Council Debrief: Brevity is the Soul of Wit

Council had several items to report at this week’s meeting but most of them went through swiftly with little discussion.

In the Council reports, the Westman Regional Library Board has finalized its 2022 budget and the town will see an increase in its contribution by 80 cents per capita, however this will be based on the 2016 and not the 2021 census data. Also, the County Courthouse committee has started having preliminary conversations with architects to look at how the building might be made more accessible, and the volunteer fire department is looking for more members who meet all the criteria to be able to serve.

Manager of Operations Denis Saquet had nothing new on the docket for this week but he did update Council on two ongoing projects. Snow has been a major consideration all winter, and town staff have finally had a chance to scrape down the main thoroughfares fully and are working now on widening the residential streets, just in time for more snow to fall next week. Saquet also wants to ensure that everyone understands that the riprap being transported to Park Lake is to prevent erosion and they are not constructing a makeshift barrier with it. The spring melt will continue to flow through the area and exit through the water’s current path.

This year saw a budget surplus of $1.73 million, partly due to the expansion of the town and increase of the tax base, and partly due to pandemic-related closures such as the pool and campground. This has been an unusual year in that respect, and Council took the CAO’s recommendations as to into which reserves to transfer that surplus.

Finally, the town passed a bylaw relating to the upcoming municipal election to ensure that candidates do not use municipal resources for an advantage in the election. This has never been a problem in Neepawa, but towns and municipalities across the province are being asked to pass this bylaw to ensure it’s on the books at least 180 days before the next municipal election, which is in October.

Other items discussed included an MPI claim for the use of town firefighting resources, the construction of a new multi-unit residential building, the regular financial report, the purchase of a new snowblower attachment, and the passing of the capital assets bylaw which was covered on the previous episode.