The Mayor of Steinbach says whenever the city receives a lot of rain, he hears about drainage concerns from residents.

About two inches of rain fell Thursday night in Steinbach and Chris Goertzen says drainage was again a hot topic at Friday's Open Door session.

"Specifically lot grading came up a number of times from different people who want to see neighbours get along and make sure that they have appropriate lot grading," notes the Mayor.

(Steinbach Mayor Chris Goertzen)Goertzen says the city's engineering staff have been working in some neighbourhoods, giving residents the site lines of exactly where their lots should be graded to. He notes anyone with questions can contact the Engineering Department.

"It's an important problem to resolve amongst neighbours and if the city can facilitate that and give information that's a good thing," he says.

Another topic that came up was affordable housing. Goertzen says for many people it is a challenge to find affordable housing.

"We do encourage developers to make sure that they have a good mix of housing in their developments," says Goertzen. "Whether it's rentals or whether it's homes to purchase."

One final topic discussed Friday was the need for more personal care home beds. According to Goertzen, not a single personal care home bed has been added in Steinbach since the late 1980's.

"There are a number of seniors who have grown up and lived here in Steinbach that are now being forced to live in other communities at personal care homes," he says. "We continue to push the provincial government to act on this, to make an investment because we think this is a priority for our citizens and it should be a priority for our provincial government as well."