The RM of Portage la Prairie council completed the demolition of Delta Beach Campground's public washroom and picnic structure last week. It's part of the cleanup following the 2011 and 2014 floods. CAO Nettie Neudorf says once that work's done, they'll work on developing the campground to the conceptual plan council adopted a few years ago.

RM of Portage la Prairie CAO Nettie Neudorf"Now there is a bit of time required to finish the work for the flood remediation project. Once that work is done then the RM will visually have a look to see what's left to be done in line with the construction costs that we anticipate, taking those in account for the rest of the work that needs to be done. That'll be a budget decision."

She outlines the remaining work for the campground concept plan after the budget's determined.

"The washrooms are part of that flood cleanup. But that'll be a work that will happen in 2017. And then the additional work in order to finish the concept plan will be right after that. But hopefully in the same year."

She says it's a plan that definitely takes in a lot of work. Neudorf explains there'll be some seasonal campsites in the plan, and they already have inquiries about booking into seasonal spots for next year. She notes they're not able to take those bookings yet, because there's a lot of work to do in order to bring it to the plan's completion make it complete to what the design is. Neudorf says council anticipates it being a busy campground once it's up and running, but it has to ensure the infrastructure's all in place first. Once flood remediation work is done, there are water lines to extend to the campsites in order to build the washroom and showers. How large the washrooms will be are all decisions along the way. This means a lot of work's still left to do before they can say how it's going to be run, and how busy it will be.

Neudorf explains, "We certainly can anticipate it will be busy. It's going to be a beautiful facility with the beautiful beaches that we have there, and with Lake Manitoba, we anticipate it to be a polished gem for the RM."

She adds council's applied for additional funding assistance from the province, and hasn't heard back yet. She notes it'll be an economic boost, and the the province will see some return as well with more people traveling the area.

Neudorf says, "There's a lot of attention to that area, but deservedly so with the impact of the flood. Council had a vision of the timing in 2014, and the flood caused its delay. So, now we're trying to clean up, build, and improve all at once. It does make for a very busy time. Finishing flood remediation is priority one. Then waiting for an answer from the province to see if we have any grants for that will determine the timing of full completion."

New Delta Beach Campground conceptual design - subject to changes

Picnic structure demolished at left with public washroom toward right