After a lengthy time not being able to gather the community together, the Dauphin and District Community Foundation hosted a special luncheon, Dec. 15, to announce grant recipients from its fall intake and the Philanthropist of the Year.

Jason Beyette was honoured as Philanthropist of the Year, in part for his work in spearheading a grow project which saw 160 acres of canola planted with proceeds headed for the Dauphin and District Community Foundation when the crop is eventually sold. Beyette arranged donations of seed and other inputs through Dauphin Consumers Co-op for the crop, as well as agronomy services from 360 Ag Consulting.

Reit-Syd Equipment looked after all the custom spraying, as well as donating two combines to harvest the crop, which was hauled to the elevator by the Michaleski family.

In accepting the award, Beyette said philanthropy does not always have to involve big splashy sums of money, it can be small donations or simple deeds that cumulatively improve the lives of others. And there are a lot of people in the community making a difference, he said.

“We all have a part to contribute to the success of the community,” Beyette said. “I thank everyone for doing their part.”

The foundation also handed out $68,738 in grants to projects identified through their fall intake of applications.

Announced as grant recipients were:
• 2024 Manitoba Summer Games - $15,000 for DRCSS track repairs;
• Creative Common - $10,000 for renovations;
• Citizens On Patrol Program - $2,600 for operations;
• Dauphin Derailleurs Cycle Club - $2,500 for maintenance equipment;
• Dauphin and District Community Food Bank - $1,620 for storage solutions;
• First Baptist Church - $5,000 for meals on food bank intake days.
• Friends of Dauphin Lake - $15,000 towards purchase of weed harvesting boat;
• Henderson School - $8,918 for climbing wall and Buddy Benches;
• Parkland Humane Society - $1,600 for operations;
• Dauphin Rotary Club - $1,500 for signage; and
• Dauphin Recreation Services - $5,000 as the first installment in a $30,000 grant paid over three years.

Dauphin city councillors are back from the fall Association of Manitoba Municipalities convention in Brandon and, as always, the event was well worth the hotel bill, mayor David Bosiak said.

In particular, the Cities Caucus meeting gave Bosiak some perspective on how stable things are in Dauphin compared to some municipalities, which are struggling to fund proper infrastructure and services resulting from rapid growth and skyrocketing costs.

As an example, Bosiak pointed to Winkler, where a new sewage treatment facility is critical and comes with a price tag of $51 million. Or Steinbach, he said, where a new community centre and arena is being developed at a cost exceeding $71 million.

“That’s 10 times what we paid for our rec complex,” he said. “If we had to replace Credit Union Place, are you kidding me? We’d never be able to do it.”

The lesson is that Dauphin’s problems and concerns are all relative and the community can handle them.

“I have to give past councils and administration credit for building up our reserves so that now we are debenturing two big projects - the sewage lagoon and the South Main drainage, but we have an ability to do so because we have no debt and we have reserves,” Bosiak said. “We can talk about comparatives all over the place, but we’re in relatively decent shape.”

The convention also provided an opportunity for councillors to meet with officials from the provincial level and have a productive meeting RCMP D Division commanders.

“They indicated to us that we are one of the only municipalities that talked to them that didn’t complain to them about needing more police,” Bosiak said. “We’d love to have some more, like a full compliment, but we understand, as a community, that the challenges we face aren’t going to be solved just by policing. The RCMP said what we’re doing in the community has been very positive and they’re glad to be working with us. And glad that we indicated that we’d love them to be a full compliment, but we didn’t point our finger at them and blame them for it.”

That meeting meshed well with a meeting involving deputy minister from Manitoba Housing, Mental Health and Addictions about an internally-driven Manitoba Housing project under way in Dauphin, which is looking at provided a higher level of tiered support services for those needing them, at Parkview Lodge.

“That was a positive meeting,” Bosiak said. “We’re very hopeful that there’ll be some support from the Province for the proposal that’s been presented to Manitoba Housing.”

A meeting was also held with Sport, Culture and Heritage minister Glen Simard about potential provincial support for next year’s Manitoba Summer Games.

When taken as whole, Bosiak said the convention was a worthwhile endeavour.

