A familiar name in St. Pierre will be on the ballot this fall as he runs for mayor.

Village Councillor Raymond Maynard was first elected on council in 2002, then took a break the following term and has since rejoined for the last two. He says what makes him a good candidate for mayor is that he has been on essentially every committee in town so he understands how they all operate and always has a good idea of what's going on in the community.

"I've been on the finance committee, I'm currently on the personnel committee, I've been on the rec centre committee, Rat River Health Committee, Rat River Recreation committee, EMO, St. Pierre Vet," lists Maynard.

As for his mandate, Maynard notes he would like to continue on a similar path they are currently on. "We'd like to see the park continue to grow," adds Maynard. He says they would like to add some lighting along the walking path as well as build a new canteen and washroom facility to make it more user-friendly and maybe even into something year round.

"As for the town, there's items that need to be taken care of and I know Mona (Fallis), that was something on her agenda to do but things happen and sometimes you don't have a chance to get to them. That would be the infrastructure which is our sewer system. We're going to have to take a look at that very carefully and soon because it's very old and deteriorating so part of my mandate is going to be to redo all that while I'm on council."

In terms of lowering taxes, which has been a concern amongst residents in town, Maynard says the probability of significantly reducing taxes is low but adds he has an idea in mind of how the town could save money. "One possibility is to maybe put fire hydrants in town," notes Maynard. "Putting self-sufficient fire hydrants not the ones with main lines but every fire hydrant has their own well." He says by doing that, insurance rates could drop as high as 30% for everybody. Maynard adds that idea would still require some research but adds it's one potential possibility.