Council approves proposal for new Co-op agro centre

Details

Published on Friday, September 30, 2016

By Gloria Mott

Submitted

RM of North Cypress-Langford September council meeting

The proposal to move/relocate the Agro Centre of the Neepawa Gladstone Co-op to a new subdivision across from the HyLife hog plant moved another step closer after a public hearing for a zoning amendment. The hearing took place at the North Cypress-Langford meeting held on Sept. 12, with Reeve Adriaansen and all council in attendance, as well as Development Officer John McEntee.

The Co-op is proposing a new site for their agro and offices on Pt NW 26-14-15. Mr. Rob Melnyk from the Co-op and R and B Sumner, landowners, were in attendance. Melnyk outlined the various activities that will take place at the site, now or eventually.

Besides the office building, there will be chemical warehouse (herbicides, fungicides, seed treatments, insecticides), dry fertilizer storage, blending of fertilizers site, anhydrous, liquid fertilizers, bulk seeds and treatment facilities, a display for sale products, such as bins, and the petroleum card lock site. A diagram of the proposed ten acre site was included. 

The site is an AGR (Agriculture restricted) zone, and some of those activities are already conditional uses according to the previous Langford by-laws, but others are not. An amendment to the current bylaw would allow all the activities to take place. 

Neighbours were circulated with the information, which yielded no objections to the plan. An environmental license will also be sought, but the whole plan will not be enacted at once.

J. McEntee noted that the Cypress Planning District will have jurisdiction over some buildings and the larger public buildings will be under the Office of the Fire Commissioner. Eventually the site will all be fenced. 

Council had no issues with the proposal and gave the by-law amendment second and third reading.

Milne also noted that the water hook-up was also a concern – not the hook-up for the office, which will be minimal, but to have provision for fire protection. Other large businesses in the area have fire hydrants, but all are on the north side of the road. Council feels that this matter should be discussed with the Town of Neepawa.

Name the dump road?

Mr. Ray Johnson attended to appeal to council regarding the road that leads to the dump. He related how his late father-in-law, Clarence Downey was a frequent visitor to the facility, in his quest to gather bicycles and bicycle parts. He actually got bikes from a number of places (yard sales) but also, people left them there for him. His bicycles have been sent all over the province and overseas as far as India and Ukraine. One thousand have ended up in Winnipeg and helping those who cannot afford bikes.

He suggested that the dump road (off Hwy 351, west of Carberry) should have a name – and respectfully suggested that it be called, “Clarence Downey Way.”

Reeve Adriaansen noted that his council cannot make any change without involving the Town, and suggested Johnson attend the joint meeting. He also noted that he would like to get a road naming policy in place, prior to naming any more roads.

Johnson asked, “Why doesn’t Manitoba recycle?” He was given assurances that Manitobans are conscientious about recycling.

Fibre optic cable installation

Two months ago, McEntee introduced council to a proposal from Riverbend Hutterite Colony that would see fibre optic cable installed underground from the Riverbend to Acadia Colonies. This would facilitate the schooling on many colonies, which is done with high school video link and sharing teachers. Council passed a resolution approving the plan, providing they have permission from those affected, especially Highways and CPR.

Jonathan Waldner attended council to update council on this plan. He explained that the radio links currently used for education cannot do high definition and, as the system serves from Ontario to the Saskatchewan border, the quality can be quite poor. The main server is in Winnipeg, but this cable will improve the whole system.

The colony is anticipating that the Acadia half of the project, which involved trenching from the Melbourne hydro substation north, under the main CP Rail line and the Trans Canada Highway may take a long time to get approval. 

They want to start things going by installing the south half of the line – from Melbourne to Riverbend. This involves mainly along the eastern side of the Melbourne Rd., which means crossing several approaches. Most challenging will be going under the swamp and under the Carberry Trail. Waldner produced permission slips to cross the approaches, signed by the property owners.  

In response to the reeve’s question, the plan is to use a vibratory plow and place the cable four feet below the bottom of the ditch. They have contacted Hydro and MTS for cable locations. 

Council were satisfied and gave approval to both phases – phase one (Riverbend side); and phase two (Acadia side - with approvals).

In addition to its educational applications, Waldner noted that the cable will also be used for business communication and information services.

