Niverville’s town council and CAO convened for their 2025 budget planning sessions on November 22–23. It’s an intensive couple of days, requiring almost 20 hours to complete the agenda.
“It takes a lot of time to get briefed,” says Mayor Myron Dyck. “The fire department came in and had a chance to speak with council. The Chamber [as well], and all of the department managers come in to speak with council.”
The team of five covered a lot of ground pertaining to the upcoming budget. The discussions began with a review of some of council’s accomplishments in 2024.
These included a major rebuild of the street, ditches, and drainage along Fourth Avenue South. More recently, a new water tanker truck has been delivered at a cost of almost $600,000.
Nearing the close of 2024, the construction of Niverville’s RCMP detachment came to an end. This space inside the municipal building is move-in ready.
“For all intents and purposes, it is complete,” Dyck says. “We understand from the RCMP that there are one or two more items they are waiting for and then they will be moving in. We do look forward to them taking occupancy in 2025.”
Four constables have been assigned to the Niverville detachment and are currently working out of St. Pierre-Jolys office until they make the move.
Currently in progress is the construction of four new clinical rooms at Niverville Open Health, using borrowed space from the Heritage Centre. These rooms will go a long way to accommodate the 13 doctors that already practice at the clinic.
“We are already working on where future space [will come from] because we are now out of space [at the Heritage Centre],” says Dyck.
Finally, the new take-one, leave-one library is getting close to completion at the south end of the Centennial Arena. The goal is to find volunteer staff to help manage the operations.
The community space will provide furnishings for a comfortable library experience, a selection of books, as well as computers for public use.
What’s New for 2025?
Looking forward to the coming year, council has pencilled in many priorities.
One of the largest of these budget items is the plan for a deconstruction and complete rebuild of Niverville’s Fire and EMS department with a shared space for Public Works and Operations. The total projected cost of this endeavour is between $4 and $5 million.
“We want to pay for it cash,” Dyck says. “We’re taking [the next three years] to set a million or a million and a half aside each year so that by the time it’s built in 2027, the money is there to pay for it.”
The primary objective, he adds, is to see this project through without having to borrow money. They will, however, pursue any federal or provincial grants that may be available.
Upgrades will continue in the new year to the Centennial Arena. The west sideboards, penalty boxes, and player benches will be rebuilt and a new Zamboni purchased.
According to Dyck, construction will soon get underway for the new regional wastewater treatment plant.
Most recent projections bring the plant in at a cost of almost $200 million, to be shared between the four municipalities who will benefit from it, along with funding from both the provincial and federal governments.
The facility is expected to be built just north of Niverville in the RM of Ritchot.
Finally, there are some changes coming to Hespeler Park in 2025.
Parents and grandparents will be glad to know that council has set aside $50,000 to bring some needed upgrades to the splash pad.
“We had a number of alarms going off this year that had to do with chemical imbalance,” Dyck says. “The UV filtration system has not been working properly for a while. So if the alarms aren’t going off, the staff don’t have to go there three or four times a weekend to determine what needs to be done.”
The new funding will provide for a replacement of the existing UV system which, in turn, will take some pressure off the chemical backup system. Completion of the project will depend on the supply of parts availability of service.
Also new to Hespeler Park this year will be the introduction of an RV park in the southwest corner.
“We have a lodging shortage in town, so this is one way we can increase opportunities for people to have overnight stays,” Dyck says.
Once complete, the RV park will include 16 parking sites as well as a dump station. The location was chosen very specifically for its access to the trail system as well as proximity to soccer pitches, baseball diamonds, play structures, and the splash pad.
Of course, this all comes at a cost. In order to accomplish them, council has deemed that a four percent increase in property taxes will be necessary in 2025.
“Council weighed the need to keep up with infrastructure investments and renewal, the need for additional services, and the ability of the community to pay in making this decision,” reads a new release from council.
Other Highlights
Among other developments to look forward to in 2025, council says, are the grand opening of Jette Studios upon its completion and another round of Pizza Wars held by the Niverville Chamber of Commerce.
In March, players and visitors will converge on Niverville for the CCAA Men’s National Volleyball Championship in conjunction with Providence College.
“The town is looking forward to seeing the momentum continue in the community and the work of residents, business owners, investors and even visitors leading Niverville into the evolution to being Manitoba’s next city, while still ensuring we retain the small-town community we all call home.”
