Neepawa Town Council: Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017
- Details
- Published on Friday, October 6, 2017
Eoin Devereux
Neepawa Banner & Press
Christmas will likely be arriving a little bit earlier than usual for the Town of Neepawa this year; and it’ll be getting here via train.
During a town council meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 3, Neepawa mayor Adrian de Groot reported that the community is tentatively scheduled to be one of the destinations for the annual CP Rail Holiday Train. De Groot did stress, however, that the exact details around the Holiday Train’s arrival are still being organized. The current expectation is that the train could be making a stop in the community on Dec. 3, between 3:00 and 4:00 p.m. The CP Holiday Train features live entertainment and a massive display of lights. It travels across Canada raising support local food banks.
Preparing for pot
The Town of Neepawa is beginning the process of preparing for the legalization of marijuana. Earlier this year, the federal government announced legislation to legalize recreational marijuana use by July 2018. As part of the decriminalization process, all levels of government have been asked to review, and if required, update their by-laws and policies to deal with the new federal guidelines. Town administration will begin the review process.
Clarification is being made to the Town’s ‘Working alone’ policy. The existing policy lays out the measures to allow public works employees to work by themselves, while still adhering to health and safety legal requirements. The regulations are being expanded to clarify the criteria for all municipal departments.
The installation of services (water and sewer) at the former C.N. property site are getting underway. The work is expected to cause some minor delay and perhaps closures of roadways in the area. Motorists are being advised to plan accordingly to deal with the work.
Fire hall update
The tender for Neepawa’s new fire hall will move ahead shortly. The tender was to advance on Monday, Oct. 2, but was delayed in order to finalize some technical details on one of the structural documents. Once those details are finalized, the tender will appear on the Town’s website for three week period before going forward.
Budget talks are planned for the near future.
The order and purchase of new trees for the town has been made and should arrive within the next few weeks. The trees will be planted to replace old trees that had to be removed due to Dutch Elm disease.
Westlake Employment Skills and Services Centre has forwarded to the Town an invitation for direct participation. The request asks for a representative to fill a vacant seat on Westlake’s board of directors, whether through direct representation or from a public service minded individual in the area.
