This week’s Neepawa Town Council meeting was the longest we’ve seen in some time, including some significant conversation around property development and immigration. The first half of the meeting kicks off with a controversial public hearing and winds up with an in-depth portrait of immigration over the past ten years.

A piece of property on Adelaide Street in the Southeast corner of town has been the subject of some disagreement since it was first sold by the town for development in 2018, and we again see some objections to the newest proposed variance order to reduce the minimum lot size to be able to subdivide a sixth lot within the parcel of land.

While many of the objections are to the size of the potential home on the smaller lot and the impact on property values, others concerns are about drainage in that area of town. As we all know, that end of town was heavily impacted during the Canada Day flood in 2020 and some residents still haven’t entirely recovered. Prior to its sale, the piece of property had been used as green space by the residents and had been maintained by volunteers.

Following the public hearing, Council heard a presentation by Don Walmsley, Executive Director of Neepawa and Area Immigrant Settlement Services (NAISS), who briefs them on the mandate of the organization and the growth its seen over the past ten to fifteen years. In that period of time, the town’s population has increased from roughly 3400 to its present 6000+ and the newcomer population, primarily Filipino, now accounts for approximately 45% of the entire population of the town. Some of the most recent projects of NAISS include expanding their Settlement Workers in Schools (SWIS) program into additional area schools as well as a pilot project that assists with the community integration process right from infancy and even prenatal care.