In mid-November, Niverville’s council huddled around the planning table for another long annual planning session. The result was an interim fiscal plan which will give council guidance on spending until the budget is finalized in the spring of 2024.
Big Ticket Items
A number of bigger ticket items are being planned for purchase in the coming year. Niverville’s Fire and Emergency team will benefit from a new water tanker, but not until 2025. Mayor Myron Dyck says that the truck is currently on order and will take about a year to arrive. It will replace an aging tanker that has been in use by the fire department for a number of decades.
Similarly, the Open Health team may also have some new tools in their toolkit in the new year. If all goes well, council hopes to invest in some items at the top of the medical clinic’s wish list.
“Ultrasound machines, a liquid nitrogen gun, and automated blood pressure machines are on the list,” Dyck says. “So those are things that council will be budgeting for.”
Infrastructure Renewal
Some badly needed infrastructure repairs will get underway next spring and summer, including the rebuilding of portions of Fourth Avenue South, Church Avenue, and Edelweiss Crescent. Errington Way and Hampton Drive will see some resurfacing in areas.
A new sidewalk will be installed along the back lane behind the Niverville MCC Thrift Store. A new running path is coming to Drover’s Run.
“There’s more money being spent on road repairs than in other years,” Dyck says of the $1.1 million being set aside for the 2024 budget.
While it doesn’t appear in the budget, council hopes to get a jumpstart on water infrastructure planning. This project will eventually see the entire community hooked up to municipal water.
In the new year, residents should expect an open house where residents will be able to weigh in on their hopes or concerns regarding water hookup.
“Generally, the province of Manitoba provides a 50-cent dollar on projects like this,” says Dyck. “Council is very cognizant of where people are at with their household budgets these days. We’re talking numbers that are probably around $10,000 and $15,000 [per household]. We’re going to present it. And if there’s enough interest, we’ll go after it.”
Library
The recent planning session also took into consideration the notion of bringing a library to town. According to the mayor, council will not build a new structure. This leaves them with the option of trying to decide which existing space might accommodate such a service.
“We’ve asked Niverville Recreation to investigate the feasibility of what we’re calling a ‘take one, leave one’ library,” says Dyck.
This scaled back and low maintenance version of a library would require less space, less administration, nominal expenditures on books and resources, and likely operate on an honour system for book borrowing.
The Niverville Rec committee will also look into programming options, like storytime for kids, to enhance the space.
Debt Reduction and Financial Reserves
One of council’s loftier financial goals for the next three years of their term is to pay down $500,000 worth of debt owing on the CRRC.
“Whoever council is in the next term, they won’t have to worry about that debt and will have the means to possibly plan for other things,” says Dyck.
In order to achieve this, council will need to double down on their current payments.
Alternatively, they are also welcoming a donation of $1 million in lieu of naming rights for the building.
In order to save more for a rainy day, council is asking all town departments to put their focus on building up their fiscal reserves this coming year, which will go into an Emergencies and Opportunities fund.
“That would just leave us a bit more in a strengthened position,” Dyck says. “When you grow as fast as we grow, we’ve been running pretty lean.”
Growth and Expansion
In light of Niverville’s ongoing growth, council has determined that it’s imperative to focus in 2024 on certain community services and amenities.
With the town’s fire department and operations department rapidly outgrowing their space, council has established a working group whose mandate is to determine what those services will need in the coming years.
Niverville Open Health is faced with similar challenges as an influx of new health professionals moves in to respond to the region’s medical needs. Finding ways to expand clinic services onsite or at a new location is up for discussion.
Very soon, too, council anticipates the need for more outdoor recreation space as Hespeler Park fills up.
“We’re looking at [creating] a new greenspace somewhere on the west side of town, and a significant one,” Dyck says. “We don’t know where we’ll find land of that significance, but that’s the kind of thing we’re talking about.”
