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News for December 14th
 Update from the Mayor
I was pleased to attend the Press Conference held on Wednesday, December 9, 2009, announcing that BDO Dunwoody will be merging with DSCP. This merger will result in more professionals in the Brandon office and the expansion of their occupancy on 10th Street which is a very impressive downtown location.
On Thursday, December 10th, I was pleased to bring greetings to the celebration of the Brandon Human Rights day at the Town Centre.
The 2009 Christmas Open House will be held at City Hall on Sunday, December 13th where we will be enjoying entertainment by the Brandon Community Orchestra and the Knox and Mecca Choirs. The Main Foyer has been beautifully decorated with hundreds of poinsettias – our appreciation and thanks to Tracy Minary and the Parks Dept. for providing such an attractive festive setting. This annual event is a great time of fellowship, refreshments, and singing.
On Tuesday, December 1st, I attended the Brandon & Area Community Foundation annual awards gala in City Hall. Twenty-three awards were distributed throughout Brandon and surrounding area. The work of the Foundation is very much appreciated in the community.
I was pleased to participate in the ribbon cutting ceremony at the Grand Opening of 1st Street’s Castle Ridge Estates on Thursday, December 3rd, 2009.
On Friday morning, December 4th, I attended the Open House for the Youth for Christ Literacy Centre on 10th Street.
I was pleased to attend the 30th anniversary of the Marquis Project which was celebrated at Lady of the Lake on Friday evening, December 4th.
Waterfall of Lights
The Waterfall of Lights officially opened on Friday, December 4, 2009. All light displays have been installed and testing of the lights has been completed. Flooding has begun on the skating oval and weather permitting will be ready in a few weeks. In addition, with construction of the new bridge on 18th Street, the dyke road will be opened up to two way traffic for this upcoming winter season. The entrance will once again be on Hilton Avenue.
Floral Displays
Over 800 poinsettias are in the process of being delivered to the various city departments and personal care homes throughout the city. The parks staff have done an excellent job in caring for these flowers and setting up the numerous displays.
Senior Ball Diamond & Softball Diamonds Update
The senior ball diamond is in the final stages of construction. The fencing is currently being installed and will be done by the beginning of next week. Other than some minor landscaping touches to be completed at the beginning of 2010 the diamond is completed. The senior ball diamond will be ready for play in 2010.
Both softball diamonds that have been constructed at the North End Community Centre will also be ready for play in 2010.
In addition, the City of Brandon has been awarded funding to assist in the construction of these diamonds. The Recreation Infrastructure Program through Western Economic Diversification has provided over $61,000 to assist with this project.
Fill the Bus Campaign
On November 26-27-28, Brandon Transit employees coordinated the 5th annual Fill the Bus Campaign in support of the Christmas Cheer Registry. Over 418 bundles of groceries, toys and clothes were collected, as well as a cash donation from ATU Winnipeg. Brandon Transit employees also assisted with the delivery of the donations.
Police Services Update
Inspector Grant and staff have been busy attending meetings in preparation of the Olympic Torch Run thru Brandon on January 8th, 2010.
Chief Atkinson and Inspector Grant attended the Criminal Intelligence Service of Manitoba Meeting in Winnipeg on December 2nd, 2009.
Our Service wide annual Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) training is now complete. This year we used a new self directed training model.
Members and Staff were given one month to complete the assignment.
Fire Hall Building Update
The site’s temporary power is now switched over to hydro and off of generators. The roof decking is ongoing on the Admin building. Work on curtain wall channeling is ongoing around the back of the Fire hall building. Steel studding and boarding around the exterior of the Fire Hall is complete. Electrical rough-ins are ongoing throughout the Apparatus Floor and Fire Hall main floor.
Ian Richards - Master of Arts in Archival Studies
On November 25, 2009 Ian Richards, the City’s Records and Information Manager successfully defended his thesis for his Master of Arts (Archival Studies) degree from the University of Manitoba. The thesis was entitled “Archives as a Cornerstone of Community Growth: Developing Community Archives in Brandon, Manitoba” and examined some of the ways in which archives can contribute to community initiatives and knowledge-based work.
The views expressed in the thesis are those of the author alone. They do not necessarily represent the official opinions or policy of the City of Brandon, its staff or its affiliates.
Amendment to Municipal Act – Derelict Property
The Province of Manitoba has introduced legislation to assist municipalities in dealing with derelict buildings and property. While the City of Brandon has provisions in its Building Safety and Property Standards By-law to contend with derelict buildings, this legislation goes even further.
