Weyburn city council passed its five-year capital plan on April 28, with the Colosseum, infrastructure and utilities to receive the lion's share of attention until 2006.

The five-year total of capital expenditures (including 2002) is $14.83 million; the five-year total for utilities, which includes water, sewer, reservoirs and lagoons, is $16.49 million.

The proposed total for 2003 is $3.8 million, the highest of the proposed five-year plan, and for utilities the plan is to spend $1.9 million this year.

Projects under the Canada Infrastructure's urban assistance program is expected to see $900,000 spent over two years, with $400,000 planned for this year and $500,000 for 2004.

This includes extending Queen Street, realigning Queen Street and Highway 39, and sidewalk replacement. These projects would be split between federal, provincial and municipal governments along with property owners.

Storm sewers are planned to be built over the next few years, with sewers to go out to Highway 39 for the new Wal-Mart site, as well as from Railway Avenue to the Souris River at Fourth Street. The plan calls for spending of $24-25,000 yearly from this year to 2006.

Major renovations to the Colosseum, and to a lesser extent at the Sports Arena, are in the plan, with $1.5 million for phase one to be spent this year. The project will include replacing the cracked concrete floor and the boards this year. The expenditure is planned to be $1.5 million each year for each of the four phases.

For the Sports Arena, mechanical and building upgrades will cost $16,000 this year and $15,000 next year, with the major spending to be in 2005 in the amount of $340,000, and a further $25,000 in 2006, all in conjunction with the Colosseum renovations.

Upgrades to recreation facilities and Jubilee Park are planned this year to prepare the city for the 2004 Saskatchewan Summer Games, including $300,000 for a new track, $10,000 to resurface the tennis courts, $15,000 for more bleachers, and $18,000 to put a multi-purpose asphalt surface on the outdoor rink.

The Leisure Centre is also in line for major renovations and upgrades, with $105,000 to be spent this year and $120,000 next year, also for the 2004 Games. Further upgrades are to be made in 2005 and '06 in the amounts of $115,000 and $75,000 respectively. For the outdoor pool, deck repairs and a new diving board are planned for, and a water park has been tentatively set for 2005-06, in the amounts of $40,000 and $10,000 each year.

Some major upgrades are in line for the utilities department, and these are to be paid for by the users of the system, with some borrowing and government funding to be used.

At the water filtration plant, the plan is to spend $3 million in 2004 and $3 million in 2005 to upgrade treatment with carbon filters.

The water reservoir will have $50,000 spent on engineering this year, with the goal to construct a one-million gallon storage facility between 2004-06. The plan sets out spending of $1.2 million in 2004, and $300,000 in each of 2005 and 2006.

There is also major work planned for the city's primary lagoon, with a five-year plan to spend $7.1 million in total. This includes $1.5 million this year, $2 million in 2004, $1.3 million in 2005 and $2.3 million in 2006. This will pay for an extended aeration system, plus a new mechanical treatment plant.

Of the $3.8 million planned to be spent this year, the city expects to have long-term borrowing of $1.5 million for the Colosseum, with $1.4 million from general revenues, $484,500 in local improvement charges, $60,000 in a shared grant with the province for Tatagwa Parkway, and $266,667 from the federal government in a shared grant in an urban assistance highways grant.

For the utilities budget, no long-term borrowing is anticipated this year, with $1.65 million to come from current operations.

In the upcoming years, the city expects to do long-term borrowing of $1 million in 2004 and 2005 for the Colosseum, $1.4 million for the filtration plant and storage reservoirs in 2004 and another $1 million in 2005 for the filtration plant, plus $1 million in 2006 for the last phase of the Colosseum renovation.