Midway - June 19 & 20 ADMISSION $5.00/person - kids 4 and under free
ADVANCE RIDE TICKETS 1 day ride pass - $35
2 DAY RIDE PASS - $45
www.estevanex.com Calamity Cowgirls Trick Riding - JUNE 19 CLASS
OF
2018
ESTEVAN
Gates Open at 4:00 TUESDAY! 2 DAYS ONLY! Available at Hender’s Drugs, Frank Menswear & Nutter’s until Noon on June 19
7pm
Midway - June 19 & 20
ECS GRADS
SPEEDWAY
Congratulations to the Class of 2018
A9
FAIR
A14
Tyson Turnbull wins modified feature
Issue 6
SERVING THE ENERGY CITY SINCE 1903
Wednesday, June 13, 2018 Mailing No. 10769 | Publication No. 40069240
Council approves property tax increase By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca
Estevan city council approved a one per cent property tax increase during its meeting on Monday night. Council gave three readings to the rate of taxation bylaw, which was needed for the tax increase to take effect. Members also gave three readings to the health levy bylaw and the library levy bylaw. Mayor Roy Ludwig defended the amount of this year’s property tax increase, saying council wants to have smaller, incremental tax increases, such as one or two per cent, but there does need to be a tax increase each year to get projects completed. “We have done the necessary increases that we had to do (in previous years). They were very unpalatable, but I think our public, our community, understood they had to be done, simply because of the fact that we had gone too long without the proper increases,” said Ludwig. The city is now at a stage where if it stays within its budget, it should be able to move forward with minimal increases, unless it gets hit by something unexpected from the province, like it did last year. “At the municipal level, we have nowhere to go,” said Ludwig. “We’re it. We’re the bottom line taxpayer at the municipal level. If the feds or the province download on to us, we have to pass that on to the taxpayers.” The one per cent prop-
Mayor Roy Ludwig erty tax increase was included in the revenues for this year’s city budget that was passed in January. Ludwig said the city didn’t have any tax increases for a number of years early in his tenure with council, and that was a mistake. Had the city resorted to incremental increases, the city wouldn’t have found itself with the infrastructure issues it had a few years ago. The property tax increase is one per cent across the board. Ludwig said the city is monitoring the ratio between residential and commercial property taxes. “Of course, we want our businesses to remain competitive, and that’s something that we discuss at budget time,” said Ludwig. As for the health levy, it will remain the same, and will generate $290,000. But there has been a change in how the funds will be allocated. In recent years, the city has dedicated $240,000 towards paying off the new Estevan Regional Nursing Home, with the rest of the money going to the St. A2 » HEALTH
www.estevanmercury.ca
GFL awarded contract for solid waste and recycling services By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca
As far as residential garbage and recycling pickup contracts are concerned, this one doesn’t appear to have generated the controversy of its predecessors. Estevan city council awarded the contract for the collection and hauling of residential solid waste and recycling in the city to Green for Life (GFL) Environmental during Monday night’s meeting. It’s a three-year contract, and the city also has an option to extend the deal for another two years. The city’s current contract with GFL, which was reached in 2013, expires on June 30. GFL purchased Regens Disposal last year. The last two residential waste contracts have been controversial. In 2008, the city made the switch from manual to automated garbage pickup, angering some in the community. The most controversial part of the deal was a proposed switch from back alley to front yard pickup. Council moved away from the front yard pickup plan, after receiving a petition that had more than 2,000 signatures. But that
Green for Life Environmental will remain the provider of solid waste and recycling services in Estevan. didn’t quell the anger of many residents. Then five years ago, council moved forward with the switch to front yard pickup, despite strong lingering opposition. Curbside recycling was also introduced in the contract. For the contract issued at Monday night’s meeting, the city issued a request for quotes (RFQ), and used a weighted system. In a report to council, city manager Jeff Ward said the greatest emphasis was placed on the total bid price at 40 per cent. Also
weighted were proposed service levels (25 per cent), conformance in meeting the primary objectives of the RFQ (15 per cent), past performance, references and vendor reliability (10 per cent), and implementation and termination plan (10 per cent). GFL, Goliath Disposal and Emterra Group were the bidders. In his report, Ward said Emterra Group’s bid was significantly higher and would be outside the budgeted amount. Both GFL and Goliath
met all the criteria in the quotes, and were given full marks, so Ward said it came down to the bid price. “The curbside portion of the quote was 33 per cent higher by Goliath over GFL. There was some additional service fees related to the recycling depot, oil disposal and specific yard sizes, put in by Goliath that were less than GFL that made up about 14 per cent … of that, but in total it was lower for Green for Life,” said Ward. The bid amounts for A2 » POINTS
Two people arrested in drug bust The Estevan Police Service (EPS) arrested two people in a drug bust last week. The EPS’s Drug/Intelligence Unit, with the assistance of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, has been conducting a drug trafficking investigation on a man and a woman in Estevan. The man and woman were arrested Thursday evening in a commercial parking
lot by plain clothes officers. The arrests happened without incident. The man and woman were subsequently searched, which resulted in the seizure of an undisclosed amount of cocaine and money. Following the arrest, a search warrant was executed at a residence in north Estevan. Further evidence was seized that supports charges for trafficking cocaine and
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hydromorphone. A can of bear spray, a machete and 3.8 grams of marijuana were seized from the residence. Vanessa Remlinger, 27, and Richard Guillas, 23, both of Estevan, are charged with trafficking cocaine, trafficking hydromorphone and possession of less than 30 grams of marijuana under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. They are also charged
with possession of property obtained by crime under $5,000, possession of a prohibited weapon and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose under the Criminal Code of Canada. The charges have not been proven in court. Remlinger and Guillas have been released with multiple conditions. Their next court appearance will be July 16.
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