As Reeve for the RM of Piney for the past 6 years, Wayne Anderson has seen many changes and much growth. 2021 held much of the same.

Anderson says the desire for people to move out of the city and into the country, in particular to Sunrise Corner, has resulted in strong residential lot sales in Woodridge and Sandilands. “We've experienced record sales of lots and people are wanting to move to the country. They're hearing it's a good place to live and it's a beautiful area not that far away. Our taxes are very low out here. So that's resulting in an increase in a lot of interest in the area.”

He says, they have a new 40-lot residential housing subdivision in Sandilands. A part of which is now already available for purchase. With the increasing interest in country-living, Anderson says, they are continuing to create a concept plan for a new Woodridge subdivision.

He says, “anything that goes on the market is sold very quickly. People want to move here, so that's good news for us.”

Another big event in 2021 was the May wildfires that devastated approximately 800 to 900 hectares of forestry in the Woodridge/Sandilands area. Anderson is grateful for the help of provincial Wildfire Services as well as local firefighters. He says, “it was brought under control and no lives or property lost. Although, we did have a road closure for about a week.”

Andreson moves on to a fight of another kind. The US/Canada border closure.

“It's been off and on and with various rules for crossing and they change regularly. But so far, the residents have been living with it all right, and everybody sort of adapted to it. We had all hoped it would be gone this year, but it's still with us. We can hope for maybe next year we'll be finished with that.”

The other battle has been with improvements to the cellphone coverage to the area. Anderson notes there are a couple of more towers in the area. But he says, “I don't see anything new on the horizon right now for anymore cell towers.” He mentions that they still have some areas which are very underserved.

“But by and large, we're getting by and the improvements that we have in place. Now there's a new tower at Woodridge, there's one at Zhoda, one out by Hwy 59 and #201. We also have a cell tower near Buffalo Point. So, we do have some coverage for cell in the area and our Internet provider has pretty well, good coverage in the area and they're working at it. But it's now time to close in the dead spots.”

All that said, the Reeve is hopeful, “because of the things we’re seeing happening out here. The land sales and people moving out here and wanting to be here. So, I’m glad to see that.”

When it comes to road improvements in the area, Anderson says they are a part of a multi-municipality incentive group to get road improvements done on Hwy 201, in order to bring it up to code as a major east-west trade corridor.

“We were disappointed. We had thought there was going to be an area done West of Vita, but that didn't happen this year. They're just concentrating on Hwy 59 right now. But we know the 201 will be worked on in the next year or two.”

Anderson notes that farmers in the southeast have struggled through the drought situation this past year. “Many of them had to do a lot of culling of animals, you know, downsizing of herds. And of course, grain sales are down as well. But they are hopeful that the weather patterns will change and that next year we’ll have lots of rain.”

The new Public Works shopMeanwhile, the CAO for the RM of Piney says he is pleased with their completed projects in 2021. Martin Van Osch says, “We have been able to build a new public works shop for the municipality. This was completed at the end of November and below budget which is really nice. So the lights are on now at a new 4500 square foot indoor space which is going to be a great addition to the services that we provide to our ratepayers.”

The CAO also talks about a 1600 sq ft addition to the Piney Fire Hall.

The newly expanded Piney Firehall

“This was a critical upgrade that we needed to help the RM of Piney Fire Service and the support and efforts that they do. As you know, emergency response and preparedness are really crucial for municipalities, especially in Piney where we experience many emergencies each year.”

As well, a new partnership initiative was recently created together with the Buffalo Point First Nation and the Rural Municipality of Stuartburn and Piney.

They have established of the Buffalo Point, Piney, Stuartburn Recycling and Waste Management Board. Van Osch says, the purpose of this initiative is to provide a waste management program with an ownership approach, but mostly that southeastern Manitoba residents will be able to transfer their waste and recycling to separate and approved facilities.”

Van Osch also mentions their continued desire to fulfill a need for seniors housing in the east borderland community and so they’ve established the “Southeast Manitoba Seniors Community Housing Services Co-op", which is a partnership with the RM of Piney, East Boarderland Community Housing and the Piney Regional Chamber of Commerce. It's a grassroots solution to providing much-needed seniors housing in the southeast.

They have also applied for a Rural Transit Solutions grant, in hopes of partnering with neighboring municipalities to develop a southeast rural transit system that could benefit those that need public transit through the southeast corner of the province.

And for those hoping to enjoy the beauty and natural landscape of Sunrise Corner, Van Osch is hoping they will be able to complete a draft plan for the establishment of trails, specifically for non-motorized purposes. “For walking, cross-country skiing, those appreciate biking. I think that's a great initiative for us here in Piney. In the past we've seen a lot of focus on trails for motorized vehicles and maybe not enough attention to non-motorized trails. And it’s really the non-motorized trails that lead to a healthy lifestyle.”

Life in the southeast corner of Manitoba is bustling as well as busting at the seams and so in 2019, the RM of Piney and the RM of Stuartburn joined forces to form the Piney-Stuartburn Economic Development District. Monique Chenier is their full-time economic development manager and has been working very hard these past 2 years to help new businesses launch and existing businesses expand. Growing jobs through their abundant natural resources and the agricultural sector. Plus working towards housing solutions for families and seniors. As well as accommodations for tourists and temporary workers. * (excerpts taken from Sunrise Corner website)

Chenier says, “from an economic development perspective we launched a new economic development website in March 2021 to help local businesses promote their products and services and help new residents to the region be able to find the products and services they're looking for. We've had many new residents in the last couple of years that need to find know where to find what they're looking for. We've been working really closely with the Piney Regional Chamber of Commerce on various initiatives including an online career symposium, youth membership/ mentorship program, and shop local campaign."

In addition, Chenier says she is working with Eastman Tourism to offer a coaching program for entrepreneurs interested in developing tourism experiences. She also sits on the Eastman Region Immigration Partnership Council, where she is hoping her efforts will bring more immigrants to the region and provide opportunities for them to contribute to local businesses and communities.