Concerned citizens and members of the City of Estevan gathered last night to clear the air surrounding the future of the Leisure Centre's weight room. 

"There were some postings that went up in the weight room," explained Mayor Roy Ludwig, "that was basically a part of a rumour mill and we wanted to set the record straight. So we had a meeting just to clear the air and get input from people."

"There were some misunderstandings and hopefully we clarified the way it is moving forward and that would be that the weight room will stay basically the way it is but we are looking at making improvements over and above that. We have money in the budget set aside, around $100,000."

While the meeting did get heated at points, Ludwig feels that it was a success. 

"It was a very good meeting. Lots of good communication back and forth and I think both sides came away with a better understanding of where it's at. 

"And on top of that, we will be getting feedback, we will be sending out forms for those who do not have email and the rest we will be emailing and we would like to get some people on behalf of the weight room, some representatives on behalf of the weight room who can then give us on council feedback as to where they feel this extra money should go."

'We're looking at getting feedback from the weight group people and hopefully, we can funnel those monies into where it's most needed and where most people feel it's money well spent."

There was also a discussion on the spin room as well.

"The thought process was maybe we can get a better place or look for a better place, better than the multi-purpose room. So the managers and council will have a discussion on that as well as we'll see where that goes."

He added that nothing has been decided and more discussions will be held at next City Council meet on May 7th. 

"We'll have more discussion on Monday and then what we'd like to do is set up a process whereby we can get feedback from the weight room people and hear where they would like to see the extra monies in the budget go to that were designated in our budget which was set in January. We're going to wait now and get the feedback from that group and go with their suggestions as to where they think the money should be going."

As to how this time of incident can be prevented in the future, Ludwig added that the City tries to deal with this type of problem as soon as it is brought to their attention. 

"This certain individual was told not to put any further postings up that were basically misrepresenting the facts and then he went and did it again. He was warned and hopefully, we won't have any more of that."

READ MORE: City To Host Open House on Leisure Centre Weight Room