Council Debrief: Looking Towards 2023

Council this week is chaired by Deputy Mayor Hedley, who will not be deputy for much longer! As the only candidate for mayor in the upcoming election, Hedley has won by acclamation and will be the new mayor of Neepawa after the October 26th election.

In committee reports, Councillor Nadeau reports the Rossburn Subdivision Trails Association will be requesting help to maintain the trails in the Rosedale portion of the track until such time as Rosedale is in a place to resume maintenance. He indicates that it is a one-time request, but the concern from Council is that once taken on, this duty might be adopted for the long-term which could be a significant unbudgeted expense for the town. As well, he reports that the Western Manitoba Regional Library, which includes Neepawa, is discussing increasing levies to ensure that all their employees have a living wage. Nadeau stresses the importance of having Council representation on these boards to advocate for ratepayers, as he has seen representation decrease from other areas over the course of the pandemic.

Councillor Parrot reports on the Physician Recruitment and Retention conference he attended with Mayor McCutcheon, which was also attended by healthcare professionals and administrators from across the province, including speakers from many different disciplines. Ultimately, he says, the solution for increasing the number of professionals in the province is not to recruit them from one another but to increase the number of professionals being trained in the province, not just at colleges and universities but also at facilities like the proposed LPN training centre in Neepawa

Manager of Operations Denis Saquet addresses the question of when the paving will be completed around town. He reports that the paving crew will return the week after next to finish the streets, and they also have crews doing concrete curb repairs around town. If the weather holds, that means that the streets will be completed before the first significant snowfall. They have also been working down at the pool now that the swimming season is over, and have started the base pad for the waterslide as well as some initial plumbing work.

Saquet also announces that compost pickup will start next week, on the Tuesday after the long weekend and then on the regular day of Mondays following that.

Two requests for funding are received by Council, one for the Viterra Men’s Curling Championships which are coming to Neepawa in February of 2023, and the other from the Neepawa Novas gymnastics club looking for help to fund open gym classes for the public. This close to the election, Council felt that both of those should be handled by the new Council, though they indicated they certainly felt both were worthy projects. The other consideration is that both of those requests would normally be considered under the town’s granting process. While they do have other avenues for funding when necessary, ordinarily the town receives applications to their granting program by December 31 of each year and considers them as part of their budgeting process.

Also covered were the regular financial reports, a few further additions to this year’s tax rolls, this year’s Santa Claus Parade street closures, and commendations to Kinsmen Kourts 2 for producing a beautiful and much needed facility.