The City of Weyburn is on pace to set a record for construction in 2007, said the head of the city's Building Department, Doug Mulhall, as dollar-wise the city has now equalled its previous best year of 2003.

As of the end of November, there were 167 permits issued worth a total of $29.037 million in construction value, of which 141 permits were for residential construction, worth $22.3 million, along with 16 permits for commercial construction worth $5.8 million.

In 2003, when the current record was set, there were 92 permits issued worth $29.038 million.

"It's been a really hectic year. That has been great for the city, but it's challenging to keep up with the unusually strong demand. We've faced it pretty well compared with other municipalities," said Mulhall.

"From everything we hear and see, it seems we're going to continue to see a high level of growth and development in the new year. A lot of that is related to the oil patch," he added.

One result of the boom was that the city was caught for a few months without any residential lots available; a new subdivision has been opened in the Silver Heights area, and 10 new lots have been sold there, along with four mobile home lots on the South Hill, some of which have been available for 25 years.

On the commercial side, Mulhall said, "I think we're going to see some significant commercial and industrial development next year. We're pretty busy planning for next year, and planning future growth areas."

For all of the permits that are issued, Mulhall noted, it means a project is started that will go on for several months until completion, which makes for an extremely busy construction sector in the city.

One problem this has brought to the city is the need for building inspection to ensure all projects are built properly to code specifications. A new building inspector has finally been hired by the Building Department, said Mulhall, and he will be starting his new position here in January of 2008; meantime, the city has been using contract inspection services out of Regina.

There have been a total of 131 new dwelling units created as of the end of November, of which 50 are for single family units, and 81 are multiple family units.

This year's construction value is up significantly from a year ago when the city had issued 104 permits worth $10.3 million, which created 24 single family dwelling units.