Niverville’s town council met for their evening public meeting a week later than their usual scheduled time as the mayor and some councillors recently attended a conference in Toronto.

Council will be making a presentation regarding the conference at their morning June 4 meeting. The conference provided an opportunity for council to rub shoulders with technology start-ups interested in setting up in towns and cities across the country.

A number of council recommendations were on the May 28 agenda.

A no-parking zone will be implemented on the west side of Prairie Trail between the Prairie Crossings development and Second Street North. The motion is in response to complaints regarding traffic problems at the entrance to Prairie Crossings caused by vehicles parked too close to the traffic island.

Council entertained a request by Communities in Bloom to replace the fence bordering the Niverville Credit Union parking lot and install historical signage on this site, as well as at the site of the Niverville Pharmacy. Approval has already been received from the businesses at those locations. Council voted in favor of the request.

CAO Eric King was pleased to announce that the town’s clean-up day was a success, with approximately 38,000 kilograms of waste being collected at Bristal Hauling and diverted from the landfill.

King also made council aware that the 2018 financial report has been received by the auditor. This is the first year that council has used this auditor.

“It was done by an accountant who was a lot more engaging because they actually ask more questions, whereas the previous auditors have been around for a little too long and were just checking the boxes,” King told council. “It was nice to have someone who tries to push you to think a little differently in how we account for some things.”

King noted that his hope is to rotate to a new auditor every three years in order to continue with this kind of oversight.

A scope change was introduced for the upcoming Community Resource Centre which would include the installation of an extra electrical conduit. Trotco Electric was awarded the contract for $9,595. The conduit will double as a charging station for electric vehicles down the road.

“We’re putting in the conduit now, knowing that the building will last for 60 or 70 years and [during that time] the electric vehicle is likely to [gain popularity],” says Mayor Myron Dyck. “It’s something that we hadn’t thought about in the initial plans, but we’re now saying that we want to at least put the conduit down so that we have two potential spaces where vehicles could charge.”

Council voted on a resolution made by the southeast quadrant of the Winnipeg Metro Region to eliminate the use of plastic bags in the province. Niverville council, as a part of the southeast quadrant, has been actively seeking ways to improve the diversion rates to waste facilities, improve recycling techniques, and thus better the environment.

In the resolution, King noted that three billion single-use plastic bags are used in Canada every year. The current recycling rate of these plastic bags is about one percent.

“Communities across North America are successfully curbing the use of single-use plastic bags by passing resolutions and legislation that prohibit their use,” King adds.

Council voted in favor of the initiative with the understanding that the Association of Manitoba Municipalities will lobby the province on their behalf.

Council also voted in favor of adding four bylaws which will increase the level of authority given to the bylaw enforcement officer. The first will be to ensure that local for-hire vehicles, such as taxi services, are registered with the town. The officer will also be given authority to enforce noise control bylaws and parking violations in handicap parking spots. Finally, they will deal with vandalism and damage done to park facilities. The bylaw officer will be granted the right to issue tickets and fines in these circumstances.

A concrete contract has been awarded to Armada Construction in the sum of $124,722 for sidewalk construction along Sixth Avenue South, Bronstone Drive, and Main Street, as well as for repairs to curbs around town.

Local COPP representatives Lindsay Unrau and Rachelle Baker attended the meeting to make specific requests of council on behalf of the COPP program. The first request was for the volunteer group’s use of at least one town vehicle and fuel for the vehicle. The second was for the provision of monthly meeting space at no cost to the group. The third included an annual subsidy of $3,000. The subsidy would provide the group with marketing materials, items for patrolling that are not provided by MPI, and a reward program to keep volunteers engaged.

Upon deliberation, council agreed in assisting the COPP organizers with the first two requests. In terms of a subsidy, council suggested that COPP could piggyback on the town’s newsletter and monthly Citizen ad rather than providing additional funds for marketing.

Several council members suggested that it would be unbalanced to reward one volunteer committee when other committees have come to them with similar requests in the past which council has felt compelled to turn down.

“We want to encourage people to come out,” says Unrau. “The problem is, [a past program] failed because people just don’t want to put the time in to come out at night. So we have to offer some sort of incentive.”

She adds that, in her mind, COPP is a community social service provided which is similar to the town’s fire and emergency services. Volunteers in those departments are provided by the town with a nominal wage even though they are volunteers.

“Is [COPP] not an essential service?” Unrau asked council. “You have made this a central part of your policing strategy. Does that not make it an essential service?”

Council agreed to continue to entertain ways in which they can assist the COPP program on a financial level. It was suggested that the incentive program and additional items COPP requires would need to be discussed at November’s financial planning session in order to incorporate them into the annual budget.

“I think we need to do some due diligence as far as what the RM of Ritchot is doing and what others are doing,” says Mayor Dyck. “What has worked for them and what hasn’t worked for them. We need to do a little homework.”