“We had very positive meetings with all of the ministers and offices that we were engaged with, had good conversations with other communities and basically, in a very subtle way, compared ourselves to everyone else,” he said. “And you know, putting it all on the table, the strength of our council, the capacity of our administration, the fact that our taxes are reasonable . . . generally speaking, really we’re in pretty good shape.”

In an effort to not get caught without an umbrella, the City of Dauphin is approaching the Public Utilities Board about a possible increase in its water and sewer rates.

Mayor David Bosiak said the city has been receiving hints from provincial agencies such as the Manitoba Water Services Board.

“And there was a presentation at the last AMM convention again saying don’t get behind. If you ever get behind, you’ll never catch up in the sense that if your rates don’t match your operational costs and provide some funding for the future, just to make sure that your reserve has funds so that when you have to fix pipes or anything else, you have the ability to do so,” Bosiak said.

The City, Bosiak added, has been reluctant to ask for an increase because it is still experiencing a 30 per cent loss of treated water somewhere within its system.

“Because they’ll likely say ‘well you have a 30 per cent water loss still in your system. Fix that, or address that and then we’ll talk about potential rate increase’,” he said.

While the City does not have the problem of some southern municipalities, which are experiencing explosive growth, its issues stem from aging infrastructure.

“We’ve been working to reduce the amount of water loss in the system. Now as you can imagine, half the town has got nearly 100-year-old pipes,” Bosiak said, adding while the underground system is aging the rest of the water distribution organization is extremely efficient. “The guys at the water treatment plant, they do it very well and it’s modern, but our problem is our distribution system.”

It is kind of a Catch 22 situation, Bosiak said, as senior administration is promoting the need to spend money to improve the system, but the costs of doing so are exceeding the City’s ability to pay for the improvements.

“All that income and expense has to be in the water utility side, not on the general revenue side,” Bosiak said, adding he appreciates the efforts of senior administration in providing a heads up for council. “So these are just sort of warning shots, saying it takes time to have a rate increase approved. There’s usually conditions applied to it and then those funds need to match your operations. So all we’re doing is being prepared.”

In its application, the City is seeking an 11.7 per cent increase in 2024, 4.2 per cent in 2025 and 2.3 per cent in 2026.

Also waiting in the wings is the long-awaited expansion of the City’s lagoon system, the cost of which is expected to increase significantly from its original $10 million to $12 million as a result of inflationary pressures.

“So again we will be debenturing to pay for that, but we also have to have enough revenue in our water utility reserve to make sure that other stuff doesn’t kick us in the teeth,” Bosiak said, adding in conversations with other municipalities he is hearing some are struggling to make ends meet.

“What we’re trying to do is to be in front of it. Our rates are generally middle of the pack or maybe to the lower end in terms of municipalities of our size and other jurisdictions. So we believe this is sort of a somewhat modest increase.”

Dauphin Fire Department has been less busy so far in 2023 compared to the same period last year and fire chief Cam Abrey is okay with that.

Between Jan. 1 to Oct 31, the department responded to 201 calls compared to 206 during the same period last year, Abrey told Dauphin city councillors at their regular meeting, Nov. 27.

“So only a 2.4 per cent decrease in calls. But any downward trend is always a good trend in emergency services,” he said.

False alarms continue to account for the largest volume of calls at 37 per cent, Abrey said, followed by motor vehicle collisions at 18 per cent.

In total, 3,628 hours were spent at calls with responses to the Rural Municipality of Dauphin accounting for 19 per cent of those hours and city responses accounting for 80 per cent. The final one per cent of time was spent offering aid to neighbouring departments in the Riding Mountain Mutual Aid District.

In addition 1,854 hours were dedicated to training during regular Wednesday evening training sessions, Thursday evening classes and Manitoba Emergency Services College sponsored weekend seminars.

“We continue our firefighting level one and two class held each Thursday evening for members of the Riding Mountain Mutual Aid District,” Abrey said. “We have several members from Dauphin, as well as members from Gilbert Plains, Ochre River and Ste. Rose fire departments attending this weekly training here.”