Other business

McEntee brought forward a plan to allow two electric services for McFarm Storage Inc. A new building at the site (off Fredrick Rd., south of the potato plant) will provide additional office space and storage of processed materials from the starch plant. Council gave approval for the line which will go under Fredrick Rd. and to the new building.

Resolutions from the joint meeting were passed. Council agreed to repair the old pumper truck at a cost of $13,620, shared jointly with the Town of Carberry.

They agreed to hire Gill Davison on an as-needed basis and set her wage 50/50 with the town. They agreed to purchase a 2016 John Deere mower for the Parks and Recreation Dept., shared 50/50 with the town, from J. Meyers.

Council agreed to purchase a 7x12 trailer from the Carberry North Cypress Fire Dept at a cost of $1,000 – shared jointly.

CAO Jones questioned whether they wanted to meet with RCMP at convention. Council felt that there were other areas of government they would prefer to meet – like Health and Finance – but unfortunately, those are not offered.

Council added an outstanding fine to taxes, for a resident who had a fire on his property during the fire ban.

Federal Gas Tax Funding is in place for the second installment of 2016 - $70,937.12. These monies – along with a backlog of other installments, cannot be accessed without approval through the federal government. Several projects have been submitted and council are waiting news of their approval.

The November council meeting will take place in Brookdale on Nov. 14. This will allow residents in the northern part of the municipality a chance to sit in on a council meeting, if they desire. It also will give council a chance to answer some questions from ratepayers. 

There was some discussion regarding the water system (some Langford area residents are serviced by Neepawa water). Councillor Drayson noted that he felt there should be a program set for maintenance issues for the system: when to check/exercise pumps, flush lines, test water etc. The ‘end of the line’ residents have their water tested, under the assumption that if their water is okay, then the whole line is.

Council formed a committee (consisting of Drayson and Davidson) to deal with water supply issues.

Council received notice of the changes that need to be added to the assessment roll. Council approved the additions that will mean another $16,776.72 in the municipal budget.

Correspondence

Council received a newsletter from the RCA Museum. Adriaansen suggested that more information from this body should be brought to the council table.

The Seton Centre also forwarded their membership and newsletter. They are recognizing Ernest Thompson Seton’s 156th birthday.

Manitoba Plowing Association sent information about their Plowing Days, Oct. 1 and 2. This will take place at three miles north of the junction of Highway #1 and #5. It was too late to purchase an advertisement for their brochure, so a grant of $50 was approved.

A copy of a letter of approval to G. Prudnikov to widen the access to SW 10-11-16 to eight metres (from Highways) was given approval.

A letter was received from Maple Leaf thanking council for allowing producers to choose their own groundwater monitoring.

Around the table

Gerond Davidson questioned enacting speed limits within rural residential subdivisions. Generally, that is not council’s jurisdiction. However, signs such as “Please slow down” or “Children Playing” can be effective in curbing the rate of traffic. He will order some for the subdivision question.

Councillor Drayson questioned why we are spraying weeds along highways instead of our municipal roads. The municipality is reimbursed for highway spraying. He also questioned why the new truck is not being used. 

There is some reticence in using the new truck, as it is highly technical and uses a different spray system. Councillor Campbell suggested that the plates be taken off the old one, so that the new one must be used.

Council is also working to find another seasonal operator that would help to get the whole municipality covered, as our current weed sprayer is busy doing other jobs as well.

Councillor Drayson also brought up the problem of Road 90 (Montgomery Road), which was impassable this spring and will be only worse next spring – if nothing is done. In particular there are two bad spots that are dirt only. The road is slated for repair next June (strip down, install geotex, and a-base, and regravel with a crown), but council realizes that something must be done before then. As a stopgap measure, they will have the road graveled, in hopes that it will get them through the spring until the main work will be done in June.

Councillor Hockin brought up the spruce trees that are leaning towards the skating rink at Brookdale. There are fears that one of them will fall on the rink. One quote was received, but council will ask for another before authorizing the trees to be removed. Should this be shared with the Brookdale Recreation Board? It was suggested to make sure that whoever does the job is insured.

Councillor Tolton suggested that stop signs are needed at the intersections of Roads 59 and 76.

Prior to adjournment, accounts totalling $333,478.03 plus direct deposits were approved for payment. Next meeting will be October 11th (as Thanksgiving is the Monday) A joint meeting with Carberry will be held on Tuesday Sept. 27.