On December 19, City Council hosted their final meeting of the year. Just in time for the holiday weekend, the team felt generous, as their main focus of the night became a couple of charities in the city.

The Estevan Chapter of Habitat for Humanity has been working hard since their announcement of a partner family to get their first ever build off the ground. Many donations have been received from the community and sub-committee are being formed. To add on to that, the City of Estevan will be donating $10,000 towards the project.

"Well I'm very happy that we had a motion off the floor to pass the $10,000 contribution going into budget because I think it is a very worthwhile endeavor. It will give an opportunity for people to own a home that was otherwise not possible before. Circumstances like not having, or not being able to come up,  the down payment or the credit rating prevents them from owning or building a home on their own," expressed Mayor Roy Ludwig. 

The sum of money will be covering the purchase of the land, as well as the necessary connections and permits through the City. Doug Barnstable sent a letter regarding that donation in the summer, but the decision was deferred to Budget.

Another charity that was mentioned in the meeting is the Estevan Warm Welcome Shelter.

The volunteer group works seven days of the week to provide food and shelter to the less fortunate. Open at two locations, the Shelter has been in operation since November 16. Mayor Ludwig commemorated their outstanding work in the meeting. 

"Colleen [Jensen], all of the volunteers, the St. Paul's United Church, and Salvation Army have done a fantastic job in getting this off the ground and keeping it running. At first, they we were running a bit shy of the volunteers. But after many phone calls and going on the radio asking for volunteers, others have stepped up."

For their impact in the city and surrounding communities, Mayor Ludwig proclaimed the month of January 2017 as the "Warm Welcome Shelter Month", highlighting the many lives that they've through the program. 

"...whereas the Warm Welcome shelter contributes to the health of our Community via police and medical professionals by taking people off the streets and giving them "a sense of belonging" within the community." - Quoted from Mayor Ludwig's Proclamation. 

Other topics that was discussed was the tenders for the chemicals used in the Water Treatment/Waste Water Treatment Plant, the new smoking bylaw now being official and refreshing of the zoning bylaws.