The struggle of residents in northwest Weyburn against a proposed housing development at the end of Elgin Street has reached an end, as city council passed its rezoning bylaw to permit the development to proceed and rejected a petition calling for a referendum on the use of the land in question.

The earthwork for the development should begin soon, and developers Ken Hill and Stan Runne expect construction will take about nine months to complete altogether.

The Committee for the Preservation of the Natural Park in northwest Weyburn indicated they are disappointed with council's decision, but said on Monday they will not pursue any further legal action, due mainly to the high costs they would have to pay for.

"We have nowhere to go after this. We fought the good fight," said committee member Darlene Nimegeers.

Following the council meeting on Oct. 11, Runne said they had bids from three local contractors, and all were well "within the ballpark" of costs the developers wanted. Runne and Hill said that Custom Canadian Homes of Weyburn will be the general contractor and developer of the six double-unit townhouse project.

"As the weather has remained mild, we expect the earthwork will commence as soon as possible and the sewer and water could be installed. Depending on approval of some paper work and more mild weather, the basement stage of the townhouses could be started," the developers said in a statement.

Both Hill and Runne indicated they will be moving into this townhouse development.

Hill said they expected some resistance when they went into this process, but admitted, "We certainly didn't anticipate there would be this level of resistance."

The council approval for the rezoning came with councillors relying on a legal opinion which provided a basis for council to reject the petition, which had the required 10 per cent of the city's population or 1,000 signatures. The petition was delivered by Nimegeers earlier the day of the council meeting.

The petition called for a referendum on whether the land in question should be zoned by council officially as a natural park area. The residents of the area have contended this land has been in use as a natural park for the past 50 years without having the official designation from the city.

City manager Bob Smith explained that, according to the legal opinion supplied to the city, the rezoning of the land is governed specifically under the Planning and Development Act, whereas the petition referred to the general workings of the city. The specific act and the city's authority to do business under that act superseded the general regulations governing the city, therefore the petition could not stop the rezoning process from going forward.

"The City Act is trumped, which refers to anything under the city's jurisdiction. That doesn't mean that council, if they so wish, can't proceed with a referendum, but council has already started the rezoning process," said Smith.

The third reading of the rezoning bylaw was passed by a 6-1 margin, with only Coun. Bill McKenzie voting against it. McKenzie said it was significant there were 1,000 residents of the city who felt strongly enough to sign the petition asking for the referendum, and he had to listen to their request.

"There might be 1,000 names on there, but we're not sure they all agree on this issue. They all agree on a referendum," said Coun. Rob Stephanson, adding he also looked at the number of people who didn't sign the petition.

City council is joining a lobby effort with other Saskatchewan cities in asking the provincial government for additional funds in the Revenue Sharing pool.

Council passed a resolution formed out of a recent meeting of the Saskatchewan City Mayors' Caucus, and it is asking for an increase of $10 million to the Revenue Sharing pool for 2005-06, since it was not provided for in the 2005-06 budget, and another $10 million in 2006-07.

The resolution also asks for the province to commit to working with the City Mayors' Caucus and with SUMA toward developing a new formula for revenue sharing, one that will be predictable and will grow as the province's economic base grows.

"We felt as the 13 city mayors with the economy going as it's going, the government has extra revenue, as the government will no doubt announce in early November," said Mayor Don Schlosser, who is also the president of SUMA. "We feel there needs to be a formula so there will be revenue-sharing in place, so we don't have to keep going back to the province."

The mayor added the group of city mayors have asked for a meeting with Premier Lorne Calvert by late October or early November to discuss the request for funds and for a formula.

"There used to be a formula at one time, and when fiscal times got difficult, it disappeared," noted Coun. Ray Hamm, asking if there is any guarantee from the province to reinstate such a formula.

Mayor Schlosser said it's hard to say if the government will respond positively to this request, and added a warning to the city's taxpayers.

"If we do not receive the funding, we're going to have to look at either some cutbacks or tax increases. With the way things are going, we can't carry on," he said.

Council tabled a request for assistance from the Weyburn Care-A-Van Society, and said they would discuss it at their council retreat, which was held over the Oct. 15 weekend.

In a letter from society chairman Denis Pilon, the society noted their expenses have increased dramatically with the use of the newer, larger bus, and with the skyrocketing fuel prices

At a recent meeting of the non-profit group, their rates were increased from $4.50 a trip to $6, and rental of the old van was increased from $8 an hour to $12 an hour, with an additional $2 flat fee for in-city trips, and a requirement to refill the gas tank for out-of-city rentals.

The request of the city is to purchase their gas through the city, which they estimate would save the society eight per cent on fuel costs, and to have the society's books looked after by the city. The society estimates that having the invoicing done by the city for fuel would save $700 a year, and having the books done by the city would save an additional $1,200 a year.

The society is asking that this request be put in to the city's 2006 budget.