At the regular meeting on Dec. 5, Town of Virden Council authorized the administration to apply for a grant from the Manitoba Water Services Board for an assessment of the water tower and a water capacity study. A leak at the base of the tower in October resulted in the pump house building beneath it being significantly damaged by falling ice. Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Rhonda Stewart reported that funds had been allocated in the financial plan for the past several years to assess the condition of the tower itself, but did not factor in what will be needed in the event the tower is no longer serviceable. The town is requesting 50/50 cost-sharing, based on an estimate of $70,000.
During discussion on the matter, Coun. Lynette Grumpelt remarked that she did not want to see the tower torn down if, in a worst-case scenario, the assessment recommends it be decommissioned permanently. She asked what would happen to it.
“A lot of places just leave them there, because they’ll stand on their own with no water in them as long as the structure is good,” replied Mayor Tina Williams.
INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDING
The council reviewed correspondence from Municipal Relations Minister Ian Bushie regarding the Municipal Economic Development Infrastructure Program funding announced in early August by the previous government. According to a provincial news release, the program supports “critical projects that improve public safety such as roads, bridges and active transportation, inter-modal transportation such as airports and solid waste management and organic diversion.” Based on the demonstrated need, the dollars will be distributed to all municipalities outside of Winnipeg on a per capita basis to help mitigate the effects of inflation on capital spending.
The Town’s share of up to $39.9 million in grants province-wide is $239,000. Council will decide on a project, which must have already been approved for provincial funding, to apply the money to. The funds must be put into an interest-bearing account, and annual progress reporting is required. Council authorized CAO Stewart to enter into the agreement and submit it to the province prior to the deadline.
INDEMNITIES
A resolution was passed setting out the remuneration paid to the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Council for 2024. The indemnities are reviewed annually and any desired changes are approved by resolution at the first meeting in December. The amount paid may be adjusted to reflect the cost of living or an increase of 2.5%, whichever is greater, to a maximum increase of 5%. The cost of living allowance is calculated by the consumer price index for Manitoba and will be determined from the percentage listed from October of the previous year to October of the current year. With that number currently at approximately 1.9%, council decided to amend the indemnity policy and authorize an across-the-board 2.5% increase. This means that effective Jan. 1, 2024 the Mayor’s annual indemnity will be $19,403.71, the Deputy Mayor will be paid $16, 633.37 and Councillors will receive $13,859.95. The daily per diem remains unchanged at $100 for under four hours and $200 for over four.
During the discussion, Coun. Lynette Grumpelt suggested that the daily per diem paid to Virden’s elected officials while on Town business be revisited as well, but thought it could be left as is until 2024.
“I just wonder if we are going to get to the point where our daily per diems don’t keep up, but we’re not there yet,” she said. “It’s not a big deal, but when everything else is going up it’s something that we should probably be looking at.”
For her part, Mayor Tina Williams sees fit to have council’s pay be competitive enough to attract citizens who are prepared to devote the time necessary to fulfill their duties.
“You don’t want people to be doing the job just for the money, but you don’t want people to not do the job because they can’t afford to take the time off needed to do it,” she said. “Otherwise we will end up like so many other rural councils where there’s just seven retired people, because people who work can’t afford to do it and then you have no differing opinions.”
