Chris Istace hopes to be re-elected for a second term on Estevan City Council.

Istace first joined Council in the 2009 election. He said he enjoyed the experience of the last three years, and the opportunity he had to be involved with the direction of the community.

Infrastructure is the biggest challenge that Istace sees facing the city. And Istace believes it goes deeper than the state of the roads. Streets and avenues need to be repaired to boost the first impression that people have of the community, but Estevan also needs to finish construction on the new water reservoir and it needs to upgrade the sewage plant to allow Estevan's growth to continue.

He is currently part of the standing committee on infrastructure for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. A lot of communities across the country are facing the same challenges as Estevan, he said.

"I wanted to see if there was any way I could educate myself, help out with this board, and bring ideas back to Estevan," said Istace.

Municipalities are bearing the brunt of infrastructure costs, Istace said. The federal government isn't funneling money to provinces, and provinces aren't able to get the money to communities, and that's why municipalities have to pay most of the infrastructure expenses.  

He also wants to see a positive attitude about Estevan constantly promoted. Estevan is a great place to live, and Istace believes Council should be "a cheerleader" and "an advocate" for the community, while portraying Estevan in a positive light.

"There's always something to be optimistic about, so we have to make sure we keep being optimistic and positive for everything we do in the city," said Istace.

Istace said he wanted to seek the mayor's post in this year's civic election, but due to existing commitments with work, business, family and other community involvements, he decided that he should seek another term as councillor.