The residents of Elgin Street will be asking the South Central Health District (SCHD) to reconsider a plan to put in a new road for Tatagwa View, their proposed new long-term health facility to be built on the Souris Valley grounds.

Many of that street's residents attended a meeting on Thursday evening called by the City of Weyburn to discuss the health district's proposal for a road, which would go in right behind their properties, and all present indicated they would prefer the current access road into Souris Valley be used instead.

The city indicated their preference was for the SCHD board to use Borden Street, which is the former railway bed right-of-way going into the property, but residents didn't support that idea either.

But as Mayor Schlosser indicated on Friday, the end decision on which way to proceed will be the SCHD board's to make, as the city will not develop Borden Street into a road.

"If they decide to build a road on their property, that's their decision. All we're saying is why not use Borden Street, which is the right-of-way. I can't see why you wouldn't do it there," he said.

Some residents were also upset the meeting was called with very short notice, as the issue first arose at the council meeting held on Tuesday evening. Letters went out from City Hall on Wednesday, giving some only about 27 hours notice the meeting was going to be held.

"I'm really quite upset that we had 27 hours of notice to be here. This is really important; nobody wants a street behind there. It's going to be like the Fifth Avenue North race track," said resident Linda Rudachyk, adding all of Elgin Street "was mad (Wednesday) night."

Another resident said later the short notice was "objectionable and insulting" to the residents, and questioned why no one from the city or health board seemed to know why this road request came up in the first place.

Mayor Don Schlosser told the residents the urgency was partly due to the letter they received from the SCHD board, as it seems they want to start moving on the project in the very near future.

"We were told we needed to make a decision on this as soon as possible; everything was right now, that's why we had the meeting as soon as we could," said the mayor.

Tatagwa View is a $17.5 million project which will replace the aging Souris Valley Extended Care Centre and house 135 long-term care beds, along with SCHD administration offices and a laundry facility. The long-term goal of the health board is to also build an acute care facility there to replace the Weyburn General Hospital as Phase 2 of the project, after this first phase is up and running.

Dave Kerr, a board member for the health district, said he didn't know about Borden Street, the right-of-way owned by the city, and assured the residents he heard their concerns and would represent them to the SCHD board.

"From what I've been hearing here, anybody living on Elgin Street doesn't want to have a road running behind them," he said, pointing out the SCHD just wants to put in a service road to Tatagwa View, and the current access road to Souris Valley will still be in place.

In answer to comments from some residents that some of the trees in the park-like area will be coming out, Kerr acknowledged some trees and shrubs will be taken out, "but this place is going to be surrounded by beauty."

He invited any residents who would like to attend the next SCHD board meeting on Thursday, Nov. 22, at Souris Valley at 2 p.m. The Elgin Street residents also met privately to plan for a meeting with health district officials, which is scheduled an hour before the public meeting.

Some residents expressed concerns about the traffic that would go in on a service road, but city engineer Bob Kinash said there probably wouldn't be any more than is already going in to Souris Valley.

SCHD CEO and president Lee Spencer was also present at the meeting, and explained what some of the plans for the long-term facility are.

"I understand people are concerned they're going to lose something. I wonder if people know we're going to build a retention pond and asphalt track. I think it would increase the value of the properties on Elgin Street. The retention pond is going to be big enough to be a small lake, and we're asking the provincial government for permission to divert the creek a little bit," he said.

The SCHD is also trying to buy the land needed for Tatagwa View from Saskatchewan Property Management Corporation (SPMC), which currently owns both Souris Valley Extended Care Centre and all of the surrounding grounds.

Asked if other properties or sites were looked at around Weyburn, Spencer said SPMC is much more reasonably priced than any other pieces of land of a similar size around Weyburn.

The Elgin residents were also asked by the city if any of them would want to sell any part of their lots in the back, and all present said they had no interest in doing that.

In an interview on Tuesday, Elgin Street resident Shawn McGrath said the proposed development project would have an immediate effect on their backyards, as it would remove the natural tree line existing alongside Borden Street. He also said there are a number of animals such as foxes, coyotes and a list of rare birds that has been spotted there.

McGrath added that there are also a number of concerns with the facility itself, including the retention pond intended to divert the waters that flood Coulter Field every year. He said it's a flawed plan. As with most ponds in Saskatchewan, residents expect the retention pond will become filled with scum and filthy water. Residents are also upset that the facility would need to be raised significantly above the level of their own backyards. As for the SCHD's intention to use the pond as a heating and cooling resource, McGrath said the district was putting a brave face on a recognizable problem.

McGrath claimed residents are not opposed to the concept of the facility, but rather its location and the work that would have to be done to the area in order to build it.

"Anywhere but here," he said.

Elgin Street residents will push for an environmental impact assessment to be done before construction on Tatagwa View begins and many are planning to attend the next SCHD and City Council meetings.