Weyburn city council voted by a narrow 4-3 split to accept Hazco's proposal for a non-hazardous oilfield/industrial waste cell, if the company will agree to locate it on the south side of the landfill.

Council also voted 6-1 to ask Hazco if they would agree to an alternate site outside of city limits, but the company has already told the city they are only interested in siting their operation at the city's existing landfill.

As the city takes the recommendation to Hazco, two other municipalities are watching to see which direction the proposed development goes: the RM of Lomond, and the Town of Stoughton.

Coun. Janet Ledingham of the RM confirmed they spoke to Hazco officials, who paid their council a visit to discuss the proposal if Weyburn turns the company down.

"We've told them they're welcome in our municipality. They did come to an RM meeting and drove around to see what it was like," said Ledingham. Lomond is considering decommissioning their landfill and hauling their refuse to Bienfait, but with Hazco on board the RM would look at the possibility of a regional landfill.

There were three things the company said they wanted, said Ledingham: access to prime weights on roads year-round, access to employees, and "what they want most is to be wanted. They don't want the negative publicity."

At Stoughton, Mayor Gerald Mamer said his council has only made initial inquiries at this point; the company hasn't met with council as yet.

"We have a site that is rated for (industrial/oilfield waste). They said they would need quite a bit more space than what we have. If Weyburn decides not to do it, we'll start to look at it," said the mayor.

At Weyburn's council meeting Monday evening, a number of delegations addressed council prior to their vote, most raising objections with the proposed landfill site within view of residents of the South Hill.

The first delegation was Coun. George Kalman, whose house is on South Hill within viewing distance of the city's current landfill site.

"I know it's been stated in council that I'm making this the George Kalman issue, the south against the north. That is simply not true. This issue is an issue for all citizens," said Kalman, explaining that if this proposed landfill cell ever had a leaching problem into the city's water source, the Souris River, it would affect all 10,000 of Weyburn's citizens plus many others downstream.

Noting a portion of the landfill that was present when he was growing up in the neighbourhood has now been reclaimed, he said he could not support having Hazco move back into that area to potentially cause a problem for future generations to clean up.

Anna Bogar Laidlaw also spoke, noting she handed in a petition with 710 signatures on it protesting the proposed waste facility.

She said the estimated revenue of $300,000 is "a pittance" compared to the city's $11 million annual budget, and added this money would never compensate for "the stench of oilfield waste."

The 710 residents who signed the petition will also be voters in the civic elections this fall, she noted, saying Hazco simply wants to use the city's facility to dump their waste and then leave the responsibility for that waste with the city to deal with in the future.

In his presentation to council, Ray Mazer said he doubted the $300,000 estimate for revenue, and unlike some councillors felt this is a north-south issue for city residents.

"The residents up there aren't going to put up with the smell, and I don't know why the rest of the residents should either," said Mazer, going on to say that property values on the South Hill will definitely come down if Hazco is allowed to open there.

He also suggested the city's current attitude towards keeping a clean community will also change if the city encourages companies to bring their waste here. Mazer said council has ignored petitions on contentious issues before, and would ignore this one at their peril.

Mazer also noted he checked out Newalta's facility at Halbrite which deals with oilfield waste, and brought a statement from neighbour Clarence Guider saying that odour was a bad problem with this facility about a half-mile away.

Resident Jeannine Kater also spoke to council, saying she's lived on the South Hill for 27 years and has never regretted it.

"Estevan didn't want it for similar reasons, and their councillors listened. The citizens of Weyburn should be able to vote on it. It's not the issue of Hazco coming, but the location," said Kater, adding that some realtors don't hesitate to tell people not to buy on the South Hill.

A South Hill resident who sat on council's ad hoc committee, Ken Truscott, submitted his own statement council on the issue, and said he feels most of the general public misunderstood what Hazco is proposing, and still do. While he heard the information gathered by the ad hoc committee, he said he still has reservations about the location, and about Hazco's tactics for setting the April 28 deadline for a decision.

Coun. Rob Stephanson, who also sat on the ad hoc committee, said the number one concern he's heard on the Hazco proposal right from the start was that of location. He noted the company has said they aren't interested in any other city-owned properties because the economics of their proposal is tied to the existing landfill site.

Other councillors said they would not support Hazco's proposal at that location, which earned some applause from residents, until Stephanson suggested they approach Hazco about the alternative location on the city's landfill site.

Coun. Ray Hamm said he's waffled on the proposal from the start, as he's heard views from both sides of the issue. While he heard the public outcry at the public meeting, he noted the very next day four people phoned him and told him not to allow this opportunity to escape from Weyburn.

"Most people agree it's simply in the wrong location. It would be nice to have a landfill operation with Hazco involved. I'm disappointed to hear Hazco is so firm on that location," he said.

Stephanson said they should ask the company about the south side of the landfill, commenting, "The only reason I've been involved as long as I have is this opportunity to have this landfill cleaned up."

Coun. Bill Rudachyk said his preference would also be in support of the south side of the landfill, noting he suggested this to council before.

"What is in the landfill is hundreds times worse than what is proposed to go in there. I'm prepared to go to SERM (Environment), they're ultimately going to tell us whether it's safe to go forward or not. If it's not safe, I'll be the first guy to stand up and vote against it," he said.

Addressing a comment to some of the members of public watching in the gallery, Coun. Stephanson said he's also been concerned about some of the misinformation people have been using against this proposal.

Coun. Kalman spoke against the alternate location within the landfill, saying the only acceptable location would be outside of the city limits.

Mayor Don Schlosser weighed in to the discussion, pointing out some of the misinformation that was brought to council that night. He noted that Newalta takes hazardous materials, which the Hazco location would not be, so no comparison to that operation could be made.

As far as pitting the South Hill against the rest of the city, the mayor noted he likely owns more property on the hill than anyone else in Weyburn, and was just as concerned about property values as the South Hill residents are.

"I've got children and grandchildren who live here, and I want to things in this community that going to be clean," he said, adding he would support going to Hazco with an alternative location rather than seeing the opportunity lost. He said Weyburn turned its back on the oil industry in the 1950s, and now the city is doing it again.

In the vote to go to Hazco with the south-side location in the landfill, the motion was supported by Mayor Schlosser and councillors Rudachyk, Stephanson and Hamm. Councillors Dick Michel, Kalman and Debra Button opposed it. The vote to suggest a site outside of city limits was 6-1.