The Manitoba Good Roads Association (MGRA) held its 110th annual Dinner and Awards Banquet April 19 in Brandon and recognized three local home owners for their efforts in beautifying their properties and, in effect, the province.

Receiving the Jeffries Shield for Best Urban Home Grounds in Manitoba in the 1,001 to 2,000 population class were Penny Chase and Mark Boucher.

There's lots more in this week's Review. 

A large crowd of dignitaries, local groups and representatives, health care staff and residents were on hand Tuesday, May 3 to take part in a formal recognition ceremony that highlighted the plan to proceed with expanding the Russell Health Centre Chemotherapy Unit.

Deputy Premier Cliff Cullen, on behalf of Premier Heather Stefanson, said he was delighted to be in Russell to acknowledge that the long-awaited new addition to the Russell Health Centre would be proceeding to the next stages.

Check the Roblin Review this week for more!

The new owner of Roblin’s Parkland Bakery and Pastry Shop comes from a long line of bakers.

Wes Riedstra was born in the Netherlands and came to Canada in 2005 with his parents who settled in the Carman area and opened the Carman Bakery and Pastry Shop.

Get all the details in this week's Review!

The Beef and Barley festival has been around since 1973. Year after year, it was it was one of the highlights of the Thanksgiving weekend as former residents of all ages made a point of coming home and renew old friendships. 

As such, many thought of Beef and Barley as our annual reunion of sorts.

Just like so many other events, the annual fall festival fell victim to Covid 19 but they’re not held back any longer. So, the core of the festivals organizing committee is meeting again on Monday, May 9th at 7 p.m. at TinHouse Coffee Co. on Russell’s Main Street and they’d love for you to join them! 

Want to read the full story? Find it in the May 3^rd, 2022 edition of The Russell Banner!

The Bowsman Lions Club hosted a Ukrainian Relief Dinner on Saturday (April 30) at the Veterans Community Hall. Feeding more than 700 patrons perogies, cabbage rolls, beetniks and sausage, all proceeds will be donated to help Ukrainians in need during the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

The Community Foundation of Swan Valley presented grants to several recipients during their spring granting night on Wednesday (April 27). 

The Dauphin Kings and Steinbach Pistons are coming to Dauphin for game three of their best-of-seven championship series tied one game apiece after a split of the first two games in Steinbach.

The Pistons grabbed the early series lead with a 5-1 win, Friday night, but the Kings rebounded with a 5-1 victory of their own to even the series on Saturday.

Steinbach jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first period of game one and increased it to 3-1 after 40 minutes before putting the game away in the third.

In game two, it was the Kings who took the early 1-0 lead in the first period and they carried a 2-1 advantage into the third where they scored twice on the power play to ice the game.

Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley said Steinbach was able to take advantage of their opportunities in game one, while the Kings were stymied.

“I thought the game was pretty even, except for some of the breaks they got around the net. We just couldn’t get any. We hit two or three posts and a couple crossbars. It was one of those things,” he said. “It was a good game both ways. It was really tough in that arena, just adjusting to the small ice surface. The way the puck bounces in the last eight to 10 minutes of every period was an experience.”

Both teams struggled on the power play in game one with the Kings going scoreless in six tries, while Steinbach missed out on four tries. Hedley said both teams brought a lot of energy and were aggressive on the penalty kill.

“There’s not a lot of space in the offensive zone, so any time the puck is on the wall, there’s pressure and three or four guys overloading. It makes it tough. You really have to have some quick puck movement. And, obviously, with the puck bouncing, it makes it tough to handle the puck real well,” he said.

Hedley was pleased with the way the Kings rebounded in game two. They were hard on pucks, he said, and were on the right side of the puck in battles all night.

“And we got some breaks. I think we could have had a few more goals in the first period, but (Steinbach goalie Simon) Harkness played real well,” he said.

Hedley felt the Kings got off to a good start in the first period of Friday’s game, but the defensive coverage was lacking at times, which allowed the Pistons some odd man rushes.

“Our D zone coverage is usually pretty solid, in the corners and net front. But we did give up a couple things there that we talked about and definitely cleaned up the second game,” he said.

The series now shifts to Dauphin for games three and four, Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

Hedley noted the Pistons had a great atmosphere and large crowds in the first two games.

“A lot of noise and a lot of emotion. And I think it will be great for the guys to get home and get a little of that fan appreciation back here,” he said.

The Second Story Players presentation of the musical “Ranchers and Rustlers” was a resounding success.

The musical, featuring local actors, played to near capacity crowds, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, while Sunday’s show was sold out.

In its recently released budget, the Province committed $1.5 billion for a three-year highways strategy that invests in infrastructure across the province and Premier Heather Stefanson and Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Doyle Piwniuk were in Dauphin yesterday to announce how the City fits into those plans.

Specifically, Stefanson announced the $13.5 million redevelopment of Main Street South has been fast tracked and will be completed this year.

“Manitobans have told us they want safe roads and reliable infrastructure and we are listening and we are acting,” Stefanson said. “Collaboration with the City of Dauphin over the past several years has been instrumental in realizing this project. Resurfacing and dividing the road along with upgrading service roads and installing traffic signals will ensure that Dauphin can continue to expand its economic activity and host future celebrations which we look forward to attending in person.
“We are excited for this important work to begin this year.”

