Our province made a million-dollar announcement Friday for the Town of Niverville.

Mayor Myron Dyck says the Province of Manitoba will be investing $1 million towards an upgrade to Niverville's fire hall and operations building. This upgrade will take place at the existing town compound at 309 and 329 Bronstone Drive, which was originally purchased with the understanding that it would also be used to increase future emergency services in town.

Dyck says the $1 million is certainly very welcome. He notes continuing to keep the residents of Niverville and their property protected from fire is always a priority for the town.   

"With Niverville being the fastest growing municipality in the province, fire protection is more important than ever," he says. "This investment from the Province of Manitoba into an upgrade of our fire hall and operations building is more than welcome, and with the police station nearing completion this announcement today will help facilitate the next phase of improving emergency services in Niverville."

Though the funding has been promised, Dyck says it remains to be seen exactly what this upgrade will entail. He notes it could mean space for more trucks or extra room for offices and training. 

"With having a larger community, comes a need for more individuals, more members," says Dyck. "Then you need more lockers for gear, you need more equipment as you are servicing a larger community."

Dyck says the Town of Niverville made a request in the fall for this grant and now that the funding has been approved, they can sit down with the fire department and begin more concrete discussions on what is needed. 

"What we do know is that the fire department needs more space," he says. "We can now start planning different ideas or options as to how that extra space comes about."

This upgrade is expected to be a multi-phase process, with the town undertaking conceptual design work in 2024 and an anticipated completion of design drawings in 2025. Dyck says he is hopeful that they can put shovel in the ground by 2026. A working committee has been established by the CAO to gather relevant input from the Operations Department and Niverville Fire and Emergency Services regarding this upgrade.

Dyck says it means a lot to be noticed by the province.

"We're very grateful to the province for looking at the application we submitted in the fall," he says. "Grateful for this grant today and looking forward to sitting down with Council and with our fire department and planning the future."

Dyck says it is too soon to suggest how much money the Town of Niverville will need to contribute towards this project. 

"It all depends on the various concepts and ideas and then associating costs with those ideas before we can speak to that," he says. "One million dollars is a wonderful amount, but that money can be spent sometimes 10 times over, depending on what one needs."

Meanwhile, the $1 million for Niverville is only a portion of what our provincial government announced Friday toward firefighting efforts in Manitoba. Municipal and Northern Relations Minister Ian Bushie announced $13.6 million for 16 projects to support the capacity of rural municipalities and Northern Affairs and First Nation communities to respond to fires and keep Manitobans safe. The list of projects includes a new fire engine for the RM of Springfield and a fire pumper truck replacement for the RM of Stuartburn. 

 

With files from Adi Loewen