Niverville’s council gathered on the morning of Tuesday, December 3 to discuss a range of business on the town’s agenda. Mayor Myron Dyck was present alongside councillors Nathan Dueck, Kevin Stott, and John Funk. Councillor Chris Wiebe was absent.
Planning Sessions
Mayor Dyck began by calling back to the recent 2020 planning session that occurred during the last weekend of November. By the end of that session, council had arrived at a preliminary budget.
The preliminary budget includes a number of major capital projects, including the paving of Sixth Avenue from Main Street to south of Sheffield Way, a renewal of the town’s core sidewalk network, the rebuilding of the intersections at Main and Third Avenue and Main and Prairie Trail, the second phase of pathway lighting at Hespeler Park, and an increase to the town’s tree-planting and maintenance budget from $30,000 to $40,000.
Additionally, Arena Road will be reconstructed following the road work that occurred this fall, pathways will be built to connect the rail crossing and the CRRC, and the CRRC parking lot will be expanded.
In conjunction with students of the Niverville High School art department, an art project installation will also be undertaken to improve the façade of the current arena.
Sewer Replacement Program
As an update to the previous year’s planning session, council once again brought up the subject of replacing the sewer mains in the core of Niverville.
“Following further analysis over the past year, the project is now set to commence in 2021 and will include four blocks of Niverville every second year,” reads a press release provided by council. “In addition, the project has been expanded to include the laying of water mains on the same block as the sewer repair. It is anticipated that residents will receive advance notice of when their blocks will be scheduled for infrastructure upgrades.”
New Business
The first order of new business involved the appointment of a weed inspector, for the period of March 1, 2020 through February 28, 2021. The duties of the weed inspector for the coming year will be carried out by the bylaw enforcement officer, provided by the Commissionaires. The motion was carried unanimously.
The current Fire Department Executive, consisting of Fire Chief Keith Bueckert, and Deputy Chiefs Brad Wasilinchuk and Stan Hiebert, will be reappointed for another one-year term beginning January 1.
Next up were two bylaws stipulating that town staff and members of council will receive a 1.4 percent increase in pay for the coming year, an increase which is tied to inflation. The first and second readings of these bylaws were passed. A third and final reading will follow later this month.
Council then discussed the 2020 interim budget, of $10,352,000, which will cover town operations until a formal 2020 budget is arrived at this upcoming spring. Of this total, $5.6 million is related to the CRRC.
At last, the town received two bids in response to its RFP for the design and surveying of reconstructing Arena Road. The lower bid came from WSP at $8,200, which was unanimously accepted.
Wastewater Cooperative
The biggest item on the agenda concerns a resolution regarding wastewater management.
CAO Eric King read into the record the following resolution: “Whereas the Town of Niverville has a lagoon and sewer utility for which the municipality is responsible for and whereas the town acknowledges that there is substantial residential and commercial growth on the horizon in southeastern Manitoba that requires a long-term solution to sustainably manage wastewater effluent in an economically and environmentally responsible manner for the region, and whereas the town is collaborating in a mutually beneficial manner with the municipalities of Hanover, Ritchot, and Tache to find an economical and ecological solution to the similar challenges faced by each municipality, therefore be it resolved that the town enters into a memorandum of understanding to establish the framework of project, plans, and funding application of the RSR Wastewater Cooperative. And be it further resolved that the town supports the submission of the RSR Wastewater Cooperative application under the green infrastructure stream of the Investing in Canada infrastructure program in the amount of $109 million. And be it further resolved that the town, through the RSR Wastewater Cooperative commits its financial contribution, based on the financial contribution agreement of the cooperative, to develop a regional wastewater network that serves the four municipalities and provides a value for money to the Province of Manitoba and Government of Canada and the application for project funding. And be it further resolved that the town assigns CAO Eric King, Operations Manager Ryan Dyck, and Mayor Myron Dyck as the representatives of the steering committee for the RSR Wastewater Cooperative.”
This resolution was passed unanimously.
The town has declined to offer further comment on this proposal until the other municipalities involved in the project have had the opportunity to pass similar resolutions in the coming week. A full announcement of this project is expected to occur within the next week and a half.