PTH 5A serves as the main access into the City of Dauphin from the south. Expanded commercial development along the route has resulted in increased traffic volumes and higher collision rates. Improvements and restorations to the road will benefit the community and the region by enhancing safety and traffic flows along the high-volume, main thoroughfare that is an integral trade route to economic development in the area, Stefanson said. The 1.7-km project covers a section of PTH 5A from Whitmore Ave., south to Triangle Road, and includes surface reconstruction with the creation of a divided highway. The plans call to improve safety in the commercial area by having all local accesses connect to service roads, and service roads connecting to PTH 5A at upgraded intersections. Those service roads will be constructed along both the east and west sides of highway from their existing points south to Triangle Road.

As well, a new intersection allowing access to Dauphin Market Place Mall will be developed, complete with traffic signals.

“Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure has been working in collaboration with the City of Dauphin and its officials for several years to finalize the design concept and details to ensure the project meets the needs of the community,” Piwniuk said, adding the $1.5 billion for highways was part of an overall $2.4 billion in infrastructure funding announced in the budget. “We look forward to strengthening our partnerships with communities across the province by investing in long-term strategic goals to build the foundation of Manitoba’s economic growth through trade and commerce infrastructure.”

With the work originally being slated for 2023, Piwniuk said the province found itself in a position to be able to move the Dauphin project up the schedule and jumped at the opportunity.

“In our infrastructure investing we want to make sure we do it right across the province. And so we moved it up to make sure the work gets done now that we have a larger budget to work with,” he said. “We have a 10-year plan and we want to make sure we can move this project forward.”

For mayor Christian Laughland, having the project completed a year early just means all the benefits will be enjoyed sooner.

“This is great and exciting news for our city. The improvements made to PTH 5A will help improve the flow of traffic in the south end and make things safer for not only pedestrians who work in the area, but drivers going to and from our local businesses,” Laughland said. “We also look forward to the impact these changes have when it comes to economic development in our community.”

Those benefits are extremely important for the community and will help drive economic success well into the future, Dauphin MLA Brad Michaleski added.

“This is a project that is important for Dauphin and it has been on the radar for a long time to get done,” Michaleski said. “We appreciate the premier and minister Piwniuk for attending here today.”

The province will advertise the tender for the project by the end of May. The work is anticipated to be completed before 2023, in advance of Dauphin serving as host community for the 2024 Manitoba Summer Games.

After two years of consecutive decreases Dauphin ratepayers will see a modest increase in the mill rate charged against their properties this year as city council approved its 2022 budget Monday evening.

As it did last year, council used the funds remaining from a federal restart grant received in 2020 to lower the amount raised by taxation by $200,000. That amount still represents a 1.6 per cent increase over last year’s numbers.

In the end the increase in the mill rate from 18.039 in 2021 to 18.332 in 2022 will raise $6,382,457. That increase means a residential property will pay $9.58 more per $100,000 of assessed value while commercial properties will pay $6.99 more per $100,000 of assessed value.

When income from other sources such transfers from reserves. taxes added, business licenses, the provincial municipal operating grant, provincial public safety grant and other federal and provincial grants are factored in, the City will have just under $12.5 million to support its operations this year.

In presenting the financial plan, city manager Sharla Griffths said the budget supports a continued level of spending on municipal infrastructure such as roads, sidewalks, and water distribution and no program cuts.

“This year’s budget was very tough to set, as council’s directive was to hold the line at the 2020 tax level and then reduce it by $200,000 and take that money from reserves that we got from the federal government. However, there are many expenditures in 2022 that were unforeseen and unavoidable. Some of them are higher than anticipated RCMP retro pay and wages. very high snowfall in 2022 already and we don’t know what is coming in the fall. There is a reduction in our taxes added in 2022 due to a slowdown in development. There is an increase in the requirement for airport funding this year and, as everybody is feeling, there is a significant increase in the cost of fuel and natural gas,” Griffiths said. “We are very fortunate that council’s directive could be met by drawing from our reserve funds. That being said, council is drawing wisely and responsibly from the reserves to ensure financial stability and security into the future.”

In the general fund most budget areas will see increases, Griffiths said.

General Government Services has been set at $1,426,030, an increase of 7.5 per cent, while Protective Services is set at $3,564,549, an increase of 14 per cent and Transportation Services is set at $1,865,058, an increase of 5.51 per cent. Environmental Health has a budget of $1,013,638, an increase of 0.25 per cent, Environmental Development Services is set at $293,981, an increase of 32.61 per cent, Recreation Cultural Services increases 1.1 per cent to $2,005,800 and Public Health and Welfare Services remains unchanged at $33,749.

Economic Development Services – was the one budget area to decrease, dropping 19.07 per cent to $413,192.

Planned General Fund capital expenditures and reserve transfers $4,478,506, an almost $1 million increase in capital projects and reserve transfers over 2021.

In the Utility Fund water revenue has been budgeted at $2,383,737 and wastewater revenue is estimated at $647,608.

Operating expenditures on the water side has been set at $2,025,101, an increase of 8.45 per cent. The increase is due mainly to due to wage increases, routine water system assessment report, work on the agreement with RMNP with regards to the Edwards Lake water source, and water main breaks.

Operating expenditures on the wastewater side have been set at $398,675, a decrease of 4.46 per cent due to less required maintenance this year.

Planned capital expenditures in the Utility Fund total just over $2.3 million.

More information on the budget can be found in next week’s Dauphin Herald.