Niverville’s council met on the evening of Tuesday, February 4 to discuss a variety of items on the town’s agenda. Councillors Kevin Stott and Chris Wiebe were absent. 

Changes Coming to Street Parking Ban 

Schedule B under Bylaw 801-18 was discussed, as the town has identified the need to provide clarification on the exact times and locations for overnight parking bans after a snowfall.

The changes discussed also make it clear that car owners are not allowed to move their car from one street under a ban during one timeframe to a street not under a ban for another timeframe, since the result would still be cars being left on banned streets.

“The bylaw update now clearly stipulates what the parking ban means and gives the town the ability to tow vehicles,” said Mayor Myron Dyck. “We need to be able to ensure all streets can be clear for emergency and snow-clearing.”

The bylaw was amended by resolution and passed by council. The full details of the parking ban restrictions will be communicated to the public shortly. 

New Constructions Standards Resolution 

The town’s resident engineer-in-training, Daniel Wiebe, made a presentation on proposed updates to the standards for the design and construction of public works. Wiebe has been the town’s civic engineer-in-training since October 2019 and this project has been a major undertaking.

“The goal is we update it in spring and fall,” said Wiebe. “If we update in spring, it’s ready for construction season. If we update in fall, it’s ready for any planning done in winter.”

Wiebe’s report included many suggested changes that will bring Niverville’s standards in line with those upheld by the City of Winnipeg. Other changes update wording to more accurately reflect the town’s current available personnel in positions of authority and signing. The updates focus on changes that are more environmentally friendly, but they also allow for flexibility for contractors to still successfully comply with them.

These updates were already used for the recent Arena Road project.

Some examples of standards that are due for an update include water main depth, which will be changed from eight feet to nine feet due to frost risk. This will also ease the accessibility of water main valve mechanisms. The types of insulation that are allowed will be updated to be more environmentally friendly. Changes to the location of town catch basins will also disallow catch basins from being installed under roadways from now on. This will help prevent roadways from becoming obstructed during repair jobs.

“Storm water retention is now being addressed,” said Wiebe. “For example, the lakes in the new developments serve as storm water retention and any new developments need to show their plans for water retention moving forward. Infill development and storm water planning must be addressed, and this will be done on a case by case basis with each developer.”

Before tabling the resolution, various councillors expressed the desire for more information on some of the updates, and changes to a few others, including adding a minimum requirement that one tree be planted per residential lot.

Councillors also expressed concern over the potential driveway size allotment in regards to developers’ requests for smaller lots. The driveway size would be 30 percent of the total lot size, to a maximum of 50 percent.

“We’re seeing developers applying for smaller and smaller lots,” said Councillor John Funk. “Town lots used to be 40 feet, but now developers want 30 feet. If developers want 30-foot lots, the driveway stipulations seem small. The concern is that people still need to be able to park two cars on a driveway and not need to park in the street. What’s allowed seems too small.” 

Other Business 

The fee schedule to replace broken seals on water meters was discussed by council. The fee is currently $50, which covers the cost to replace the seal, but the fee schedule needs to be adjusted to coincide more closely with the town’s new schedule for meter reading.

A fine of $500 exists right now to address any proven overages of water consumption and tampering with water meters, but the exact details on the relationship of the fine versus the fee schedule is unclear.

This item was tabled until further information can be provided to council.

The town will contribute $36,000 to a climate study to support the Red-Seine-Rat Wastewater Cooperative. The town’s contribution was calculated by a percentage of use as determined among the four rural municipalities involved.

The federal government requires a Climate Lens study be submitted before undertaking large infrastructure projects like this one. Instituted by Infrastructure Canada in June 2018, the study covers the funding, design, construction, and operation of the project in relation to its environmental impact, greenhouse gas emissions, and other stressors that affect climate change.