Looking back at the year so far, Abrey said among the workshops the department has hosted was Incident Command 200 training.

“It’s an excellent training opportunity for personnel that are likely to assume a supervisory position within the incident command system,” he said. “And we believe in that, training our members for the potential of assuming that role of command.”

A vehicle extrication seminar, an advanced fire dynamics program, a Pumps Basic seminar, a Pumps Advanced seminar and an emergency vehicle driving skills seminar were also offered throughout the year.

Recently, the department hosted an instructor from Alberta, who provided 40 firefighters from across the region information about fires and extrications involving electric vehicles, Abrey added.

“We were the second location that he was instructing in Manitoba, teaching us about the electric vehicle safety regarding extrication and the fires that are associated with the lithium ion batteries,” he said. “He uses a combination of classroom theory and he actually has a cutaway vehicle of a Tesla which shows where the access for extrication is possible, the location of the batteries and what our methods of control and attack may be.”

Finally, Abrey updated council on the status of the new pumper truck, which has been ordered from Fort Garry Fire Trucks. A recent meeting with the manufacturer resulted in some changes which might affect the $828,447.90 purchase price. Abrey told councillors the emergency lighting system has been upgraded, while some equipment has been eliminated to allow for additional storage in the cabinets.

“We are currently waiting on the pricing adjustments from Fort Garry Fire Trucks and we will advise once those changes are there and how that will affect our original pricing,” he said.

Abrey added while the new truck was originally slated to replace the department’s 2002 Freightliner pumper, a decision has been made to instead replace the department’s 2011 Spartan pumper, which has been costing the department thousands of dollars to continually repair its emissions control system.

“We do have two years until the delivery of the new pumper to come up with the final decision,” he said.

The Province of Manitoba and the City of Dauphin have once again come to terms with regards to snow clearing on provincially-owned roads in the community.

Mike VanAlstyne, director of Public Works and Operations, said the province approached Dauphin with a lump sum offer of $50,000 to provide winter maintenance on the urban highway system after several years with no agreement in place. The streets in question include Main Street, Second Avenue Northwest and First Avenue Northeast.

“The Province approach us a few months ago to start discussions about it and they were able to offer, or come up with a new calculation for how much municipalities should get,” VanAlstyne said, adding city council approved the deal at its Nov. 27 regular meeting. “We felt that this was more fair than previous offers had been. And we know that we can provide probably a better level of service than they can at the moment, just with their staff levels and some challenges they’re facing.”

VanAlstyne added the winter maintenance will still take a team approach with plenty of communication between the two levels of government.

“The Manitoba government has offered to continue the sanding and salting services, so the ice control stuff, and we’re going to take on more of the plowing. We’re just able to prioritize it better than they can with their set levels of service,” VanAlstyne said. “Their set levels of service is lower than they probably should be, and where they would want them to be from a community of our size, but they have to follow their policies. So this is where the opportunity is there for us to recover most of our costs and to provide everyone with a better level of service.”

The end result should be easier passage on some of the main routes in the heart of the city, VanAlstyne added.

“The hope is that we can provide everyone with a better level of service than the previous few years,” he said, adding it is still unclear whether the $50,000 sum will fully cover the costs. “We’ll have to wait and see, I guess it depends on the winter. Right now, financially, we’re enjoying the warm weather and the lack of snow, but that could turn around quick on us. We’ll have to see how it plays out.”

VanAlstyne added that putting the provincially-owned roads back into the snow clearing mix should not adversely affect the level of service in other parts of the city.

“I don’t think it will be too bad. Our priority routes and our emergency routes and school routes will all still remain a priority, as well as our sidewalks and whatnot around the schools. We plan to address everything the same as we have,” he said. “The residential streets might see a 12-hour delay compared to where they used to be, but I don’t think it’s going to be a burden on the community. If those main arteries are opened up, we should see a lot of relief.”

Dauphin Lake is facing a health crisis, but it just might make it through the challenging time with a little help from its friends.

A group, Friends of Dauphin Lake, has been formed to address health and vitality issues facing the water body with an eye to ensuring its future as a residential area and tourist destination.

