RM of Rosedale Addresses Concerns Over Roaming Animals

This month, the RM of Rosedale is welcoming a new CAO. Melissa McDonald has joined the team as of July 17th and is currently learning the ropes of the municipality. Other than two delegations that presented to Council, the July meeting centred largely around routine business items including road repairs, donation requests, and committee reports.

One issue that did arise was a request for a policy review around the sale of public land. A purchaser would like to purchase a municipality-owned piece of land adjacent to his own in order to consolidate the properties and install a new septic field. There is an existing mechanism for Council to set an asking price for that land rather than putting it up for public auction - the usual way to offer a piece of municipal property - that they will be looking into.

Another issue raised was increasing signage for attractions within the municipality. There are sites such as Kerr’s Lake and Big Valley that are tourism draws but can be difficult to locate without highway signage or increased promotion by the municipality.

The first delegation came early in the meeting and was from Manitoba Pork to talk to Council about the Wild Pig Awareness Campaign which hopes to control the invasive species. They offered abundant information on what to look out for, and what to do if you spot a wild pig. Wild pigs, which includes every animal not held in an enclosed space for agricultural or recreational purposes, are an increasing problem in the province. The first instinct of many people in rural areas is to shoot the animals, which is actually counterproductive to the eradication of the problem. The delegation has been addressing many Councils and other groups to help spread awareness and correct misinformation.

The other delegation's presentation took place near the end of the meeting, where Darren Payjack, the owner of two dogs which broke into the Neepawa Bird Sanctuary and killed several of the birds earlier in July, addressed Council about the incident and the subsequent steps that were taken. Payjack had also received multiple warnings on previous occasions about the need to ensure his dogs were not roaming. Council has the animals in their custody for the time being and took Payjack’s statement under advisement. They will be discussing future actions at a later date after they do more investigation into the incident.