Over half of the city's plans for local improvements were cancelled by petition on Monday night, with only two out of 11 petitions declared as invalid by city assessor Ron Abel.

The projects which were petitioned out are worth a total of $395,500, while city engineer Bob Kinash said the city will still have about $210,000 of the original program left to do this year.

Asked if he would be sending these projects out for tender, Kinash said he would like to delay to a fall tender, in the hopes oil prices might come down by then. The oil price affects the price of the asphalt used in paving and street repairs.

The projects which will now be cancelled include paving of Third Avenue S.E. from Government Road to Third Street S.E., estimated to cost $19,100; asphalt recapping of Eighth Street N.E. from Railway Avenue to Souris Avenue, worth an estimated $19,100; asphalt street paving of 10th, 11th and 12th Streets from Railway Avenue to East Avenue, ranging in worth from $71,900 to $79,400; asphalt recapping of Bannerman Street from First Avenue to Second Avenue N.W., worth $13,600; asphalt recapping of 13th Street from Douglas Road north to the lane south of Brimacombe Drive, worth an estimated $20,800; asphalt recapping of McLelland Street from Fifth Avenue N.E. to Douglas Road, worth $24,200; and a watermain replacement on Ninth Street from Souris Avenue to Coteau Avenue, worth an estimated $70,000.

The two petitions declared as invalid included asphalt recapping of Brimacombe Drive from 13th Street east and north to Douglas Road, worth an estimated $43,100, and asphalt recapping of Second Avenue S.E. from Government Road to Third Street S.E., worth $18,900. These projects will now go ahead.

Following the recommendations of the Weyburn Area Heritage Corporation, which oversaw Heritage Village on Signal Hill, council dissolved the corporation on Monday night and appointed a Heritage Village Advisory Committee to oversee the administration of the village.

The recommendation arose from the corporation's annual meeting on March 29, when a majority of the board of directors felt the group no longer had the necessary manpower to be in charge.

"The people who are there just can't keep on doing the work they've been doing over the past number of years. They'd be willing to do some work, but they felt the administration would be better done by the city," said Coun. Marlene Nedelcov.

Asked if this decision was due to funding issues, Coun. Nedelcov reiterated the main factor was one of manpower. She noted the corporation has a total of $4,643 on hand, not counting the annual grant usually given by the city.

A suggestion was made by Coun. Mike Pickering to move the village beside the Soo Line Museum alongside Highway 39, which he said would attract more people to see the village.

The city budget has already been adjusted to accommodate the administration of the heritage village, said controller Stan Runne, to be run as one of its own facilities. He didn't think the costs of running the village would go up as a result of this move, noting a number of volunteers have already put forward their names as willing to help out.

The village could be administered under either the Leisure Services Commission or under the Parks Department, added Runne.

The Heritage Village Advisory Committee will include Coun. Nedelcov, Art Tomlinson, Murray Keefe, Keith Boyle, David Carlson and Pat Schutz.

The city's advertising contract was awarded once more to the Weyburn Review, after close bids by the Review and Weyburn This Week were considered by council.

The tender requested by the city was for a cost on a square-inch basis, as the city uses an average of 60 square inches a week for its city page. The Review's bid was $3.65 per square inch, while This Week came in at $3.53, said city commissioner Bob Smith, who pointed out This Week's bid arrived late at City Hall as it was mailed in.

Coun. Nedelcov moved the Review be given the contract until the end of the year 2000.

Coun. Debra Button questioned why the tender asked for quotes on a square-inch basis instead of column inches, noting the Review's price per column inch was much higher. Smith said earlier their ads were measured on a square-inch basis, as the column widths in the papers are very different.

"I feel we've gotten very good coverage from the Review, and the ads are given a good display and are easy to find. That's very important. They're always here covering our council meetings. They give us more value for the price," said Coun. Nedelcov.

"To be sure the Review gives us a good bang for our buck, but are we looking at the news or the tender for advertising? Let's not muddy the waters here," answered Coun. Button.

Mayor Don Schlosser said he wished This Week would have indicated in their bid whether or not council coverage would be provided.

"That's a concern I have. I know a lot of our residents like to read in our paper what's going on with council," he said. The contract was approved by a 5-2 vote, with councillors Button and Pickering against.

The Nickle Lake Regional Park board met for the first time in six months to start planning for the upcoming spring and summer season, said Coun. Ray Wahl.

A perennial problem at the park has come up again this year, said Coun. Wahl, as there were break-and-enters and damages done, including damage to quonset doors and bathrooms at the park.

A couple of measures are being undertaken in anticipation of the park's opening over the May long weekend, including hiring some security personnel to prevent a repeat of the vandalism committed over the same weekend a year ago.

A new rule to be enacted for the entire season is no glass bottles will be allowed into Nickle Lake Regional Park.

Some bad news for the park is the provincial government has cut grants for summer student workers, so the board will be checking to see if there are federal grants available for student workers.

New concession operators, Paul and Irene Jacobs, have been hired for the coming season, and the annual Cancer Jamboree has been set for the weekend of June 24-25.

The city cleanup committee has resumed its annual efforts to keep the Golden Garbage Can in Weyburn, in the annual challenge with the City of Estevan.

Coun. Button said all of the area chairmen are now in place for the city-wide cleanup campaign, and council designated three free drop-off days at the city landfill: May 6, 7 and 27.

The cleanup committee will host their garage sale on May 13, and items may be donated for sale or people can rent a table and sell their own items.

One of the themes this year will be, "Keep our back lanes clean," said Button, with the poster contest for elementary school children to be offered once more.

She asked Mayor Schlosser to send a letter of challenge to the mayor of Estevan, with the suggested dates for city-wide judging on May 29-30. Minor ball's Green Day city-wide clean-up hasn't been firmly set, but tentatively will take place on May 27.