The immediate problem, says group member and long-time advocate Bill Griffin, is weed overgrowth threatening the future of the lake’s south basin.

“The lake is dying and way back when I was chairman of the Lake Advisory Board in the 1990s, I said the south end of the lake will be a marsh within 25 to 30 years and everybody laughed at me,” Griffin said. “We’ve had weeds the last three, four, five years and then this year they just went nuts with low water, high temperatures, lots of new sediment in front of the Dauphin Beach area this year. You couldn’t use a boat, you couldn’t get out with a boat, couldn’t water-ski, you couldn’t whatever.”

Griffin added the weed beds present in recreational areas are more than inconvenient, they are a safety concern.

Read the full story in this week's Dauphin Herald. 

The Dauphin Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere (RIDE) program is gearing up for its 31st year of getting people home safely during the holiday season.

Started by the late John Shuttleworth and RCMP Sgt. Ron Marlin, the program was the first of its kind in Manitoba and led the way for other communities to develop similar initiatives.

Operating out of the Dauphin Friendship Centre, RIDE gets underway, Dec. 1, and will run each Friday and Saturday night in December, except for Dec. 29 and 30, providing those who have been celebrating with alcohol or cannabis a safe way home.

Even the smallest amount of alcohol or cannabis can impair judgment, especially for someone behind the wheel of a vehicle.

To prevent that, RIDE volunteers will pick you and your vehicle up from a provided location. They will then drive you and your vehicle to your destination, preferably your home residence.

This is the first year the program has operated since Shuttleworth’s death, making it a bittersweet time for organizers.

“Dad founded the program back in 1992, so the program meant so much to him. He was not mobile for the last few years, but every night he would always call me the following morning and ask ‘did you have lots of volunteers?’ ‘Were the volunteers fed?’ Did you have lots of callers coming in?’ He was always so concerned about making sure that his volunteers were taken care of and that we were saving lives,” said his daughter Sho-Sho Shuttleworth-Lafontaine, who is now spearheading the program. “As tough as this year is going to be for me and our immediate family that volunteer . . . this is a year that we really are doing it in remembrance of dad and making sure that we carry on because it was so important to him.”

As in past years, the program is looking for additional volunteers and sponsors.

“A lot of our volunteers have retired from the program, so we are looking for more volunteers and with that, of course, they need a valid driver’s license and the RCMP will set them up for a free abstract and criminal records check,” Shuttleworth-Lafontaine said. “And a vehicle is not required, just a driver’s license.”

Main sponsors of the RIDE program are Manitoba Public Insurance, Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries, Parkland RCMP and the Dauphin Friendship Centre, but more are welcome, she added.

“Fuel prices have gone up and food prices, everything has gone up. So anyone who’s willing to do a monetary donation, we are more than willing to accept that,” she said. “We have already had several businesses in town step up for cash donations. I know Countryfest has also stepped up as a board to volunteer and has issued a challenge to the Ukrainian Festival board to also step up, And it would be nice to see the community challenge many boards and see if they’d like to come out, not for the whole season even. If they decide to do one weekend or one night we’d be glad to have them. It all helps.”

Anyone wanting to volunteer for the program or provide some sponsorship can leave a message for Shuttleworth-Lafontaine at 204-638-1463.

Those wanting to make use of RIDE services on the nights it is running, can access a safe ride home with your vehicle by calling 204-638-5707.

The Hunter Brothers brought the Burning Down the Barn tour to Dauphin, Nov. 18, much to the delight of a large and enthusiastic audience at Credit Union Place.

Sponsored by Dauphin’s Countryfest, the evening saw siblings J.J., Brock, Ty, Dusty and Luke Hunter fill their energetic and entertaining live show with all of the hits that made them the third most played group on country radio in Canada.

The evening kicked off with special guests Jake Vaadeland and The Sturgeon River Boys and their special blend of bluegrass and ‘50s rockabilly.

Canadians are familiar with the annual Tim Horton’s Smile Cookie Campaign, held each spring for the past 25 years or more.

