Niverville’s town council has a lot on its plate for 2017, including important decisions about policing, Main Street traffic, and multiplex funding. These are reported elsewhere in this edition of The Citizen. Council is also moving forward on plans to extend the business park.
While these are among the highest priority upcoming initiatives, council’s attention also extends to other areas of interest.
“The other big events would include the new well bank the town hopes to see construction begin on this year,” says Mayor Myron Dyck. “It is in the hands of the Manitoba Water Services board and Landmark Group, who are hired by the province and are working to see where the new well bank would be located and the costs that would be associated with it.”
As reported in the fall, although the aquifer supplying Niverville’s water is immeasurably large, the current wells are not in an ideal location. The filtration system can’t keep up with the micro-sediment that gets drawn up with the water. In the fall, a study area was established east of Highway 59 and north of Highway 311, in the hopes of finding a better well site.
“There are public consultations throughout the process, with the end of the process occurring in summer/fall [of 2017],” says Dyck. “At that point, construction could begin later this year.”
Other town priorities include the resumption of the sidewalk improvements begun in 2015 and put on hold due to the water main construction this past summer. Council has also targeted improvements to Hespeler Park and local infrastructure, which include improving drainage, roads, and the sewer system.
Dyck cautions that these plans are subject to the budget, and the reality is that many of the town’s large expenses for the coming year are not yet known. For example, policing decisions cannot be made until after the census results are published on February 8.
“Council has lots of ideas and lots of vision and dreams for the community,” Dyck says. “However, these have to be prioritized, and that is based on knowing the monies available to council. We prefer to focus on the here and now and will need a couple months before we have our budget ready.”
The budget is expected to be unveiled in April.
