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Financial statements released
Issue 26
SERVING THE ENERGY CITY SINCE 1903
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
www.estevanmercury.ca
Mailing No. 10769 | Publication No. 40069240
City moving forward with economic incentives
Cooper concert lost money despite good attendence The numbers are in for Alice Cooper’s August concert at Affinity Place, and it lost money for the City of Estevan. Financial statements for the concert were released at Monday night’s meeting of Estevan city council. City treasurer Trudy Firth said the concert sustained a net loss of $17,721.25. She believes the concert needed to sell about 200 more tickets to break even. A total of 1,876 tickets were sold, and 2,066 was the break-even point. To t a l r e v e n u e s were $170,860.51, with $148,791.69 coming through ticket sales and $22,068.82 from concession and merchandise sales. Expenses were at $188,581.76. The cost for the musician was $141,140.08, which accounted for the largest expense. Production was $23,372.45, advertising was $11,952.54, security was $7,229.20, and administration was $4,887.49. In an email to the Mercury, Firth said the band fee, converted to Canadian dollars, was $111,557.13. There was also $1,950 for band spotlights as per artist specifications, $1,157.45 for band and crew food and drink, and $26,475.50 for band promoter fees. “There really was a positive response to the show, and they said they enjoyed the venue and there was great sound,” Firth said in her report. She noted there was a slight increase in server costs as the city tried to ensure they
By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca
The City of Estevan is plowing forward with its efforts to bring new businesses to Estevan while trying to retain existing ones. Economic development co-ordinator Dwight “Fitz” Bramble said the city has received a lot of inquiries from existing and potential businesses since economic development incentives were released at the end of August. Bramble said he has also been marketing the city in terms of an investment attraction and promotion program. “When I interact with prospective businesses, and even local existing businesses, I let them know that these incentives are the city’s way of trying to lend support, and to encourage and motivate with the participation in the business environment here,” said Bramble. The existing businesses he has spoken with have been pleased with the plan, although some questioned why the incentives didn’t come out before they started their business. He countered that the timing doesn’t always work out as some want. He compared it to going to a business and trying to get something on sale after that sale ended. “The fact is that we are still providing that environment to help even these businesses that have already been in existence,” said Bramble. The incentive that targets
had enough drink service with a four-bar setup. “The fact that the show was on a Sunday night reduced our potential sales – both tickets and alcohol,” Firth said. “Most acts will fill the prime Friday and Saturday night spots with venues in larger centers. After that, they will then consider the smaller venues that are close enough to the already booked larger centers.” Councillor Greg Hoffort asked for a total financial report for concerts since Affinity Place opened in 2011. He believes they are close to breaking even on the shows over that time. City manager Jeff Ward pointed out such a report was released last year, after the Blue Rodeo concert, which also lost money. C o u n c i l l o r Tr e v o r Knibbs asked about the possibility of having a 50-50 draw during concerts, with money going to local charitable organizations. Ward countered each tour has guidelines for initiatives such as that, but they could look into the possibility. While the concert wasn’t a success financially, Councillor Travis Frank said there were a lot of restaurants that were full and hotel rooms that were booked the night of the concert, so there were benefits for the community. At a council meeting the night after the concert, council members and city administration said they hoped the Cooper concert would break even or even make a small amount of money. Mayor Roy Ludwig said he was surprised with the figures included in the state-
By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca
Dwight “Fitz” Bramble storefront façade improvements would benefit any business, regardless of whether they have been open for 10 days or 10 years, he said. A business incubator facility, which the city is strongly supporting, will benefit all businesses in the community as well, and those to come. The incubator will provide a mentorship opportunity between established entrepreneurs and those in the community. An update on the incubator program is expected at some point in the near future. The other key incentive is any new or existing business establishing a location within city limits can receive a property tax exemption for three years.Those operating within the city’s five priority investment areas – agrivalue or processing, greenhouse technology, geothermal and other renewable energy, manufacturing and warehousing – can receive a five-year property tax exemption. Bramble believes the city is already starting to see A2 » OPPORTUNITIES
Alice Cooper’s August performance at Affinity Place was well received, but it still lost more than $17,000. File photo ments, but he still supports bringing concerts to Estevan. “This is something that this council has agreed to do, and previous councils, is bring entertainment to our city and it’s great for the economic activity that it brings to our businesses within our community,” said Ludwig. The mayor suggested the city should create a line item for concerts in its budget and set some money aside for any potential losses that occur throughout the year, rather than having it come from other line items. The report was filed just a few days before Friday night’s
concert with John Mellencamp at Affinity Place. That concert had a few hundred tickets still available as of Monday evening, with most of the available tickets on the back of the floor towards the sound area. Council members are confident that the show will make money, and offset the losses from the Cooper concert. “We have great numbers. We’re just about sold out at this stage, and with it being on a Friday, we always get more of a response on a Friday or Saturday than during the week,” said Ludwig.
Discarded cigarette likely caused grass fire A discarded cigarette was the probable cause of a large grass fire that required the attention of the Estevan Fire Rescue Service for about 4 1/2 hours on Oct. 17. The department was called to the fire, which occurred near the junction of Highway 18 and Collins Road, in the early afternoon. Fire Chief Dale Feser said the fire had the potential to be serious. “We want to make sure that we’re containing it to keep it under control and prevent it from spreading to any other major properties,” said Feser. Nobody was injured, but
there was some personal property on an adjacent section of land, including a camper, a boat and a classic muscle car, that the fire department wanted to protect. “When we first arrived on scene, that was our priority to knock down the leading edge (of the fire) to make sure these weren’t going to be damaged in any way, shape or form,” said Feser. The flames came close, but were kept at bay. Had the fire department arrived two minutes later, Feser speculated they might not have been as successful. “We were very fortunate to get suppression streams
out and in place at strategic locations right at the initiation of our suppression efforts to prevent any further damage from occurring,” he said. About 30 acres of land were burned in the fire. Most of the land was used for feeding horses and livestock. It was a lengthy effort to combat the flames, but Feser said that was largely due to the topography of the land. “ There was a lot of marshy land area, and inaccessibility to certain areas as well. We had to wait for the fire to burn to a point. It was under control, but we had to wait for it to come to us in certain areas so we could safely and effec-
tively fight the fire without damaging any vehicles, and prevent any firefighters from being unnecessarily injured during suppression efforts.” There was also a SaskPower transmission line in the area that is used to provide electricity to Weyburn, and some Saskatchewan Water Security Agency property. The fire did not cross Highway 18. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but it appears to be the careless discarding of a cigarette. No other credible sources of ignition have been located around the scene. Feser also pointed out
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the fire is consistent with someone flicking a cigarette out the window of a passing vehicle, and the cigarette landing in vegetation. “I know at the very beginning stages of the fire, there was a very healthy thick black plume of smoke, which is isn’t typically or normally consistent with vegetation fires, but it gets into the cattails, and the cattails produce an oil that will actually turn that smoke fairly black,” said Feser. Conditions are fairly dry now, and when it is windy, a fire can get away on the firefighters. It might be surprising to some, considering the moisture that the Estevan area
received in late September and early October. But with the wind that Estevan had the day of the fire, and some other days recently, it doesn’t take long for a fire to spread. “The wind will actually sap the moisture levels right out of any vegetation that may be remaining once ignition occurs. Obviously this was a wind-driven fire here, as it took and spread quite quickly here.” Estevan has been in the moderate range for fire risk in recent weeks, but the frost Estevan receives many nights keeps it from reaching the high-risk or extreme range.
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