Although this legislation is yet to be enacted, the Building Inspection and City Clerk’s Departments intend to carry out a comprehensive review of both the legislation and the City’s current by-law to ensure the intent of the legislation is carried out once proclaimed and given royal assent.
Park Street Closure, South of Van Horne Avenue East
The Plan of Closure legally closing Park Street, south of Van Horne Avenue East has been registered in the Brandon Land Titles Office. This portion of Park Street will now be included in our Lease Agreement with the Brandon Regional Health Authority for parking purposes for the new Cancer Clinic.
City Land Sales (February 1st to December 31st, 2009)
The following properties have been sold by our office from February 1st to December 31st, 2009:
362 Park Avenue East $ 21,500.00
1308 Van Horne Avenue SE 10,000.00
1420 Van Horne Avenue SE 10,000.00
904 Rosser Avenue 1.00
108-6th Street 1.00
Total $ 41,502.00
The Property Section's total gross sales amount from January to December 2009 is $81,502.00.
Open House for 1st and Veterans Way
On Wednesday, December 9, 2009, the Planning Department held a public open house to gain feedback on how the land at 1st Street and Veterans Way could be developed. At that meeting four concepts were presented along with a series of draft policy statements that have served as guidelines for development. These draft policy statements will help form the policies in the Development Report.
In spite of some very cold temperatures, approximately 57 people were in attendance. Attendees were asked to fill out a Questionnaire Survey which asked them to identify which layout they preferred and what adjustments they would make to any of the plans. They were also asked to rate their level of agreement with the draft policy statements. Responses to the project and the proposed plans were generally positive and the feedback obtained at the open house will be used to further refine the concept plans and guideline policies for development.
The information presented at the public open house will be added to the City's web page very soon in order for people who were not able to attend the public open house to see the information. The Planning Department will continue to be available to answer any questions and receive any comments about the plans during this time. Following the collection and analysis of the comments received a final concept plan and a series of policy statements will be developed. A development report will be presented to City Council in the new year.
A big thank-you is extended to all who were able to come to the open house!
12th Street – 200 Block
12th Street – 200 Block - There is a property in the 200 block of 12th Street which had suffered some fire damage several years back and had been boarded up. This office worked with several owners over the years to have this property cleaned up and redeveloped. The property was recently purchased by new owners and with some funding assistance from BNRC, the property has now been fully restored both inside and outside. We are pleased to inform Council that we are in the process of issuing a new certificate of occupancy.
Stage Covering in Princess Park
With the Santa Parade completed for another year, and winter definitely upon us, it is timely to provide Council with an update on the new stage cover that Renaissance Brandon installed in Princess Park this year. Discussions with the tarp manufacturer and City of Brandon building maintenance staff has resulted in a decision to leave the tarp atop the stage during the winter. The manufacturer confirmed that both the weather and weight baring specifications are compatible with a Brandon winter. Building maintenance staff feels removing; storing and reinstalling the stage covering pose a greater risk to the durability of the covering than the elements. Staff will monitor the covering throughout the winter.
Business incubator and entrepreneurial training centre
Renaissance Brandon was pleased to financially support the development of a business incubator and entrepreneurial training centre at 210 10th Street. Renovations are currently underway. The 4,000 sq foot facility will focus on assisting entrepreneurs and established companies who are developing products, process or services that have high growth potential and protectable intellectual property. The incubator will be far more than simply subsidized space. The facility will focus its efforts on providing high value added services to the clients including: flexible leases, direct business assistance and guidance, mentoring, business analysis, creation and recognition of milestones, advisory boards and sourcing non traditional forms of financing. Six to ten clients at a time are expected to occupy the space.
The City of Brandon’s role in the business incubator is lead by Economic Development Brandon and involves; identifying candidates, background research, assisting with development of the business model and leveraging the city’s government and business connections for the betterment of the project.
Historical Information - Fire Hall
Our project has recently taken a turn from organizing documents and photographs to sorting artifacts. There is a large amount of stuff which has been kept over the years unnecessarily. Our retirees are doing a great job of purging what we don’t need and cataloguing what we will keep. Among the things we will keep are 6 firefighter helmets. There are eight helmets that were kept, six are from our department; one is from Quebec and one from Royal Berkshire (in England). As our mandate is to commemorate only our department, when we come across things associated with other organizations we have been contacting them and returning the items. The oldest helmet from our department can be seen in our first group staff photo taken in 1884.
