At the Apr. 23 regular meeting, RM of Wallace-Woodworth council gave third reading to the by-law to approve the 2024 Financial Plan and set the rates of taxes and their due date. The by-law passed with a vote of six in favour and one opposed.
Members of Elkhorn District Community Centre committee have requested bridge financing of $50,000 from the municipality to proceed with the installation of the new artificial ice plant. Council unanimously passed a by-law approving the loan.
The by-law setting the new remuneration for reeve and council was discussed and passed first reading. As noted in the budget presentation, April 18, council indemnity was frozen since amalgamation in 2015 until now.
Elkhorn RTM childcare facility project continues to show steady progress, with the siding completed and interior plumbing and electrical nearing completion. Council approved the payment to JQ Built of $14,043.75 for geotechnical site servicing and for project progress payment number seven of $547,454.52.
SUPPORT REQUESTS
Elkhorn Agricultural Society requested continued assistance from the municipality by granting permission to use municipal machinery to mow the fairgrounds. As they have done in previous years, council agreed to give this permission as long there is time and equipment available.
Assiniboine West Watershed District(AWWD) requested that the RM include a two-sided flyer in the tax notice envelope to inform residents of the municipality about AWWD programs available for producers and landowners. Reeve Clayton Canart said, “We support AWWD and if we have more of our ratepayers or producers that can take advantage the programming, I think it’s good for them to know about it.” Council approved the request.
Elkhorn Leisure Centre submitted a letter stating that their insurance costs are going up and requested that their policy be included in the municipal insurance plan. Administration will determine what the extra costs would be, and council will discuss the issue at a future meeting.
Assiniboine Valley Producers submitted a letter asking council to pass a resolution confirming support for their efforts to deal with the flooding of farmland in the Assiniboine valley. In the discussion of the request CAO Garth Mitchell noted that the problem, “is decades old.” He said, “The frustrating part from the producers’ end is the artificial flooding is uncovered (for government assistance). So even though it's not a natural event, the flooding is having a big impact on them… right now, they don't fit into any program.”
Coun. Barb Stambuski added, “Every time this is mismanaged, they get higher flows through there. It affects us too on Wolverine Road and the amount of erosion that's happening there.”
Reeve Canart noted that the Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM) Western Caucus was assisting area producers to meet with provincial government representatives and suggested that if that group drafted a resolution, Wallace-Woodworth would support it.
Both Kenton and Elkhorn LUDs informed council that road conditions in their towns were becoming dangerous. CAO Mitchell referred to the “deplorable condition of Richhill Avenue East (Elkhorn) that's basically exploding.”
COUNCILLOR REPORTS
Coun. Diana MacDonald reported from the Kenton LUD meeting that the committee voted to pour a higher sidewalk in front of White’s Lumber to keep water from draining into the business. Council accepted the proposal submitted by Brad Nixon of $6,123 to complete the repairs. Community welcome signs along the highway will be installed this summer.
Coun. Mark Humphries reported that work on the Virden branch of Border Regional Library is continuing with repairs necessary to comply with codes like accessible washrooms and stairs. He said that the community of Oak Lake is still interested in joining the library agreement between the current three municipalities. Humphries referred to the library agreement and suggested that the proposal be discussed at the next council meeting, adding that Pipestone will be approached as well to see if they have any interest in joining the regional library.
A break-in at the McAuley branch of the library resulted in the loss of about $938, the proceeds of fundraising. Humphries added that other buildings in the town had also been targeted, including the rink and RM of Ellice-Archie office.
Coun. Lyle Kinnaird reported that he attended the Souris River Watershed District (SRWD) meeting and said that the GRowing Outcomes in Watersheds (GROW) program has paid out $353,000 in the last 10 years with increased funding currently at $50,000 a year.
He also attended the Dennis County Development Partnership meeting where the area housing assessment was discussed. Kinnaird explained what this study could provide saying, “Basically, you're going to get the state of housing, and you're going to get summary of funding options.”
Reeve Canart attended the AMM spring convention. At the medical first response session he learned that “they're bringing back the first responder program for people to have some basic skills to be on site, and requiring everybody to have the EMR training.” He said the next generation of 911 is being developed that will include features like the ability to text message 911.
From the Western Caucus, Canart reported there is a problem with the banners for veterans that the RM of Pipestone bought to hang on hydro poles. He said, “Now they're being told by Hydro they can't put them on the poles, which they don't understand because they can hang flower planters and different things on there.”
The cost of audits is becoming high enough to be detrimental to smaller organizations and the AMM caucus will prepare a resolution to present to the provincial government, asking for financial assistance for that.
The caucus discussed the refrigeration standards course that is needed for ice plant technicians to run the equipment. Currently, there's an 80% failure rate on the course and there was discussion about extra training to improve those outcomes.
The requests to lower speed limits on provincial roads and highways passing through Manitoba communities was discussed. Canart said, “We've had the same issue out here with (PTH) 83 and (PR) 57 about discussion with highways (Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure) to try to get that lower speed limit, because that intersection has had a lot of accidents and danger. And we haven't ever had any luck or uptake from them (MTI) on that.”
Coun. Stambuski attended the Elkorn museum meeting and discussed hiring summer students. There are still no applications to the manager position. She said that at the vet board meeting there was continued discussion of the addition to the Virden Animal Hospital clinic building. She attended the Elkhorn New Facility committee meeting to review and revise the terms of reference for that committee, and appointed Steve Malcolm as chairperson for a three-year term.
