, to present information on two proposals for the Colosseum, and to ask for public input on whether the city should gut and renovate the current Colosseum at an estimated cost of $5.9 million, or build a new arena at a different location for an estimated $7.3 million.

In the proposal put together by architect Ken Scherle, the renovation would gut the current Colosseum, put in new stands and broadcast booth, put a 52-foot addition to the side and a 45-foot addition onto the front, to include new dressing rooms, a press room, more office space and a weight room.

He proposed that the renovation concept could be broken down and done in phases over three years, including renovations to the Sports Arena in the third year.

The concept for a new arena would include a similar seating capacity as for the Colosseum, at around 2,000, with the same number of change rooms and other amenities. The main difference would be in the design of a new arena, with a concourse level similar to Regina's Agridome to provide access to the seating areas.

The public will need more information than the estimated project costs, said Coun. Mike Pickering, noting there should be projections for operating costs and revenues.

"Admittedly we haven't done a lot of work on that, but we have done work on how these would be financed. With the renovated facilities, this would be phased in over several years, whereas the new construction would be an immediate cost," said Coun. Ray Hamm, chair of the facilities committee.

"Some of those things are very hard to pare down. There will be an increase in cost per square foot for the gas utility, but there will be efficiencies as well," said city commissioner Bob Smith, adding there would also be additional revenues from events, but this would be hard to estimate without knowing for sure how many more events can be booked into a new facility.

Another question, raised by Coun. Bill Rudachyk, is what would be done with the Colosseum if the city decided to go with a new arena.

Earlier in the meeting, council approved a temporary measure, to spend $2,000 to build an office for the new recreation director in the Colosseum. Serco is currently operating the recreation facilities, but the city will take over that responsibility no later than the end of December.

Coun. Debra Button had difficulty approving this move, pointing out the Colosseum employees will lose their lunch area plus some storage space in order to accommodate the office area.

One proposal outlined in the council's package was to take out the former organ room in the southwest corner of the Colosseum and expand and renovate it as a new staff room. An alternative is to construct an addition beside the Zamboni room which connects the Colosseum and Sports Arena.

Mayor Schlosser issued a response to comments made by the RM of Weyburn regarding the Fire Department's handling of the fire which destroyed Luke's Repair Shop at Ralph on Aug. 27.

In a statement released on Tuesday morning, the mayor said the comments by the RM council should have waited for consultation with the city. He said administration looked into the incident along with the Fire Department, the Volunteer Brigade and the RCMP, and "we have found that indeed the Weyburn Fire Department did provide a professional and quick response in fighting the fire."

Fire Chief Denis Pilon added that he would be willing to attend an RM council meeting to provide a report on the fire, if the council would invite him.

RM councillors complained about the manner in which the Fire Department handled the fire, and indicated they would like the fire chief to attend their next meeting.

Council approved a request from Federated Co-op's feed mill to install a 90-foot new electronic scale. The request had earlier been rejected by the RiverFront Market Committee, and was then sent to the Economic Development Ad Hoc Committee.

Mayor Don Schlosser advised council discussions were held with Federated Co-op about the future of the feed mill, and was told the feed mill is likely to relocate at some point as there is no room at their present location to expand.

"This may be a year or two or five years from now. Everything being set up is on a temporary basis," said the mayor, adding if the feed mill hears more about future commitments related to their business, the city should hear soon if they plan to relocate.

Council approved a request from the Kinsmen Club to change the name of Burnwey Park's playground to Kinsmen Park, after being informed the club will pay for the new playground equipment. The playground, located north of the Greystone Apartments on the city's east side, was found to be unsafe in last year's playground survey, requiring improvements or replacement of most of the playground equipment.

The Kinsmen advised they will provide funding of $15,000, spread out over three years, and will provide the labour to remove unsafe equipment and replace the new equipment.

In a request from two city residents to remove trees with bad aphid problems, council defeated a motion to turn the residents down, and instead referred the matter to committee for further discussion.

"I sympathize with them, but I think it would be a very big mistake to cut down elms because of this," said Coun. Marlene Nedelcov, who argued the aphids on the trees were the problem, not the trees themselves.

One of the offending trees is on Qu'Appelle Street, and the other is on the corner of McGillivray Drive and 13th Street. In the first case, the residents are unable to park in their driveway, as their vehicles get covered in the sap produced by aphids; in the latter case, the home has new siding which has turned almost black due to the aphid problem.

"I have to sympathize with these people. I'm not one who likes to get rid of trees," said Mayor Schlosser, adding the tree removal may be necessary to ensure this won't be a recurring problem next year.

The parks foreman, Claude Morin, advised council in a written submission that he would prefer trying a different method to cutting the trees down, such as using an insecticide by injection or soil drench. He said the problem lies strictly with the aphids and not with the trees themselves.

One option would be to ask the homeowners if they would pay to take the trees down and plant a new one, said Coun. Rudachyk, while Coun. Button suggested council allow these trees to be removed while council looks at how to deal with this kind of problem next year. The matter has been referred to committee for further discussions.

Council also gave third reading to a new bylaw establishing a new Leisure Services Commission for the running of the city's recreation facilities when the city takes over from Serco. The commission will be comprised of the mayor and two councillors, along with two members of the public.

The commission will advise the council on the operating and planning for the recreation facilities, and will also annually review the fee schedule and advise the director of leisure services in the development of the annual budget and long-term capital plan.