City council has endorsed a proposal for the setting up of an ice skating rink and ice castle on the exhibition grounds this winter, as a fund-raiser for the Fifth Weyburn Scouting Group.

The group proposes to set up the rink and ice castle, called Princess Aurora's Playground, on the southeast corner of the exhibition grounds, in the hopes of sparking tourism dollars to raise funds for their scouting programs.

The two components of the proposed playground is an elaborate, high-profile skating park, and Princess Aurora's Crystal Palace, which will be a 3,600 square-foot ice castle with a "rolling drama" presentation.

The Scouts secured the permission of the Weyburn Ag Society to use their land at no charge, and asked the city for the provision of water from the Sports Arena to flood the skating surfaces.

The city has also been asked to provide their expertise to ensure the castle is a safe structure, and for help with promoting this venture.

The skating area will have three different areas, for children, youth and adults, surrounded by seven to eight-foot walls of ice blocks. The crystal palace will have walls of ice standing 10 to 14 feet high in a castle design, with ice furniture, statues, secret passages, costumed characters and special effects. Visitors will be taken through in guided tours, and a drama will be presented.

The scouts propose to cut blocks of ice from Nickle Lake and from parts of the Souris River, with an estimated 5,000 square feet of lake ice needed, in addition to the water for flooding required from the city, estimated at around 3,000 to 4,000 cubic metres.

One councillor, Rob Stephanson, questioned the location, and wondered what the effect of all that water will be in the spring when the ice melts. Engineer Blaine Frank said he didn't see the volume of water as being a problem, and noted there isn't a lot of traffic near this location.

As to the effect of providing a place for skating, Coun. Ray Hamm noted the city has a short supply of ice time available for public skating, so this should not pose a problem for the city's arena facilities.

"Let's give it a chance. I hope they can make it work," said Coun. Bill Rudachyk.

The city's police commission will be sending a letter to the Chief Provincial Judge to let him know that the changes made in supplying a judge to Weyburn has not improved at all.

This fall the Weyburn provincial court changed from being a circuit point for Moose Jaw to being served by Regina. The Moose Jaw court is just finishing up the backlog of cases, while the Regina court is taking on any new ones.

Coun. Rudachyk said the commission was told that the Weyburn court never has the same judge two weeks in a row, so there is no continuity for the cases the court is dealing with.

Mayor Don Schlosser noted he talked with the Chief Judge over the summer, and was told the city should contact him if the changes don't improve things for the Weyburn court.

"Perhaps we should send a letter letting them know we are still not satisfied with what is taking place," said Mayor Schlosser. Weyburn has been asking the province for a number of years now to appoint a resident judge for the city since its last resident judge retired.

The city's Environmental Resources committee is seeking more information on four different proposal supplied for a new, long-term recycling program.

Coun. Stephanson noted four different companies sent in proposals that are so different from each other that they really cannot be compared.

A number of things were suggested, ranging from drop-off bins to door-to-door pickup, and the committee is looking at what costs might be involved to expand the city's recycling program.

"We're comparing apples to oranges, because of the differences between the proposals. We're wanting more information so we can compare them properly," he said. In the meantime, he added, the interim recycling bins are continuing to be well-used, although residents are being asked to flatten their cardboard so the bins don't have to be emptied out as often.

Another issue brought up by the committee is that there are a lot of bagged leaves going into the main waste stream of the landfill instead of to the compost pile.

"There are enough leaves in the landfill they have to use extra soil to cover them up. It's more desirable to have the leaves in the compost pile, but home owners have to bring them in as there is no special pickup of leaves," said Stephanson.

The committee is looking at the possibility of banning the pickup of leaves with the regular garbage pickup to eliminate the problem. Stephanson noted the landfill does not charge people who bring in leaves and small branches for the compost pile, and there are groups available who will do it if someone is unable to bring in the leaves.