The first spinoff benefit of the expansion of Alcatel Canada Wire was announced by Mayor Don Schlosser on Monday night, as a former Weyburn firm, Tenold Transport Inc., bought the bottling plant portion of the former distillery.

The trucking firm does a lot of hauling for Alcatel and the announced move to Weyburn was due to Alcatel's major expansion, said company founder and shareholder Dallas Tenold. The wire and cable plant will double its production capacity and add 60 new jobs to their Weyburn plant once their expansion is complete.

"We do most of their hauling out of Weyburn, and we needed to be closer to service their plant," said Tenold, explaining the bottling plant will be renovated to be used as a warehousing and distribution centre.

Renovations for an office area are scheduled to start in the next two to three weeks, and the company should be in operation by April 1, said Tenold. There will be three and possibly four employees, depending on how much warehousing is required at the terminal.

He estimated the renovations to build an office and redo the yard will cost his company around $95,000, with Weyburn companies to be hired for the renovations. He declined to divulge the price he paid for the bottling plant. Mayor Schlosser said the purchase price may have to be disclosed in the city's public accounts, released at the end of the year.

Tenold began his company in Weyburn in 1973, and moved his terminal to Regina in 1987, closing the one in Weyburn. Today his company has 100 trucks servicing Canada and the U.S., with terminals in Vancouver, Edmonton, Regina, Winnipeg and Rockville, Ont.

The main part of the distillery and warehouse is being sought by Calgary firm BioAg Industries, who have an agreement to purchase the facility.

BioAg has until March to complete the agreement with the city, with the plan to produce ethanol and other byproducts. Another Calgary firm, Bellringer Resources, tried unsuccessfully to start an ethanol production plant at the distillery plant, but after failing to make payments the city foreclosed on the company and took back the title. The city continues to hold the title until BioAg completes its process to purchase the facility.

Mayor Schlosser was asked if there is any connection between BioAg president Owen Hoffman and Bellringer, and he answered, "No, I don't believe there is. There may be some difference of opinion on that."

He said his understanding is BioAg is a completely different firm from Bellringer, and he asked if any other councillor wanted to comment on the question, but no one spoke. The mayor added the only relationship he knows of is a dialogue between the two companies about the equipment still left in the distillery building.

An auction sale had been planned last year for the Bellringer equipment, but the sale never proceeded and the equipment is still in the facility. City commissioner Bob Smith said while technically the equipment belongs to Bellringer, the issue is before the courts at the present time.

The ongoing disagreement between the city and RM of Weyburn over use of the city's landfill arose at council meeting with a letter from the residents of North Weyburn requesting a separate agreement. The request was refused by council.

The letter was signed by residents Roland Olson, Lydia Mann and Geraldine Pokletar on behalf of the residents of the hamlet. The residents said they are willing to pay the requested per capita fee out of their hamlet account, which would amount to $150, plus any tipping fees over and above the $150.

"Though we are part of the RM, we are 'just outside' the city limits. As people enter into the city of Weyburn, it is usually first impressions that count. Without the use of this landfill, this could be a detriment to the appearance of your city," said the letter in part.

"Would we then have to enter negotiations with individual businesses, and are we opening a can of worms?," asked Coun. Debra Button, who added she would not support the request as North Weyburn businesses were not part of the letter.

Other councillors agreed with denying the request, saying the council needs to deal directly with the RM of Weyburn council, not groups of individuals.

"I think we should be sitting down with the RM very soon. I also think that businesses (here in the city) depend on rural folk. We need to sit down with the RM council and work this out. This is only a matter of some $6,000; I think the rural people contribute a lot more to the community than that. I've talked to a lot of businessmen who feel we're cutting off our nose to spite our face," said Coun. Mike Pickering.

The city has tried to deal with the RM for the last 16 months on this issue, said Mayor Schlosser, who considered the issue as completely in the RM's court now.

"Ratepayers should talk to RM councillors and if the RM wants to meet with us and come up with a solution, my door is always open. In the last 16 months I haven't seen any movement at all from the RM," said the mayor.

Every person in the city pays $7.50 each to help keep the landfill up to proper standards, said Coun. Button, and rural residents should feel lucky the service is being provided.

"We just want them to pay their share," she added.

Coun. Pickering raised the issue of the use of the property at the corner of Second Street and Souris Avenue, now being used by Art Africa as a village and craft area, and whether any taxes are being paid by the group.

The councillor was told there are no taxes or fees being paid by the parent organization, HELP International, but there is an agreement they will vacate the premises within 30 days if the property is sold at some point.

Commissioner Smith added that Rod Sidloski of HELP has told the city to bring any concerns they have to his attention and he will try to deal with them.

"They should be paying taxes the same as any other business, or they should vacate the property. I have a problem with them using the land," said Coun. Pickering, amending his request to state they should pay a business licence fee.

Mayor Schlosser said they have agreements with other groups who use other pieces of property around the city, and if they start charging HELP for the use of the land the city would be compelled to do the same with the other properties.

Coun. Button said a lot of children have gone through the village and the art program offered there, and felt a meeting with HELP's board of directors would be beneficial.

The motion to charge a fee to the group was tabled to allow for more discussion with the organization.

Council received notice of the demise of St. John Ambulance in a letter from that organization.

The volunteer organization informed council they decided at their Dec. 7 meeting to cease operations in the city as of Dec. 31, after more than 50 years here.

"The decision was not an easy one. Although the members continue to feel a strong commitment to the Order of St. John the few remaining members have come to realize that they cannot continue to provide the same quality of service that has been provided in the past," said the letter, signed by association president Wayne Engebretsen and superintendent Sharon Mulhall.

"We hate to get a letter like this, but they had a hard time getting new people out," said Mayor Schlosser, who hoped that people might step forward as news of their demise comes out.

"They provided a very valuable service to our community. We'll have to explore other options, because they were always there for us," added Coun. Marlene Nedelcov.

The city will begin charging interest on overdue utility bill payments, after council gave all three readings to a bylaw putting the interest into effect as of March 1, 2000.

The interest payments will be charged on that date for any billings in arrears of 30 days, and on all future billings by the city.

City treasurer Stan Runne explained the move was felt necessary as the number of bill write-offs and referrals to collection agencies have been increasing in recent years. For accounts that are cut off of services, the administration will have the discretion to add an administrative charge when customers apply to be reconnected.

. Button asked if people could make payments on-line through their banks, and Runne said the arrangement already exists through most banks and credit unions, with one bank not in the arrangement as yet. Discussions are being held to make that possible. The utilities department is also looking into the possibility of having pre-authorized withdrawals, as gas and electric utilities currently do.

In a list of utility write-offs given out at the Dec. 20 council meeting, an outstanding account was mentioned for the Mr. Ribs restaurant; city commissioner Bob Smith said this outstanding account applied only to the restaurant's former owner who has since left Weyburn, and not to the current owner of the restaurant.