***Original published in South Mountain Press, January 18, 2019***
Harrison Park Council Holds Town Hall in Sandy Lake
Following through on a key election promise to be accessible and to seek input from the ratepayers, the Reeve and Councilors of Harrison Park Rural Municipality held an evening Town Hall meeting on January 10 at the Sandy Lake Drop-In Centre.
Reeve Jason Potter started the meeting with several statements regarding the state of the Municipality’s affairs:
- In the interest of openness and transparency, the Council would continue to hold a series of Town Hall meetings in order to seek out ratepayer’s questions and concerns especially before setting this year’s Municipal budget. To that end, February meetings in Horod and Onanole are planned with specific dates to be determined shortly.
- The vacated Onanole Westoba Credit Union building owned by the RM has been listed with a local real estate agent. Previous plans to renovate the building and relocate RM offices have been shelved for the time being.
- According to Provincial government officials, RM funding for programs and infrastructure will decrease or altogether cease. Responsibility is being downloaded to the Municipalities. The Reeve and Council are prepared to make the hard financial decisions that may become inevitable.
- Although recent tax changes have removed a 15% tax exemption for Council indemnities, the Council voted to keep their compensation at present levels. Indemnity for the Reeve remains at $1000/month and Councilors receive $850/month.
- Considering the ratepayer’s objections, it was announced quickly after last fall’s election that the proposed Four Winds Waste Management site was unsuitable. The Council is still committed to the Four Winds partnership but is considering all options and will determine what will be best for their ratepayers.
- Grant applications are being received by the Municipal office. Unlike previous years, such as 2018 when disbursements were about $73,000, this year’s grant monies will only be in the range of $30,000. This will be in line with the roughly $34,000 VLT share the RM receives from the Province. This Council intends to keep taxes and expenditures at reasonable and prudent rates.
- The financial running of the RM is going to be tightened up. For example, there is approximately $100,000 in accounts receivables that have not been collected by the RM. These types of items will be corrected.
- The Reeve made special mention of the volunteer fire departments of Newdale, Onanole, and Sandy Lake. At an annual operating cost of $120,000, the departments more than paid for themselves in decreased fire insurance rates for the area’s citizens.
The twenty plus citizens attending the Town Hall were appreciative of the Reeve’s comments and for the chance to direct queries to their representatives.
Quite a few of the concerns brought up to the Councilors involved water and sewer issues. As Reeve Potter explained, water and sewer for the communities of Onanole and Sandy Lake is high on his ‘To Do’ list for 2019. For example, it is long past the time for Sandy Lake Beach Road residents to be hooked up to the town systems considering how long they have been helping pay for them.
Another concern brought forward was the disparity in base water rates as compared to the neighboring RM of Minto-Odanah or the City of Brandon. But as the Reeve explained, economies of scale keep the rates lower in those areas and since the Manitoba Water Services Board sets the rates, the RM has little say. But the Council will look into the matter.
Other questions were asked related to the allocation of road maintenance resources and timely snow removal. Councilor Ian Drul fielded a few of those questions by explaining that occasionally RM and Local Urban District (LUD) jurisdictions can cause overlapping road responsibility conflicts. As for snow removal complaints, there are some Public Works employee issues that should resolve themselves shortly. In addition, as the union’s contract is up for renewal, the RM could consider bargaining for a better position in regards to snow plow operators running plows after hours in order to clear blocked roads in a timelier manner.
Reeve Potter and the rest of the Councilors were pleased with the Sandy Lake turnout and the chance to meet with the town’s citizens. He wanted to emphasis that whatever the previous Council did or did not do was in the past. The Reeve wants to focus on what is ahead instead of dwelling on what had been done before.
The Council members urge all interested parties to attend the upcoming Town Halls in Horod and Onanole in February especially with budget deliberations upcoming. Specific dates will be set and advertised as soon as possible.
Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.