Niverville’s council had a number of topics to deliberate at their December 16 public meeting. One of these was a request by the owners of Urban Flavours to allow their exterior signage to include references to the cannabis and vape products they sell.

If approved, this would require a revision of the conditional use agreement with the town, which originally denied the use of words or graphics on the exterior of the building that referenced cannabis in any way.

The current manager of the store, Chris Friesen, made a presentation to council indicating his intent to simply add the words “cannabis” and “vape” to the existing logo. No graphics would be used.

“The intent is to clearly identify the nature of our licensed business for customers while remaining compliant with all municipal bylaws,” Friesen told council.

Friesen admitted that it’s not uncommon for walk-in traffic to presume they are a bakery, based on the similarity of their name to that of a local bake shop just a few doors down called Forgotten Flavours.

“Even if they haven’t heard of Forgotten Flavours, we’re still mistaken for a bakery or a café,” Friesen added.

One objection letter was received to the proposal, sent from Hanover School Division’s Dallas Wiebe on behalf of the board of trustees.

“The board’s concern is not limited to the existence of the business,” Wiebe said. “Rather, it focuses on the proposed shift to more external promotion of cannabis and vape which increases exposure and normalization for minors.”

Looking back, council reviewed the reasons for the original decision to deny explicit exterior references to cannabis. CAO Eric King suggested that the intent at the time was to ensure that the business maintained a professional aesthetic, unlike some other cannabis stores they’ve seen around the province.

Councillor Chris Wiebe reminded council that there is already a vape store with explicit signage located at Niverville Commons, not far from the entrance to Opa’s Park. He said that he supported the Urban Flavours request, especially in light of the confusion that a lack of good signage causes for patrons.

In review of the visual aid provided by Urban Flavours, members of council determined that their proposal for the added wording appears both professional and unobtrusive.

They voted unanimously in favour of the request.

Also approved by council was its decision to register the Town of Niverville with the Alert Manitoba program in order to bring timely and direct cellphone alerts to Niverville residents in times of local emergency and disaster.

According to King, taking this step to integrate local communication with the provincial system further enhances the town’s emergency preparedness and response capabilities.

He further clarified that these would not include natural disaster emergency alerts, which currently come through Environment and Climate Change Canada. Missing child alerts, similarly, come from the RCMP and are not a part of the Alert Manitoba program.

“This includes anything that is a life safety event that affects Niverville,” said King. “So if a train derails and some chemical falls off the train and it requires a shelter-in-place to be [sent out], I can submit something to the provincial system which would allow it to be sent to anyone who has pinged off a local cell tower.”

He gave the example of forest fire alerts he received this past October while driving through Nova Scotia.

Finally, following a very successful firefighters perogy dinner fundraiser, council will be issuing donor receipts for the $7,255 collected that night. Proceeds are earmarked for the construction of a new fire hall.

Another $1,000 individual donation was provided to the Town of Niverville for the same purpose.