Human Resources Update
Continuing education was alive and well in Human Resources this week. We would like to congratulate Tanya Addison in attaining her Payroll Compliance Practitioner and both Monique Carriere and Vicki Fifi for the successful completion of their National Knowledge Examinations from the Canadian Council of Human Resources Association.
SANITATION
The City of Brandon has received its Community Recycling Report card from Manitoba Product Stewardship Corporation (MPSC) and once again the residents of Brandon are to be complimented on how they manage their waste and recycling. The overall recycling grade for our community is an “A”. This in turn means that 72.2 kg’s per person was captured in the recycling program as compared to 55.5 kg’s per person the previous year.
In the last year since the new recycling/refuse collection system was implemented, the total amount of residential refuse entering the Eastview Landfill has gone down by approximately 36%. The City of Brandon and its residents should be commended for their recycling efforts.
News for December 1st
Update from the Mayor
On Wednesday, November 25, Brian MacRae and I attended a Keystone Leadership Group meeting with Minister Stan Struthers present. Struthers is now the Minister of Agriculture and is currently familiarizing himself with the operations of the Keystone Board.
I brought greetings to the annual Volunteer Appreciation supper which was held on Thursday, November 26 at the Royal Oak Inn. As a city, we are reminded of the efforts of our citizens who freely offer their time and talents making Brandon a great city in which to live, work and play. The calibre of volunteerism in our city is overwhelming and we very much appreciate an opportunity to honor these people.
On Wednesday, November 18th, I participated in the Addictions Awareness Week event which was held in City Hall.
I was pleased to bring greetings and congratulations to the students who were honoured with the Aboriginal Education Awards sponsored by the Business Council on Wednesday, November 18th.
On Friday morning, November 20, 2009, I was a guest on Bill Turner’s Feed Back Program on CKLQ.
Also on Friday, I assisted in the official kickoff of Operation Red Nose for the 2009 Christmas season. This is an excellent transportation service provided by volunteers over the holidays to manage safety issues concerning a "no drinking and driving" policy surrounding seasonal festivities.
Update from the City Manager
The AMM Convention was held at the Keystone Centre this week and in addition to attending a number of the sessions, I had the opportunity to have separate meetings with the Minister of Culture, Heritage and Tourism and the Deputy Minister of Local Government.
Emergency Communications Update
Karen Warren regularly participates on the National 9-1-1 Working Group conference call meetings consisting of board representatives from across Canada. At present there are discussions and investigations into the benefits, uses and limitations of access to 9-1-1 services via the various forms of text messaging. The investigation is focusing on text messaging services that will improve access to 9-1-1 for persons with hearing or speech disabilities.
Engineering Update
19th Street North and Maple Avenue – Allen & Bolack are installing a storm sewer at this location. Will take approximately two weeks. This drainage work is required to redirect drainage conditions due to the construction of the new Fire Hall.
Planning Department Update
Further to last week's update, please be advised that the public open house for the 1st Street and Veterans Way Development Report project will be held Wednesday, December 9, 2009 from 4:00PM - 8:00PM at the Riverbank Discovery Centre, 545 Conservation Drive. Please feel free to forward the open house information to any of your contacts that you feel might be interested in attending. At this open house both the consultants and representatives from the Planning Department will be in attendance to provide information on the proposed alternatives for development and to gather comments from the public. The format will be a come-and-go session giving attendees the opportunity to view the alternatives and principles for development and to discuss these options with the consultants and city staff in attendance. All Council members are invited to attend this session.
In next week's update, we will forward the proposed alternatives for development that will be presented at the public open house.
Open House
The public is invited to view Alternative Development Plans for
Lands South of Veterans Way and East of 1st Street North
The City of Brandon is considering alternative plans for approximately 118 acres (48 ha) of land South of Veterans Way and East of 1st Street North, including different options for housing, a school, parks, commercial, roads, transit, and pe¬destrian/cycle paths.
Members of our Study Team will be available to discuss proposed plans and respond to questions.
Coffee and snacks will be provided.
Date: Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 Time: 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Location: Brandon Riverbank Discovery Centre, 545 Conservation Drive (Southside of Kirkcaldy Drive) For additional information on this Public Open House,
please feel free to contact the City of Brandon Planning Department at 729-2113 or a.veilleux@brandon.ca
Economic Development Update
Thanks to funding support from the City of Brandon, Brandon & District United Way and Manitoba Labour and Immigration, the Brandon Community Language Centre (BCLC) made great strides forward in 2009. The first “Foundations of Community Interpreting” training session was held with 12 interpreters from four language groupings successfully completing the training. Caroline Slimmon was hired as the BCLC Language Coordinator on June 8th, 2009. Caroline has worked diligently to establish the BCLC office within the Westman Immigrant Services building, develop operating policies and procedures, organize interpreter professional development opportunities and educate the community on the availability of interpreters. BCLC has worked with several public institutions to implement organizational policies regarding the use of BCLC interpreters for the organization’s interpretation needs.
