Neepawa Council Debrief: Crime and Justice Top the Agenda

This week’s meeting of the Neepawa Town Council starts out with a look at the work of the Spruce Plains Justice Committee and the RCMP quarterly report, and also covers upcoming community events, progress on construction projects, Dutch Elm Disease tree removals, and municipal funding.

Councillor Parrott begins with an report on the information night for the upcoming LPN program, set to begin in January. He reports that over 30 people were interviewed at the event for the remaining spaces, and the Manager of Operations adds that the new facility is nearly complete.

Councillor Nadeau shares his recent visit to Stony Mountain Institution, known as Stony Mountain Penitentiary, in his capacity as a member of the Spruce Plains Justice Committee. The federal institution is located a short distance outside Winnipeg and can collectively house almost 800 prisoners under three levels of security. Nadeau calls his visit a “life-changing experience” which gives you a very different perspective on everything in your life. The Spruce Plains Justice Committee is a volunteer group that focuses on restorative justice in order to keep people out of institutions like Stony Mountain, finding alternative resolutions that fit the crime.

Wrapping up the Council reports, Councillor Sisley reports on the results of the What’s the Big Idea entrepreneur event, which saw seven entrepreneurs pitch their projects, and she promotes the upcoming Halloween Haunted Forest event which is a partnership between the Town of Neepawa, the Kin Club, Settlement Services, and Fil-Can.

Manager of Operations Denis Saquet once again largely has his team focused on completing some ongoing projects before freeze-up, including the Park Lake reconstruction. The main portion of dam construction is expected to be completed within the next two weeks, and residents are once again reminded to please stay off the site as crews are working seven days a week. Other ongoing projects include the new lagoon, reconstruction of Hurrell Road, bike park, and site cleaning and streetlight installation at the former CN property.

CAO Colleen Synchyshyn goes into some detail about the quarterly Spruce Plains RCMP report this month. Council receives these reports regularly and they include items such as crime statistics, new initiatives and crime prevention projects, and specific incident reports.

Council makes decisions on dealing with a couple of straightforward but necessary projects. The first is tackling this year’s Dutch Elm Disease tree removal list. There are 33 trees being removed this year, which is a little bit higher than normal, because there are some healthy trees being removed as well to try to halt root to root spread of the disease. They also reviewed tenders in conjunction with the Manitoba Water Services Board for a water main extension along PTH 16. Estimated at over a million dollars, this significant project will provide service not just to the new hospital but to the entire area.

Finally, Whitemud Watershed has come to Council requesting a bump to their annual contribution. They have recently been notified about an increase in the provincial funding they are eligible to receive, and there is a program requirement for a percentage of matching funds from the municipality. However, The town of Neepawa has already budgeted for their annual levy to Whitemud Watershed this year without that increase.

Also covered were the regular financial reports and an application to the Storefront Improvement Program.