Niverville’s council met on the evening of March 17 to discuss a variety of items on the town’s agenda. Deputy Mayor John Funk was absent due to self-isolation after travel. 

COVID-19 Update and Open Health 

Mayor Myron Dyck provided an update on the town’s response to COVID-19.

“We are in constant contact with the provincial authorities regarding COVID-19,” said Dyck. “We are having meetings regarding what should be open or closed and we will try to decide this on a two-week basis. We are trying to follow what the province has said, and so far this is going well. We are also in contact with [Open Health], and as of Monday the province has approved paying doctors for virtual visits.”

According to a statement on Open Health’s social media, the clinic will begin to implement virtual appointments starting Thursday, March 19. These appointments can be made by calling the clinic at 204-388-6626.

Note that online booking is currently disabled, and people who have existing appointments will be contacted to arrange virtual appointments instead. Voice calls, texting, and video-conferencing will all be available. The clinic asks for patience when calling in so they can continue to provide optimal patient care due to a high number of calls.

Open Health emphasizes that if you have travelled outside of the country in the last 14 days or if you have cold/flu-like symptoms, please do not visit the clinic in person. 

Massage Therapist 

A conditional use permit was approved for Carrie Baldwin, a registered massage therapist, to open a business at 226 Main Street. Baldwin has been practicing since 2014 and is moving from Ste. Agathe to Niverville in April.

Several of Baldwin’s supporters attended the meeting and letters of support had been emailed to council, which were read into record. The emails pointed to long wait times at other local massage therapists and noted that Baldwin would provide a valuable service to the community.

CAO Eric King commented on the parking situation at 226 Main, stating that the town would need to review parking if more businesses moved to that location. Other councillors echoed the concern about parking, especially since the parking on the east side of the building is immediately adjacent to the parking for the MCC Thrift Store and is quite busy.

Anya’s Hair Salon has reduced its footprint on the main floor, and 226 Main now accommodates three smaller businesses in total: Anya’s, Twenty Twenty Tattoo Studio, and Carrie Baldwin’s massage business.

“As there is no ‘new’ commercial space being created at this building, the massage therapist is just a change of tenants, and the parking demands at this site have not changed, with Carrie Baldwin leasing the space that was previously occupied by the Knowles Warkentine Bridges accounting office,” said Ray Dowse, who owns the building at 226 Main. “All changes at the building have been completed with continual dialogue with the town. In my opinion, the changes at the site have reduced parking demands from what they were, and the repurposing will create a great place for all of these operations to run successful businesses.” 

Tree-Planting Initiative 

A new tree-planting project has been unveiled that would see 40 new trees available to the community at no cost to residents. The 2020 Niverville Community Tree-Planting Initiative is a partnership between TC Energy, the Town of Niverville, and Niverville Communities in Bloom.

“We want to thank TC Energy for their donation, which makes the trees available,” said Councillor Nathan Dueck. “And also Communities in Bloom. That committee has done a wonderful job in keeping Niverville green in the past years and they are doing an amazing job in organizing this initiative.”

The trees will be allocated to specific areas around town where residents will be canvassed to secure their participation. Trees will be planted in front yards, subject to soil sampling and location approval by the committee.

Starting on Saturday, May 23, property owners, volunteers, and professionals will join together to plant the trees. Property owners would need to agree to care for the trees post-planting and be given instructions for tree care as well as access to the town’s arborist for support.

Ongoing community urban canopy enhancement programs will be determined based on the success of this project and available funding sources. 

Olde Tyme Country Fair 

The Olde Tyme Country Fair is scheduled to celebrate its twenty-fifth anniversary on the weekend of June 12–13. Council passed a permit regarding noise until 1:30 a.m. relating to the event, which surpasses the regular curfew for noise as set out in town bylaws. The event will also be granted a permit to serve alcohol. Both permits are in keeping with previous precedents set in previous years relating to the event.

The fair committee also requested a community grant from the town in the amount of $40,000 to help support the event, which the town approved, in keeping with other years of similar funding support.

The fair also requested an additional $10,000 grant to put towards a bigger fireworks display than usual in celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary.

The town had previously requested $80,000 in grant funding for a Canada Day celebration, but they were awarded only $10,000. Since this amount doesn’t meet the budget requirements of a town-wide Canada Day celebration, council agreed to reallocate this amount to the Old Tyme Country Fair for use in their fireworks display.

The fair is also considering extending its footprint of free admittance and decreasing its gated entry footprint in celebration of the anniversary. This would mean the fireworks display could be accessible to even more people. 

Other Business 

Requests for proposals were awarded for a variety of town projects. Wendel Friesen was contracted to redo the exterior of the arena. BelleFosh Signs will be responsible for the Niverville Community Resource Centre’s donor wall. Trotco Electric Inc. is taking on the contract to provide lighting for the walking path in Hespeler Park that will extend from the south end of the park, between the soccer fields, to Hespeler Park Road.

After a brief discussion, council passed the first reading of changes made to the town’s bylaw governing the waste levy. The levy will be changed to an annual fee of $118.04 per residential unit to a maximum of $200, which is in keeping with previous years of cost recovery. Council’s discussion surrounded how to encourage residents to recycle more materials, as recycling is less costly for the town than waste collection.

The town’s financial plan, unveiled in January, received its first reading. Council reflected that even though the budget is set to cost more for residents (a two percent tax increase), average taxpayers will actually see a decrease in their overall taxes. This is because as Niverville grows, contributions to education have gone up via property taxes collected from all property types, not just personal/residential properties.

“We grew enough business- and homes-wise that the school tax collected went up,” King explained.