Council Debrief: Welcoming the Newbies

The first order of business this week is to swear in the new Council, which includes five returning members - Brian Hedley, who moved up from Deputy Mayor to Mayor in this term, along with Darryl Gerrard, Jason Nadeau, Marijka Kostenchuk, and Murray Parrott, whom Hedley later names as his Deputy Mayor - and two new Councillors elected for this term - Lisa Pottinger and Yvonne Sisley. Council Members are given their committee appointments for this term and conduct all necessary ceremony and paperwork to be able to proceed with regular business, which includes conflict of interest declarations and a review of the code of conduct bylaw.

Councillor Kostenchuk reports on the success of a fundraiser for the local Handivan, which raised over $3000, and Councillor Sisley gives her first report as the councillor responsible for recreation, reporting on the recreation department’s Halloween activities. Deputy Mayor Parrott gives an update on paving work at the clinic, the upcoming deadline for the Farm and Leisure Lottery, and the imminent retirement of longtime local physician Dr. Ong. Physician recruitment has been an ongoing process as the community grows.

Manager of Operations Denis Saquet is once again called on to talk about the state of road repairs in town, and is finally able to report that after 14 months, Davidson Street has been completed and reopened, and the work by the arena and community centre at Mountain and Commerce will be next. Any remaining paving work after that will have to be scheduled for the spring, including the new tennis courts, due to the challenges of declining temperatures.

Saquet also covers several other projects around town, including waterways approval for the removal of the temporary crossing at park lake, and replacement of the golf course bridge that was washed out. The new reservoir at the water treatment plant is now fully up and running, with very few hiccups along the way. Staff also completed their annual swabbing of the pipes from the wellsite this past weekend.

He reminds Councillors and residents that the yard waste program is still ongoing, and to ensure they use compostable bags or the waste will not be picked up. The official ribbon cutting for the new RCMP station will be on Friday, November 4th, and 1 pm, with tours of both that building and the nearby fire hall available.

Now that the location of the new hospital has been confirmed, CAO Colleen Synchyshyn is starting the process of getting all required services to the area. According to Synchyshyn, the sale of the land closed the day of the meeting and the RHA is looking for a documented commitment from the town to extending services to the site including roads, sewer, and water. Council holds first reading of that resolution, followed by first reading of a bylaw to open the new road. That second resolution will then be circulated provincially for comments before proceeding to second and third readings in three to four weeks.

Also covered were the continued availability of FoodCyclers from the town office, the annual snow removal agreement with Manitoba Transport and Infrastructure, and the appointment of Mayor Hedley to the Provincial-Municipal Justice Advisory Committee.