At its regular meeting on July 10, a majority Gimli council approved a road construction renewal tender that includes all site roads at the sewage treatment plant in the Gimli Industrial Park and Chudd’s Corner Esso.
The mayor and councillors Kurt Reichert, Richard Petrowski and Thora Palson were present for the July 10 council meeting. Coun. Andy Damm was absent.
The RM’s director of operations Ron Hahlweg, responding on behalf of CAO Jim Fenske, said a tender had been advertised on the MERX website and on the RM’s website for the renewal of four roads in the municipality.
At the Industrial Park, all site roads within the wastewater treatment plant will be asphalted. As well, Harvard Ave from Anson Street to the entrance of the wastewater treatment plant will be asphalted.
In the town of Gimli, Fifth Avenue between Amisk Drive and Barney Thomas Drive will be milled (pavement removed, ground up and reused as aggregate) and asphalt will “overlay the entire block.”
And Chudd’s Corner Esso Access Road will be reconstructed and have asphalt overlaid on a few sections.
Hahlweg said part of the funding for the road reconstruction at the wastewater treatment plant will be coming from a provincial grant.
The RM is “pursuing and obtaining provincial grant money that should pay for two thirds of the cost that was part of the GWWTP [Gimli Wastewater Treatment Plant] expansion project identified to pave these roads when the GWWTP was expanded a few years ago,” said Hahlweg.
Other council news:
-The RM entered into an agreement with the RM of Armstrong to accept sewage from 542 Armstrong residents for the period January 2024 to December 2028.
Approved sewage haulers will be transporting the waste to the Gimli Wastewater Treatment Plant.
“Armstrong will immediately notify Gimli of any and all additional development that occurs within the defined area and the population number will be adjusted accordingly in the following budget year,” states the Sewage Dumping Station Usage Agreement that’s hyperlinked under council’s July 10 agenda.
Gimli will be charging Armstrong for the use of its sewage plant, and it reserves the right to “restrict and or limit the amount of sewage hauled due to overloading of the sewage treatment plant and or shutdown for routine maintenance ….”
Armstrong council – before a majority of its councillors resigned – had passed a resolution (No. 2024-101) on March 26 agreeing to the terms of the sewage dumping agreement.
-The Willow Island Taxpayers’ Association reached out to Gimli council in June with another request for a reduction in the speed limit on Highway 9. The association said it has been trying for the past five years to have the speed limit reduced before Willow Island Road, which heads east to Lake Winnipeg where dozens of residents have homes or cottages.
Drivers heading south on the highway from Gimli find the speed limit increases from 50 to 70 kilometres then up again to 90 kilometres before Willow Island Road, making the Willow Island intersection potentially unsafe and increasing the chances of a collision at high speed.
“This creates a dangerous situation for anyone turning onto WI Rd [Willow Island Road] when there is a line of cars because the following vehicles may not realize that the front driver is turning [east] and even though there is a double line, drivers shoot out to pass,” wrote the association’s spokesperson Norma Bailey in a June 6 letter. “There have been several near-misses at this intersection.”
The association had approached the former iteration of council about moving the 90-kilometre-speed-limit increase to start after Minerva Road and were told it was a “provincial matter.” The association also tried to work with provincial highways department, but that had “not been productive.”
Coun. Richard Petrowski said council had brought Willow Island residents’ concerns to the province’s attention and he remembers meeting with a departmental staff member. Only the province can reduce or increase speed limits on its highways.
“Over the years people were requesting a lower speed limit, and we got the province to put a double yellow line there a few years ago to help prevent other drivers from passing. But I don’t think people [obey] that,” said Petrowski. “The province has all kinds of traffic studies and professionals who look at these kinds of issues. But council definitely did have a resolution to request a speed limit drop. That was done about a year and a half ago.”
-Council approved a home occupation in an Agricultural Limited Zone near the Miklavik subdivision south of Gimli, close to Willow Creek Road.
The Exchange Collective is a thrift store that will offer second-hand clothing and home decor.
“The Exchange Collective aims to create a sustainable and eco-friendly shopping environment where customers can find unique and affordable fashion and home decor pieces,” wrote Anita and Craig Turner in their submission to council. “We believe in the importance of reusing and repurposing items to reduce waste and support environmental conservation efforts.
In addition to a storefront, the collective will offer online services.
