Finding a new use for Souris Valley, bringing more businesses into the downtown and balancing the budget will be three of the bigger challenges facing the City of Weyburn in 2004, said Mayor Don Schlosser in a year-end interview.

After winning what he said will likely be his last term in office, Schlosser is going into the new year with a new council, facing some tough challenges as they begin hashing out the budget for 2004.

This is despite what is sure to be a record year for construction in Weyburn, which will result in many positive things for the city, said the mayor.

"This is probably one of our best years ever for the city, with all the activity that's taking place; there are lots of positives," he said, noting the building permits should be over the $29-million mark by the end of 2003.

One of the positives he's seen around the city is the effects of the new Wal-Mart store in the city.

"Since it opened, I haven't heard too many people complaining that their business is down. It's attracting more people to our community who before went to Estevan or Regina. I talked to a guy the other day who saw three couples from Lang here, and they live halfway between here and Regina," said Mayor Schlosser.

Two of this year's highlights are for events that are yet to come, namely the 2004 Saskatchewan Summer Games, and the 2005 Royal Bank Cup, the national Junior A hockey championship.

"They're all going to mean something to the City of Weyburn down the road," he said.

"With what's been happening in Weyburn, we're sure out there on the radar as far as other businesses are concerned. Yesterday I had a group in here looking at properties we have available in the downtown area, as they're interested in locating a business here," added the mayor.

This would help begin to address the long-term challenge of revitalizing the downtown area, which Mayor Schlosser noted is not just Weyburn's problem, nor is it one that only city council should be addressing.

The budget is going to be a big challenge, and some committee meetings have already been held to get that process underway.

"One of the things we did at retreat is we sent a request to the department heads, asking them to give us a wish list, things we need versus things we can get along without. We've never really done that before," he said, noting early indications are there will be a four-per-cent increase just to cover the renovation costs of the Colosseum, plus standard costs such as wage increases and so on.

In addition to covering these costs, word has come that power and gas utilities may be increasing by between six to eight per cent, which could mean quite a cost to the city with its recreational and sporting facilities.

The future use of Souris Valley will take a major coordinated effort between the Future Use Committee, the city and the owners, Sask. Property Management Corporation (SPMC), along with the real estate marketing firm hired to market viable proposed uses for the facility.

"Working with the consultant that they've hired, that's going to be a big job, but I think with everybody working together we might be surprised what comes out of it," he said.

Part and parcel with that is the completion of the new Tatagwa View facility, expected this year, and efforts by the city to have work begin on Phase 2 of that project, namely a new acute care facility that will eventually replace the current Weyburn General Hospital.

"I think this year we've got to get the ball rolling on that. It's going to take a while for that to happen," said the mayor.

With a sense of new direction coming from both the provincial and federal governments, both of which recently swore in new cabinets, along with a new prime minister, Schlosser said he is "quite optimistic we're going to see more funding for municipalities, so we don't have to rely so much on the tax base like we do right now."

The mayor was in Ottawa on behalf of the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) for the swearing in of Paul Martin and his new cabinet on Dec. 12, and feels Martin will be more willing to work together with provincial and municipal governments.

"The new prime minister is talking a new deal for municipalities. All of these things working together I think can only be beneficial for all of us," said Schlosser.

With commercial construction taking centre stage in Weyburn this year, Schlosser noted residential construction has been down from other years, but these commercial projects will bring forward a need for more new homes.

"I think we'll see residential building pick up because we're going to run into a problem as far as having no homes available," he said, adding council will very soon pass a new, improved version of the Weyburn Builds infill program for 2004, one that should hopefully promote new construction activity.

And what does the future hold for Mayor Schlosser? He indicated this term will probably be his last. This consideration also includes his duties with SUMA, where he has served on the provincial executive as the vice-president of cities. He said he will be weighing this as SUMA's annual convention comes up in early February.