The RM of Portage la Prairie's council meeting Tuesday highlighted a series of strategic goals for 2022.

The RM adopted the following mission and values statement including areas for improvement, opportunities and challenges after conducting an internal review of what council considers its strengths.

 

Our Mission: to provide exceptional municipal services to our residents while pursuing and attracting investments that enhance our agriculture and support our industries.

Our Vision: to be a municipality cultivating an unparallel quality of life, based on agriculture and innovation.

Council confirmed the 5 key priority areas for 2022, lined up in order:

1. Roads
2. Drainage
3. Growth
4. Partnership
5. Financial Stewardship

 

ROADS

We are one of the largest municipalities in Manitoba with an area of approximately 2237 square kilometres (864 square miles). Our roads are primarily gravel, requiring regular attention to ensure the roads are drivable. Heavy snowfalls and rainy periods demand quick attention to the roads to be serviced by our 6 graders. The RM mines its own gravel and spreads on average approximately 100,000 tonnes of gravel on RM roads on an annual basis. Approximately $2 Million is spent annually to maintain our roads. The RM has developed a 5-year road improvement plan to improve the roads on a financially prudent and incremental basis. Gravel purchases are also made annually to supplement our limited supply.

 

DRAINAGE

Aquifers, The Assiniboine River, Portage Diversion and Lake Manitoba make up much of our municipality’s geographic landscape. Natural flow and drainage patterns of surface water is an ongoing challenge to monitor and control. Subjected to wet climate cycles coupled with demand for farmable land has underscored the need for a Drainage Master Plan for the entire municipality. This comprehensive drainage plan has been developed to identify drainage projects in order of priority. The RM strives to take advantage of the drier years to prepare for the wetter years.

 

GROWTH

We are pleased to be in a time of demand for industrial, farm and residential land. We strive to partner with stakeholders to develop our region to attract business investment and increase employment opportunities.

 

PARTNERSHIP

Our region is thriving with much of this due to the cooperation of the RM and City. Together, we have been able to attract and secure major industries to the area, the most recent one being Roquette. We were the first ever in our province to establish a tax haring agreement between municipalities which set the base for many more mutual agreements to share overhead costs, increase efficiencies and deliver high-quality services to the region. Currently, we have 14 mutual agreements in force, which speaks volumes to our
unified voice that our region works better together.

 

FINANCIAL STEWARDSHIP

The RM council is committed to being responsible stewards of tax dollars to ensure long-term financial sustainability for the RM for years to come. Each budget is focused on delivering the best value for tax-dollar while maintaining high-quality service. Since 2013, the RM has reduced the real municipal tax rate by 6.3 per cent.

 

Council will be sharing more of this in its detailed budget presentation in April.