Between May 1st, 2009 and November 13th, 2009, there have been 95 bookings for paid interpreters through the BCLC. Bookings were spread throughout various sectors, with 40% of the bookings made by the Justice system, 24% by the Education system and 8% by both the Health and Social Services system. The remaining bookings were in various sectors and some were made by limited English speaking people directly. Approximately 56% of the interpreters booked spoke Spanish while 24% spoke Mandarin.
As awareness of the BCLC increases, the organization is finding it difficult to have sufficient interpreters available during peak day time hours. Organizing a second Foundations of Community Interpreting session is a priority of the BCLC in order to meet current demand as well as to expand the number of languages offered through the BCLC. Currently funding limitations are the greatest barrier to offering the next round of interpreter training.
The BCLC continues to work on developing its operational model, with a service cooperative one of the models being considered. The BCLC continues to strive towards its’ goal of becoming self sustaining. That said it is evident that self sustainability will not be immediately achievable.
Lighthouses After School Program
The City of Brandon, in conjunction with the Department of Justice, have initiated the 2009-2010 Lighthouses After School program on October 16. The program provides youth a positive environment to get involved in pro-social, recreational and crime prevention activities after school.
We have had two new sites come on board this year being Earl Oxford and Riverview Schools. Other schools participating include: George Fitton, New Era, Betty Gibson, Valleyview, King George, Meadows and the North End Community Centre. The Lighthouse Program out of the North End Community Centre is for New Era students that are not able to attend the already scheduled Friday session at the school due to transportation issues. These youth will participate in arts & crafts, kids in the kitchen and, dependant on ice, will be able to partake in some evening skates. Due to the overwhelming response of youth interested at Betty Gibson school, we are looking into adding a second night so that all students are able to participate.
Two Activity Leaders are hired for each site to provide supervision, quality instruction, interact with the youth and act as role models. It is a program where one day a week, students can stay after school, be physically active in the gym and interact with their peers.
Fire & Emergency Services Update
We have recently sent out 300 surveys to patients who have used the ambulance from September 1st – October 31st. The surveys are starting to be returned to us. These surveys are done annually as part of our quality assurance program.
Fire Training Officer Lefebvre and A/L Parlow participated in a table top exercise at the Water Treatment Plant.
Public Education Officer, Troy Lamerz attended an NFPA Remembering When Conference in Boston. This program is aimed at educating seniors on fire safety and fall prevention. Since his return, he has made 4 presentations to Manitoba Housing.
Fire Hall Building Update
The administration building joists are all installed and the roof deck installation is ongoing.
The hose tower masonry is in place and they are currently extending the scaffolding to allow them to proceed to the top of the tower.
The exterior steel studding and boarding is ongoing around the apparatus floor and on gridline 14 above the apparatus roof elevation.
The elevator masonry is completed.
Fire Hall Historical Information
A photo was found this week that shows some of the high angle training procedures from the 40's. In 1945 there are two firefighters two-three floors off the ground being hoisted up the hose tower at 637 Princess. Firefighter Sedran is on the top secured by a harness around his waist. He is upside down hanging on to Firefighter Bain around the wrists with his bare hands. There is no other harness or security measures of any sort that can be seen for Mr. Bain.
Sportsplex
Registration for Sportsplex spring break and spring 2010 lessons, programs and leadership courses begins December 1.
Genesis High School Hockey Tournament will take place at the Sportsplex arena beginning Friday, December 4th and continuing on through Saturday, December 5th.
Olympic Torch Relay
On November 20, the Olympic Torch Relay committee entered a float in the annual Santa Parade. In cooperation with Brandon Transit, the 1957 City of Brandon bus was decorated promoting the Olympic Torch Relay coming to town on January 8, 2010. The bus was filled with children of city employees while Tim Sanderson, Tom Keep and Bryce Wilson carried the Canadian, City of Brandon and Olympic Torch Relay flags.
Big thanks to Jim Bourns for operating the bus and Ritchie Jacobson for designing the banners and overall layout of the bus.
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