And now they will be able to add a little smile to their holidays as the iconic Canadian restaurant is holding its first-ever Holiday Smile Cookie Campaign.

And locally, no one will be smiling more than the Dauphin and District Community Foundation (DDCF), which has been chosen as the local beneficiary of the campaign.

The Holiday Smile Cookies are white-chocolate sugar cookies with red and green sprinkles baked into them and each is hand-decorated with a white smile.

The cookies sell for $1.50 plus taxes and can be purchased at the local Tim Horton’s until Nov. 19, with 100 per cent of the proceeds of the cookies going to charity - 50 per cent to DDCF and 50 per cent to Tim Horton’s Foundation Camps.

“We are so pleased to have been selected by Tim Horton’s as the local charity to share in the proceeds of the Holiday Smile Cookie Campaign. We have no idea what to expect, but we are excited as to how this will help us increase what we can grant to the community,” DDCF executive director Kit Daley said. “We have had a tremendous response from local businesses and very quickly had sponsors for each day of the campaign. We are grateful to them for immediately coming onboard and to everyone who is so generously going to support this campaign through their purchase of cookies. A huge thank you to Tim Horton’s for selecting DDCF for this campaign.”

You can also place an order through any of Tim Horton’s delivery partners and get the cookies delivered.​

Fire protection is one of the most important services a municipality can provide to its residents. It is also one of the most expensive.

The City and RM of Dauphin recently approved the purchase of a new pumper truck for the Dauphin Fire Department, but the $828,447.90 price tag might not be as big a hit as it initially appears, said fire chief Cam Abrey.

“This is part of our capital replacement plan. We have a 10-year capital replacement plan so there’s no surprises to the taxpayers. The city and the RM make annual contributions towards the plan through their budgeting process and then we take a look at the age of our apparatus and the maintenance that’s been going into it as of late,” Abrey said. “One of the things that we did in order to lower the cost for the ratepayers is we’ve moved from a custom cabin chassis, which was the last pumper purchased in 2011, to a commercial cab and chassis, which lowers a price by $150,000 to $200,000.”

Three bids were received for supplying the truck with The Fort Garry Fire Trucks plan for a 2025 Freightliner cab and chassis top mount enclosed pumper being selected.

The truck will carry 1,000 imperial gallons of water which will be managed through a Darley 1,250 imperial gallon pump. The truck will also provide seating for six firefighters and has a delivery time of 24 to 32 months, Abrey said, adding the new truck is being built to address the department’s specific needs.

“We looked at maximizing the crew efficiency, so the 2002 pumper only carries two firefighters, which means that we’ve got to send multiple trucks to any call outside of the City of Dauphin into the RM because we need more than two firefighters for these fires,” he said. “The new (truck) will be carrying six firefighters and a higher volume of water. The 2011 only carries 500 gallons of water and the new one is designed to carry 1,000 gallons of water. So it’s multipurpose in that it could respond within city limits and the RM of Dauphin.”

The additional water capacity, Abrey said, makes the truck ideal when crews are smaller than desired, providing additional resources for the initial knockdown while hydrants are tapped and provides enough water for fighting vehicle fires, which usually require around 500 gallons.

Those are the kind of benefits that can come with planning 10 years in advance, Abrey said, stressing the department will not spend the maximum amount of money available, simply because it is available.

“Every member on this fire department is also a ratepayer of the community and we’re not out to hose our community and increase taxes. We want to do it as efficiently as possible,” he said, adding even emergency situations like when the department’s water tanker caught fire in 2012 or the ladder truck had an electrical fire in 2015. “It would be easy to say, ‘we need a new truck’ and go get one rather than putting in the work to get it done. But we fought with insurance to get the best proceeds we could.”

Once the new truck is delivered the department will make a decision as to how to dispose of the old apparatus.

“We’ll ask the manufacturer when we get closer to delivery date if they’ll assist us in selling it or if they’d consider it as a trade in,” he said. “We always look for the best efficiencies we can with that, too. Obviously that money is returned back into the capital replacement plan.”

Abrey said the new pumper has a life expectancy of 20 years according to the Fire Underwriters Survey, the organization which sets insurance rates across Canada.