North Cypress-Langford Council: Creating a Framework for Accountability

This month the Council for North Cypress-Langford focused on cleaning up the municipality including road fixes, bylaws regarding derelict buildings, and investigating environmental complaints from constituents.

During a routine public hearing, Council heard concerns about construction trash being dumped on a road allowance (not an active road), which required a letter to be sent to the offender. As well, there have been issues with irrigation equipment leaving water on roads, which violates a bylaw but has been difficult to enforce. Council is looking at developing a matching bylaw to surrounding municipalities to normalize enforcement measures across the region.

A new bylaw regarding vacant and derelict buildings received second reading at the meeting. The bylaw was intended to allow Council to deal with hazardous properties that are not being maintained by the owner, on a complaint-driven basis. However, Council ultimately voted down the bylaw as written, in order to work with the planning department.

Other property-related issues that came before Council include the unpermitted construction of a lagoon and a drainage backup due to beaver activity. As well, some residents are asking for a new water line to be put in that would service their area, and an offer has been made to help the mowers catch up with some neglected back roads, but there are liability issues associated with that. Recent hiring should eliminate that problem once the newer operators are up to speed.

In what will certainly be welcome news to residents of the northern portion of North Cypress-Langford, beginning in 2024 the municipality will have a presence in the Neepawa County Court Building twice a week during tax season. Council also voted to help fund the completion of electrical and plumbing work for the new campground, which has run well over the original budget for the project.