A public hearing was opened to discuss a conditional use order that would see an auto recycling business open in the municipality. According to Economic Development Officer Tiffany Cameron, “JS47 is a company based in Abbotsford B.C. that disassembles automobiles and ships used parts to markets overseas. They started searching for a site in Manitoba to expand their business almost 1 year ago. JS47 has chosen a piece of RM-owned property located near Kirkella.”
Development Officer Corey Nixon attended and informed council of the details of the conditional use order. He stated that Richard Tshimpaka of JS47agreed to the terms of the order namely that he receive a building permit and road use agreement from the RM. No other suitable sites were available. Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation had no concerns with road use by the operation, and no objections were received from neighbouring landowners. Council approved the conditional use order.
An invoice was received from a ratepayer for snow removal. CAO Mitchell explained that insurance regulations prohibit the use of contractors who are not certified, so the invoice was not paid. Council also heard that snow removal has been over budget this past winter.
Council members attended the Association of Manitoba Municipalities annual spring convention. Councilor Stambuski raised questions about the Manitoba Municipal Board (MMB). and attempted to “demystify the MMB”. The Board operates as a quasi-judicial tribunal. One of the Board's duties is to receive and resolve property assessment appeals. Only three Board members sit in the tribunal at any one time. Councilor Stambuski expressed concern that most Board members were from urban centres and might not have a good grasp of rural issues. She stated that “when I looked through the members and did some research into their backgrounds I found that most of them come from a city.” Also many of them were former MLA’s or government employees and this might compromise the goal of transparent decisions. Reeve Canart commented that “the (current) chair of the Board a had a nine-year backlog of 2242 cases” of appeals of assessment to deal with when he took office. He said they are “making some strides in trying to expedite the appeal process” but he sees “issues with Bill C37 regarding people on the Board who have no connection with this area” and that “some of those people have a vested interest in what’s best for the government.”
Council received a request from Elkhorn to recognize their Western Weekend event as one of their community events for the year and passed a resolution to that effect.
Councilor MacDonald reported on the Kenton LUD and shared with Council details from the April 28 meeting. Topics discussed were a new streetlight, the planned rabies vaccination clinic, an update on Woodworth Senior Services and the 2022 sidewalk request for proposal results.
Council approved the Request for Proposal received from Cody Campbell Contracting in the amount of $8,235 for the sidewalk project on the west side of Cornwall Street from the corner of Woodworth Avenue to the back lane on the east side of Brierwood Creek Cafe & Grill, as per the recommendation of the Kenton LUD Committee.
Councilor Lachapelle reported on the April 22 Elkhorn LUD meeting. Topics discussed were the 2022 sidewalk plan, the rabies vaccination clinic, the playground community meeting, a new campground sign The results of the Wi-Fi investigation for the campground showed that it is not feasible and will not happen.
