City council rejected a request from the Weyburn Minor Hockey Association and decided to keep its Sunday morning sports bylaw in a narrow 4-3 vote split on Monday night.

The four councillors who were in favour of maintaining the controversial bylaw indicated that as it came in by a plebiscite in 1988, it should only be removed the same way.

The three in favour of repealing the bylaw, including Mayor Don Schlosser, felt the bylaw had run its course and it was time for council to make its own decision on whether to keep it.

Prior to the discussion, four letters and a petition on the issue were read to council; of the letters, three asked for the bylaw to be repealed, including a letter from the Weyburn Devils hockey club, a representative of the Weyburn Minor Hockey Association, and a parent of children involved in ice sports. Those in favour of the bylaw included a petition with 18 signatures, and a letter from resident Ed Kuhn.

Coun. Ray Hamm opposed repealing the bylaw, saying he knew of organizations who still wanted to have a say in the issue.

"In most instances we do the best we can based on research. In this instance, this deals with something that runs a little deeper," said Coun. Hamm.

Coun. Gary Frederickson agreed, saying "out of respect" for the residents who voted to have the bylaw instated in 1988, it should only be repealed via a plebiscite vote. Coun. Dick Michel and Coun. Bill McKenzie also agreed with this position, saying the fact the bylaw was voted in by Weyburn citizens makes it different than other matters on which council votes.

"I have a problem with delegating decision-making by plebiscite. I don't think that's what we're here to do," said Coun. Rob Stephanson in favour of repealing the bylaw, adding that closing facilities only on Sunday morning could be taken as discriminating against those who worship on days other than Sunday.

"I definitely support repealing the bylaw. Things have changed a lot since 1988. I also feel there's been lots of discussion of this issue in the community. I also agree it's time for us around the table to make a decision," said Mayor Schlosser, pointing out even a bylaw brought in by plebiscite only has to be adhered to for three years, according to provincial law.

Coun. Bill Rudachyk, who noted he was on council when the bylaw "was forced upon us" by the plebiscite, pointed out the 1988 vote only passed by 52 per cent, and agreed with the mayor the decision was their responsibility rather than having the bylaw forced upon them.

Stephanson added he has had no one bring this issue up with him, which tells him it isn't as big an issue as it once was.

City officials said as the vote supports the bylaw remaining in effect, a petition with 10 per cent of the population, or around 1,000 signatures, could be submitted which would force a plebiscite on the issue. City clerk Cheryl Rommann said a plebiscite held outside of a civic election would cost taxpayers approximately $2,500.

She said the voter turnout in 1988 was around 68 per cent, considered very good for a civic election, due to there being a ballot for mayor, council and school boards that year.

The city will make a counter-proposal to Saskatchewan Highways to reduce the speed on Highway 39 to 70 km/hr. in front of the Wal-Mart store up to the Queen Street intersection.

Council initially proposed to the province to make this stretch a 50-km zone, but this was rejected as too slow for this part of the highway. Highways did a second radar study of the speed of motorists, and proposed to the city reducing the speed from 80 to 70, extending from the rail crossing up to about in front of the Canadian Tire store.

A number of councillors expressed disappointment that the limit of 50 wasn't accepted, but many thought the reduction should at least go as far as the Queen Street intersection.

This intersection not only provides access to the service road for the two large stores, but also is the access to the Souris River seed-cleaning plant and the old distillery plant, where ethanol production should be up and running in the coming months.

"I think what they're saying is 70 is the comfort level of the drivers in the area. If you lower it to 50, you can actually cause more problems, because you have drivers who are impatient and are wanting to pass," said city manager Bob Smith.

Coun. Rudachyk said the most important place to reduce speed was by the Queen Street intersection, which in his opinion "is a very dangerous corner" and will see a fatal or serious accident soon if the speed isn't reduced there.

Mayor Schlosser said he and the city manager, along with the police chief and a city lawyer, did a test drive of that stretch at a lower speed, and concluded that 50 km/hr. is too slow.

"I was doing 60 and everyone was lined up behind me. I could go with 70, but 50 is way too slow," he said, adding it would be a different story if the service road wasn't in place for the two stores.

The Leisure Services Commission responded to complaints about the practice of leaving the glass in the Colosseum when special events are hosted there.

Coun. Rudachyk explained the new glass, installed as part of Phase I of the Colosseum renovations, is extremely heavy and hard to remove, so the glass is left in whenever possible, particularly during the prime use period during the fall and winter months.

Each sheet of glass weighs about 300 pounds, opposed to the 100 pounds of the former glass used in the rink, and taking them out could be both dangerous to the personnel and time-consuming. The replacement cost of each sheet is about $350 if it's broken while being removed or replaced.

"The city doesn't want to be seen as not being accommodating, but it's very difficult to take out and put back in, in good time," he said. The complaint was raised as a delegation from the Red Wings was in to ask for the glass to be removed for the Paul Brandt fund-raising concert to be held in October.

The Red Wings were asked to find out if the sound would be affected by leaving the glass in, and what the cost would be to borrow equipment to remove the glass with. The request has been tabled until more information is obtained.

In other business at council:

· Chantelle Ernst of the Summer Games committee made a presentation to council, saying there are just over 700 volunteers signed up with about 1,500 needed altogether, with the Games starting in 54 days' time. The Games are offering a 50 per cent discount on the admission to the Games, along with a free T-shirt, cap and souvenir photo ID tag provided to each volunteer.

· As the official kickoff to Weyburn's In Motion campaign, Coun. Rudachyk challenged each councillor to attend, along with their spouse and family, a half-hour walk to be held in Tatagwa Parkway on Monday, July 12. The goal of In Motion is to promote each resident to become more physically active.

· Building permits as of the end of May totalled 37, worth a total of $5.4 million, just below last year's total of 29 permits worth $6.8 million at this time in 2003. This year's total includes the creation of four single family dwellings and 24 multiple family dwellings, compared to only two family dwellings created a year ago.