After having stepped down from city council to run for mayor, Nancy Penner has returned in her new role.
She looked forward to getting down to business as mayor, although she noted how much one can miss while being out of the loop for even such a short time.
“It was a change of direction for me … stepping away from council for two months then coming back and being sworn in as mayor,” Penner said in a year-end interview.
“It is an opportunity I am very much looking forward to,” she said, adding how much she had to quickly catch up on now. “My email came up with 113 emails, so I wasn’t sure how long that would take me to sift through, but it’s exciting to start. It’s a job I’m very much looking forward to now.”
Penner reflected on some of the key issues and developments from the past 12 months as well as what now lays ahead for council.
“It was a busy year for the city,” said Penner, citing such challenges as those posed by having two main bridges that had to be replaced as a result of flood damage.
Another key priority was to make progress on the expansion of the Morden industrial park. Following the purchase of the land, the city has been working on site design and the subdivision of lots, and it then needs to work on the infrastructure.
“It’s still in the works. I’m not sure that it will be open for business this year, but as we go forward, I think we will see towards the end of 2024 it should be ready for development,” she said. “That’s a big move forward for Morden, not only for existing employers or industry to expand but also for new industry.”
Penner also cited the importance of the addition of new day care spaces with the new facility in the works in the northwest corner of the city as well as the new École Discovery Trails, which will also have additional day care spaces.
“It will benefit both the school and the community going forward in terms of the recreation and event opportunities,” she noted.
The biggest issues still facing the city of course are the waste water treatment project and getting a more secure potable water supply.
Penner recalled five years ago when she first joined council that they thought they were looking at about a $24 million project. The price tag is now closer to $100 million overall.
“That’s going to be a huge elephant in the room that we’re going to have to deal with going forward,” she said.
“We have to move forward with it or the economy here in southern Manitoba is going to come to an abrupt standstill, not just for Morden but for the larger area,” Penner said. “We’re reaching capacity, so we have to be extremely careful.”
And with the importance of these kinds of projects, she added, it is good to have former mayor Brandon Burley now serving as a regional liaison for the provincial government.
“The province has our ear, and with the new provincial cabinet office being located somewhere in the Pembina Valley, they are definitely going to hear our voice even louder,” she suggested. “With the economic growth in the Pembina Valley … they know the dollars they are losing if they don’t address the need to facilitate growth in this area.”
Another project Penner looks forward to seeing come to fruition is what will happen with the city’s purchase of the former land titles building. The city is putting out a request for proposals, and she stressed they are looking for someone with an idea that will be of the most benefit for the downtown.
“There will be very specific guidelines with what the city would like to see done with that building … and they will have restrictions as far as what they can do with the building,” she said. “It’s a prime location right in the heart of the city, so it would be a great building to develop and have some great retail there.”
First order of business for the new council is starting off the new year with a strategic planning session.
“Once we deal with some of the big ticket items coming out of 2023 … moving forward, we can springboard off those successes as we move into 2024,” said Penner.
“We had a strong council, and I’m looking forward to building an even stronger council with the addition of two strong councillors coming on to the team.”
