With 24 municipalities, the Western District in the southwest corner of the province has the largest number of municipalities of all the Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM) districts. Representatives from all these councils will meet as the Western Caucus on Feb. 3. in Virden. Reeve Clayton Canart and other councillors will attend to share ideas and bring the local perspective to the group.
The Economic Developers Association of Manitoba (EDAM) are offering training for elected officials and administrators to learn practical skills and strategies that will promote economic stability, diversification and sustainability. This training is offered through in-person training sessions and council will take the first two modules on Mar. 17 and Apr. 19
Reeve Canart brought information about a student from U. of M. who was doing research on how rural municipalities are making plans for carbon reduction. Canart informed the student that major challenges when planning were related to Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation requirements as well as water and drainage management in the area. He also noted that federal and provincial regulations need to be realistic regarding dates for implementing regulation and expressed concern that funding might be conditional on meeting carbon reduction goals.
Fire truck dilemma
Canart told council that a replacement for the main fire engine for Virden station would be required soon. He said that replacement must be done after 20 years with a five-year extension with a completed certification inspection. This extension is now in effect. At the end of this time insurance would not be available and this would affect homeowner insurance rates.
According to CAO Mitchell this “pretty much kills resale value” for the truck. Canart said that this truck has very few kilometres and “we literally just this year replaced the original factory tires.” Councillor Caldwell noted that trucks in urban settings that get much more use might need replacing but that should not apply to rural trucks. The entire district had just over 100 calls in all of 2022.
Councillor Stambuski said that outlines of requirements for a new fire engine had been sent to four manufactures and estimates are “anywhere from $730,000 to $1.2 million” and that time to acquire a new truck is currently “twenty-four to thirty months away.” Currently the capital plan has $500,000 earmarked for a new truck.
Discussing healthcare staff shortages
Councillor Caldwell reported on the Hamiota and District Health Centre stakeholders meeting. Caldwell said there are three full-time physicians at the moment and Monday and Wednesday there is a nurse practitioner helping. There is also a young physician who is employed in Brandon who is doing a day a week in Hamiota.
The emergency room is closing at least two days a week due to a shortage of lab technicians, nurses and doctors. Doctors are now on call one weekend in three. The RHA is currently short 50 positions. Caldwell said that other jurisdictions are offering many incentives to attract doctors such as large bonuses and even offering to pay for education for students in university who will come to their area after graduation.
She plans to bring this issue before the Western Caucus of municipalities on Feb. 3 as she feels “we need to get far more aggressive in this area.” Councillor Humphries said, “we’ve either got to join the race or be left behind.”
HyLife checks in
Sheldon Stott of Hylife Ltd. attended as a delegation via Zoom to update council on recent developments and to deal with any issues from the municipality. He says the company runs an international operation with 4000 employees raising 100,000 sows and finishing 2,000,000 head. He said the biggest challenge the company faces is the current high cost of feed grain.
Councillor Stambuski questioned Stott about a large loss of livestock that occurred last winter and what changes the company was making to ensure this would not happen again. Stott replied that the company had improved the alarm systems and monitoring protocol since that event.
Councillor Humphries raised the issue about shelter belt trees that had not survived transplanting and how the company planned to add trees to fill the gaps. Humphries also noted that a ratepayer's concerns with smell from a barn in his area seem to have been resolved.
