Rockwood council news in brief
The RM of Rockwood is taking steps towards a project that will provide an opportunity for seniors to age in the community.
Council approved architectural and design build plans by Mistecture Architecture for the project in the Stony Mountain area.
“There’s going to be two-bedroom units, single-bedroom units and, as far as I know, two bachelor suites. It’s a need for our aging citizens. This will give them an option if they don’t want to stay in their houses and they still want to be part of the community,” Reeve Wes Taplin said.
“The lift station that it’s going to be tied to is being worked on as we speak. The excavator is in the field north of Allard Place.”
In addition, council authorized the South Interlake Planning District to approve and issue the required building and development permits prior to the required application for conditional use.
In other council news:
• The RM of Rockwood is withdrawing from JohnQ Public, which is is a voluntary Municipal Participation Corporation. Founded in 2018, the cooperative organization supports community infrastructure development and economic growth in and around Winnipeg.
“We’ve had some great projects from them like the daycare and climate resiliency. But lately their direction and our direction have been getting farther apart with what their priority and their visions are,” Taplin said.
“Council has talked about this numerous times. At this time, council is choosing to withdraw from it.”
• Council authorized selling two old recycling sheds from the Winfield Transfer Station to a bidder for $4,100.
• The RM of Rockwood will preserve trees and remove ballast from the rail line south of Balmoral for about 200 metres. Council also ordered the removal of all structures and personal items from residents who are encroaching on the rail trail property.
“Where the old elevator used to be in Balmoral, that’s where we’re going to remove the ballast and some of the obstacles there,” Taplin said. “People have started to treat the property as their own and we don’t want to get into a liability problem if a snowmobiler or an ATV happens to run into a private homeowner’s garden shed or fire pit, so we sent out a notice to them to please respect the property line.”
• Council conditionally approved a request to vary a minimum side setback from the required 50 feet to 14.2 feet to allow for the construction of a new detached garage.
• Council authorized fireworks to be set off at the Vincent family farm field on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. If there is a fire ban at the time, permission will be revoked.
• An agreement between the RM of Rockwood and the provincial government will allow for the installation of a 50-millimetre diameter water supply pipe and a 150-mm diameter sewer line and encasement pipe across and under a portion of Provincial Road 236.
• The RM will enter into an agreement with Interlake Potato Farms for a right-of-way over Rockwood land to access the farm’s land.
• The RM entered into an agreement with property owners to prohibit a new residence from being located on a residual parcel of agricultural land.
“You have to start with an 80-acre piece to subdivide a yard-site off of it. Then when you subdivide a yard off, there is a restriction that nothing else can be built on the residual,” Taplin said. “It’s to protect farmland.”
• The Nov. 26 committee of the whole meeting is rescheduled to Wednesday, Nov. 19 at 9 a.m. in the council chambers. In addition, the committee of the whole meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 24 is cancelled.
• Those with curbside garbage pickup can set out unlimited yard waste in paper bags on their regular collection day on Oct. 23 and 30.
• Council reminds visitors and residents to practise safe and respectful hunting by following all provincial hunting regulations. This includes having the proper licences and permissions, respecting private property and obtaining landowner consent. Council also reminds everyone to be careful of safety zones near homes, trails and public spaces.
