A normally sparse South Central Health District (SCHD) board meeting was filled with people on Thursday afternoon, as residents of Elgin Street were in attendance to protest development plans close to their property as a result of the Tatagwa View long-term care facility project.

There were several other people present at the meeting, including city commissioner Bob Smith, Mayor Don Schlosser and Weyburn-Big Muddy MLA Brenda Bakken, who all listened intently as the residents of Elgin Street listed a number of concerns, such as the facility's location, a retention pond intended to be built alongside it, the possibility of flood potential increasing and a road intended to swing near their property line.

The Tatagwa View project involves the construction of a $17.5 million long-term care facility for 135 residents on Coulter Field. The SCHD intends for Tatagwa View to replace the aging Souris Valley Extended Care Centre (SVECC).

Elgin Street resident Shawn McGrath was selected as a spokesperson for the group, reading off a list of arguments assembled by the residents.

McGrath said he could have selected any spot in western Canada to buy property, but chose to make his home along Elgin Street because of the beautiful scenery located behind it. Should the development of Tatagwa View and the adjoining road go ahead, said McGrath, the visual beauty of this land will be destroyed, as well as the natural eco-system that has grown there.

"Our children refer to the Souris Valley grounds as the forest," said McGrath.

He continued by saying the retention pond intended to trap flood water and provide heat to the building has several flaws: with a new water source, there is a new risk of children drowning, an increased flood potential, and the possibility of the water going stagnant.

McGrath also said residents would have to contend with increased traffic and noise as a result of the service road.

But one of the largest bones of contention, however, was a lack of disclosure on the part of the SCHD: the residents of Elgin Street were only notified of the project's effects two weeks ago, said McGrath, in a letter mailed out by the district.

CEO Lee Spencer pointed out Tatagwa View has been a topic of discussion over the past 22 open health board meetings, as well as two public meetings. However, Spencer did apologize to the residents, saying that it was perhaps a mistake he did not reach them sooner.

Lloyd Searcy, VP of operations, then made a presentation to residents. Searcy said the construction of Tatagwa View would actually lower flood potential and "increase protection to your homes."

The flood plain on Coulter Field is currently at 567 metres above sea level, and the Tatagwa View facility foundation will be raised to 568.1 metres. To prevent flooding, the retention pond will be used to trap water, and a dike would be built along the abandoned rail line behind Elgin Street.

The dike, said Searcy, will be built to the City of Weyburn's specifications, but could be 10 feet high if necessary and topped with trees.

Also, the planned diversion of the creek on Souris Valley grounds, still awaiting approval by SaskWater, would not increase the possibility of flooding.

Searcy continued by saying the service road would only be for public access and fire trucks, and there would not be a high volume of traffic, which would be detrimental to the residents of Souris Valley. The road would be gravel with dust control, but would eventually be converted to asphalt.

Moving to the retention pond, Searcy said it would be used beyond trapping water but also to heat and cool the building through geothermal energy.

Elgin Street resident Philip Hoeving asked if wells could have been utilized instead to trap flood water and provide the geothermal energy, but Searcy said it raises the issue of drilling a lot of wells around the property and then not retrieving the dirt needed for the building's foundation.

Searcy said several measures, such as aerating the pond, would be taken to ensure the retention pond would not become stagnant.

Also, Searcy said that, though some scrub brush and caragana would be cut, as much of the natural tree line would be left as possible.

Searcy said a Phase 1 environmental impact study had already been done, and the approximate number of trees needed to be cut down was about 30, in a spot several hundred feet from the residents' backyards.

McGrath pointed out, however, there are some mature bushes located in caragana bushes slated to be removed. McGrath also argued that raising the level of Tatagwa View above their homes would make it impossible to ever subdivide, as it would cost an large amount to bring their yards out to the level of Tatagwa View's foundation.

During his presentation, Searcy also said that Tatagwa View is being built on Coulter Field to better facilitate Phase 2, a new general hospital. The hospital is planned to be build as an addition to Tatagwa View, which will already have some of its features put into place, like a kitchen and a laundry.

Having some of these features already in place, said Marga Cugnet, vice-president of patient services, may make the difference when Saskatchewan Health makes the decision about placing a general hospital there.

Also, noted Spencer, it is necessary to have any hospital located near the highway, like the highway running alongside Coulter Field. Several other locations scouted for the facility, like behind the Weyburn Special Care Home or the General Hospital, were considered too expensive or not feasible.

McGrath countered, however, by asking if the SCHD could guarantee the building of an acute care facility, when considering the changes recommended by the Fyke Commission on Medicare. No one at the board meeting could guarantee its construction.

But Cugnet suggested that many of the arguments forwarded by the residents had already been considered by the SCHD. She argued they did not want residents living on the "bald prairie," but somewhere accessible by the community.

"I want the community to be out there. I want them to visit," said Cugnet. "(The SVECC) has been ignored. We've had a stigma that has lasted years and years."

Though some residents at the meeting seemed unconvinced, there were a few who said many of their questions were answered. Aggie Lebersback, who was aware of Tatagwa View's location before moving in, said she was mostly up in arms about the natural beauty of the area being destroyed.

Lebersback said the meeting had answered many of her questions, especially her concerns about the natural scenery being completely removed; she suggested to board members they should sit on her deck and "see the beauty we see" before destroying significant undergrowth.