The past 12 months have been busy ones in Winkler, and Mayor Henry Siemens expects 2024 will be no different.
In a year-end interview with the Voice, Siemens reflected on some of the highlights of 2023 and shared his expectations for the months ahead.
“We got lots of things done in 2023,” he said. “When we look at capital projects, there’s our Lions Park tennis court refurbishment, getting a new heater into the pool, the new speed slide in at the pool, and the Winkler Whips did an amazing upgrade on Diamond 5, which is now called Arctic Field.”
Other highlights included the extension of Park St. north of PTH 14, the refurbishment of the George St. water reservoir, and the continued growth of the Winkler Fire Department, which trained nine new recruits.
The year also brought good news by way of funding commitments from both the provincial and federal governments for planned renovations to the aging Winkler Centennial Arena.
“We now have about $11 million in funding for that project. It’s exciting,” Siemens said. “We’re trying to plan it out right now and we’re finding that, as with any other reno that anybody has ever done, there’s some surprises and there’s some things under the hood that we have to deal with. We’re trying to get our plan together in that regard.”
Though work is being done on the reno plans in the hopes the project can begin in spring, Siemens noted city staff’s immediate focus is very much on two other vital infrastructure undertakings: the new wastewater treatment project and an expansion at the existing Winkler water treatment plant. Should the tenders on these two projects come in significantly higher than expected, the arena renos may have to take a backseat for a time.
“With those two, there’s been a whole bunch of hurry up and wait,” the mayor shared. “Both projects are approved and supported by both council and the governments of Canada and Manitoba.”
The expectation was that the wastewater project would go to tender last fall, but design delays have pushed that deadline back.
“We’re literally, at this point in time, at the finish line. We anticipate the tender documents will be released sometime in January, so we are very, very close,” Siemens said.
The approximately $55 million project will create wastewater capacity for a population of 25,000 (for context, the 2021 census put the Winkler’s population at 13,745).
“It’s by far and away by a factor of two the biggest project that the City of Winkler has ever undertaken,” Siemens said.
The water treatment plant expansion, currently estimated to cost upwards of $14 million, will also increase capacity to 25,000 residents.
That project will see a second storage tank added to the building, which will be expanded into the area currently home to the Winkler Dog Park (which will be moved to a new location still to be determined).
“What that will mean is there will be a second stream inside that will be able to treat more water,” Siemens explained. “And we’re also going to work very hard there to make sure that we’re able to recover more of our water from the aquifer.”
Winkler’s treatment process already allows the city to draw a high amount of brackish water from the aquifer (it has an efficiency rate of about 75 per cent), but the expansion will increase it so even less rejected water needs to be sent to the lagoon.
“Our hope is to be able to get that into the 90 per cent range,” Siemens said, “which will also help our wastewater [levels].”
The plan is for the water expansion plans to go to tender not too long after the wastewater project.
“We hope that the trailing tender on that will only be a matter of months,” Siemens said, noting that project also has funding from upper levels of government as well as the RM of Stanley.
These projects will ensure unimpeded growth in Winkler for at least a decade.
“At our current rate of growth, it’ll be less than 20 years,” Siemens estimated as to how long it will be before the city hits 25,000 residents. “In all likelihood, it will be in that 12 to 15-year range.”
Even as these two big water/wastewater projects are preparing to cross the finish line, city staff are already preparing for what’s next.
“Already we’re looking at what will the next phase look like,” Siemens said, “and our staff are already working on that and planning into the future.
“And we know that nothing can be done independently of others anymore, so as we have these conversations, we’re having really good conversations with our neighbours, Stanley and Morden, about what does it look like when we look at the larger Pembina Valley? How can we solve some of these challenges together?
“It’s probably one of the highlights of the past year for me has been how hard each one of the municipal leaders in the Pembina Valley has worked at building relationships over this last year, and understanding how similar each one of us are in terms of the challenges … if we can find ways to work together, we’ll be able to move significantly further.
“We’re in a rapidly growing, highly desirable area because we have good jobs, we have a good quality of life, there’s a general affordability to the area,” Siemens said, acknowledging, however, the challenging affordable housing situation Winkler is currently in.
“One of our big challenges right now is housing. We’re not able to keep up with housing,” he said. “We’re in the process of launching a housing task force … we’re going to get a group of people together, anyone who touches housing in any way, and we’re going to have a conversation to find out what is needed, what questions do we have, and how can we answer those questions.
“As a city, what can we do to support growth? Are there roadblocks that we can remove? Are there enhancements that we can offer to make it more desirable to build?”
Siemens also expects headway will be made in the year ahead on a made-in-Winkler public transportation plan.
“We’ve reached out to talk to the entire community … and we learned there is a desire for a transportation solution in the community that will likely look like a subsidized ride program,” he said, noting he expects to see a concrete plan from city staff early in 2024. “The hope is that we’ll be able to put something forward to start sometime in 2024, no later than 2025. Council is committed to doing something.”
Siemens said staff have also been working on the community’s asset management plan, which creates a clear road map of every asset Winkler has, its expected lifespan, and projected upkeep and replacement costs. It’s very helpful in aiding council in its financial planning, Siemens said.
“In everything that we’re doing, we’re working hard to create a sustainable community. And part of that, creating a sustainable community, is making sure that we have a plan to look after what we have. A plan to build what we’re building today while also putting something away so that tomorrow, when something comes up, we’re able to deal that as well.”
As we move into a new year, the mayor has a clear message for Winklerites.
“If there’s one thing I want to reiterate is how blessed we are in our community to have a generous, hardworking community who is consistently prepared to step into the challenges that are there and find creative solutions to solving them.”
