Neepawa Council Debrief: Property Permissions and Road Woes

This week’s Neepawa Town Council meeting covers a plethora of projects from public works, specifically focusing on road and sidewalk issues, as well as a public hearing that drew some concerns.

Jumping right into that public hearing, there were no objections to the variation application itself, but Adrian de Groot, who lives in the area, brought forward a concern about the lack of an easement agreement on his property from Manitoba Hydro, which uses it to service and maintain power for residences in the area. The variation was ultimately passed but the Council noted the concerns and may help investigate further.

In Council reports, we hear about the success of the recent job fair, which saw 20 businesses and post-secondary institutions and 64 job seekers, with at least 12 hires as a result. Councillor Nadeau brought forward an initiative from the Brandon Library where they did a preservation project for oral histories. The Neepawa Library, which along with Brandon is part of the Westman Regional Library, would be interested in doing something similar.

Councillor Gerrard brought news that the County Courthouse has passed an interim budget, and is looking at what he calls modernizing funding within and for the facility. The Beautiful Plains County Courthouse is governed by The Beautiful Plains County Buildings Act of 1990 which stipulates that the courthouse is jointly under the care of the Town of Neepawa, the Municipality of Rosedale, and the municipality of Langford, which became North Cypress-Langford during amalgamation in 2015. Any changes must be made with the consent of the Minister of Rural Development, which is now in the Minister of Municipal and Northern Relations portfolio.

Now that we’re into warmer weather, Manager of Operations Denis Saquet says that things are progressing on the new membrane material at the wastewater treatment plant and that the water expansion to the hospital is now delivering potable water that has passed testing so they are proceeding with any corrections and changes that are needed.

Saquet says they are talking to contractors and equipment suppliers to work out how to tackle fixing all of the roads, which would include not only patching but also drainage. In addition to that, he met with the active transportation consultants about making the town more walkable and bikeable, which will not only get people more active but would also reduce wear and tear and extend the life of our roads. Now that Park Lake has come back to life, Saquet says the contractors are already booked to complete rebuilding the paths and they are just waiting for the weather to cooperate.

Also covered were the financial report, street closures for the Filipino Heritage Month Parade, concrete work around the pool deck, and lot rezoning.