It was a busy year for the RM of Rosser in 2025 — and the upcoming year promises more of the same.
Rosser Reeve Ken Mulligan highlights several stand-out successes for the municipality last year.
In 2025, the RM looked at buying the first-ever ladder fire truck for the Rosser Fire Department.
“During that time, an opportunity came forward for an immediate purchase of a ladder truck, which usually takes two to three years to get. Council reacted quickly by considering this and we were able to secure the truck and have it delivered to the RM this past summer,” he said.
“In addition, as part of our ongoing major equipment planning, we have recently purchased a new grader to replace an older model.”
The public works department also worked hard this past summer to reshape most of the municipality’s dirt roads for easier travel.
“Also, we have just completed a pilot project of gravelling a dirt road approximately 1 1/3 miles long,” Mulligan said. “As well in rural areas, we now have a policy that we will use when we need to replace or widen approaches within the RM to help larger farm equipment.”
Adding to its reasons to celebrate, the RM completed Phase 2 of its walking trails project in Grosse Isle.
“We now have an outdoor classroom south of the school as well as numerous benches and lights along the trail,” he said. “The trail has been extended and, hopefully in future phases, there will be a safe path for all children to walk to school and everyone to walk around Grosse Isle.”
In another milestone moment, Rosser embarked on a project that was many years in the making.
“In 2025, after years of only discussing, we have started the early steps in completing Rosser’s first ever strategic plan,” Mulligan said. “Once completed, council is looking forward to applying it in 2026 and for the years to come.”
Like all communities, Rosser also dealt with its fair share of challenges in 2025, including tariffs and high interest rates.
“We have seen a slowdown in construction within CentrePort and surrounding areas. Also, agriculture remains negatively affected by tariffs. We have noticed there is still a lot of interest and many projects are poised to move ahead, hopefully as early as this spring,” Mulligan said.
“Our lack of population growth continues to be a challenge. We are in the middle as a planning region of reviewing our planning bylaw, which occurs every 10 years. With the RM’s low population, we have been looking at possible opportunities we may have within the RM for additional housing.”
Projects are already in the works for the new year. For one of these initiatives, the RM recently hired Northern Drainage Systems Ltd. to work on getting profiles and licences for all drainage in the municipality.
“This will take approximately three to four more years to complete all drainage in the RM. In the end, all drains will be licensed and will be able to do work without having to wait for licences to complete the drains,” Mulligan said.
“We will be working on the major drains originally and have already done 80 per cent of those to date and are just waiting for the licences to be issued. Along with this, we will work on a drainage plan that best serves everyone in the RM.”
Looking ahead, Mulligan outlined several goals for the community in 2026.
“One of our goals is to help recruit new volunteers for our recreation centres and cemeteries, as volunteers are still the backbone of our community. We are very proud of those that have volunteered in Rosser, and we want to ensure there is good amount of future volunteers,” he said.
“Also, we as a council have a goal to increase our population. We will continue to discuss how we will create rural residential in the RM and this will include engaging with the community.”
Due to the magnitude of large weather events, another municipal goal is to continue to study Rosser’s drainage systems and figure out how to make them more resilient in rural areas as well as in CentrePort.
The reeve also shared a message for residents for the new year.
“We are pleased that we have been able to continue to keep our mill rate low for all the RM ratepayers, while still being able to hire additional staff as required to fulfil the needs of our busy RM,” he said.
“Our council is committed to strongly represent and grow both the rural areas and the CentrePort area of Rosser. We will continue to concentrate on the entire RM and make improvements for both areas as we go along. I wish everyone a safe and prosperous new year.”
