The Bulky Item Collection Program is a user-pay system that operates year round, one week per month.

1. Do not put out bulky waste for regular waste collection. Bulky waste is classified as refuse that will not fit in the containers used for weekly collection.
Bulky Item Pick-Up Restrictions:
* City of Brandon Residents ONLY
* Size Requirements:
- Limited to 25 kgs in weight and a maximum 1 meter in dimension in any one way (with exception of household appliances/furniture or wood/tree branches)
- Furniture and Appliances are exempt to weight and size restrictions
- Tree branches and or wood is to be bundled and not to exceed 2 meters in length, or 25 kgs per bundle
- 1 tag required per item or bundle
- NO Hazardous Waste accepted under this program

2. Acceptable items may include: furniture, large appliances (fridges, freezers, air-conditioners, stoves, etc.) hot water tanks and mattresses. Contact our Civic Services Complex @ 729-2290 for a special pick up. A charge will apply for each item.

3. Household construction/renovation materials, such as drywall, lumber (both treated and untreated), shingles, concrete, doors, bathtubs, windows or carpets must be taken to the Eastview Landfill Site for disposal. There is no fee for a weight under 500 kgs. Information on the Eastview Landfill Site is available online at www.brandon.ca. Commercial haulers operating within the City will also provide bins for collection of construction materials.

4. You can also contact the CMHA RE-Store about donating your construction/renovation materials. The Re-Store is a building supply store that accepts and resells quality new and used building materials. Contact them at 728-2227. We encourage reuse of materials wherever possible.

5. Yard waste and branches can be taken to the Eastview Landfill Site for composting and grinding. There is no charge for this service.

If you have a large item you wish to dispose of using this program, just follow the three simple steps below:
1. Purchase a bulky item ticket at one of the following locations:
Civic Services Complex, 900 Richmond Avenue East, Monday to Friday, 8:30 am – 4:00pm
City Hall - Treasury, 410 – 9th Street, Monday to Friday, 8:30 am – 4:00pm

Please note that each item requires are ticket. Ticket costs are $5.00

2. Call the Civic Services Complex at 729-2290 to schedule a pick up date (please have your purchased ticket on hand).

3. Have your bulky item(s) out to the curb or back lane by 7:00 am on the specified collection day and we will take care of the rest. City crews are unable to enter onto private property to retrieve items. Insure that all items are tagged. Any untagged items will not be picked up.

For more information on this program, please call 729-2290 or e.mail I.broome@brandon.ca.

Construction
Construction will commence the week of February 26th on the replacement of water and sewer lines on the east side of Park Avenue East between Park Ave. and Paul’s Hauling. The existing mains need replacement due to their age and condition. Improvements to the drainage ditch that is in the same area will also be carried out.

WATER/WASTEWATER
Under the new regulations developed under the Drinking Water Safety Act, owners of public water systems are required to have a periodic assessment of their source water, treatment equipment, and distribution infrastructure. The focus will be on the ability of the system to produce water that meets acceptable standards on a reliable basis, and provides recommendations on changes or upgrades where required. The assessment is to be undertaken by a qualified third party engineer and is to be completed by August 2008. Request for proposals have been advertised through the City’s tender system and closed last week. A review of the proposals received are presently being conducted by staff.

Occupancy Rates
Brandon motels / hotels confirmed a 4.7% increase in the average occupancy rates in 2007, compared to 2006. The 2007 hotel occupancy rate was 60.4% up from 55.7% in 2006.

As previously indicated, in order to facilitate second shift ramp up at the Brandon Maple Leaf facility, approximately 500 international recruits are expected to arrive in Brandon in 2008. The international recruits will arrive in groups of 60 - 70 every one to two weeks from Mauritius, Ukraine, Honduras and Georgia. The first group of approximately 50 individuals will arrive from Mauritius in early March. As of mid February, Maple Leaf has been successful in securing rental accommodations for all the foreign workers arriving in 2008.

FIRE & EMERGENCY SERVICES
Deputy Romanik met with the Medical Transport Coordination Centre administration this week to discuss issues regarding ambulance dispatch.

Deputy Romanik attended the Manitoba Emergency Services College Graduation on February 21st.

Increase in Water Main Failures Enquiry
A comparison in water main failures identified the following information:

We have also experienced some challenges with a couple of repairs due to the depth of frost staff had to deal with. The repair at the 100 block on 8th Street had 7 feet of frost as a result of the heavy bus traffic and, this combined with the need to make 4 separate repairs on this line did create some delays in restoring water service to this immediate area. This particular location has been prioritized for renewal this summer.

News for February 17th

Update from the Mayor
Brian MacRae, Chief Atkinson and I attended the Manitoba Urban Search and Rescue Exercise at Waterhen, MB on Wednesday, February 13. It was interesting to tour their facility and to witness first hand the professionalism demonstrated by the urban search and rescue team. Wednesday’s -40 degree temperatures combined with a severe wind chill factor created outdoor survival conditions in which two teams of four individuals “camped out” utilizing their emergency training in extreme conditions.

I am pleased that the expansion of the Manitoba Fire College will continue to provide superior emergency response programs here in Brandon to produce highly trained individuals combining skills in complex, modern technology and professionalism.

“Making Government More Transparent” Webinar
The City Clerk, Deputy City Clerk and the By-law/Policy Coordinator took part in a webinar last week entitled “Making Government More Transparent”. The webinar format enabled the staff to listen to a presentation from George Sparrow of SIRE Technologies on increasing public access to electronic document systems and the use of live web-stream broadcasting to telecast City Council meetings across the internet. The City Clerk’s Department will be doing further research into the new technologies available to give the citizens of Brandon greater access to City Council and the Administration.

Make It Real award program
On February 12th, 2008, Yellow Pages Group (YPG) launched the third edition of its Make It Real award program. The program recognizes the noteworthy contributions of small businesses across Canada to the well-being of their local communities. 2008 marks Brandon’s second year in the program.

More details and applications to participate in the Make It Real award program are available online at www.ypg.com/makeitreal. The deadlines for nominating a business and for submitting an entry form are April 21, 2008 and May 1, 2008 respectively. Winners will be announced on June 9, 2008.

Fire & Emergency Services
Deputy Romanik met this week with the Shilo Fire Department and Shilo Social Workers to organize training for BFES staff. They will provide BFES staff with training to help prepare us to deal with possible cases of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder of the returning soldiers. This training will be delivered in May and June. They will come 8 times (twice per shift) so everyone can sit through the entire session.

Deputy Bell, Captain Macmillan and Lieutenant McDonald interviewed 12 candidates over three days that are applying for the BFES new hire short list.

Handi Transit
Over the past several months we have been providing updates with respect to proposed changes related to Handi Transit Services. The Handi Transit Advisory Committee is holding a public consultation meeting on Wednesday, February 27th at 7:00pm - main foyer of City Hall. All council members are encouraged to attend.

If you require further information, please contact us at 729-2279.

Sportsplex
The Sportsplex held a free swim on Tuesday February 5th, in conjunction with “Turn off your T.V. Week” which was sponsored by Brandon in Motion and Westman Healthy Lifestyle Coalition. This event was a huge success with 184 people participating.

Healthy Brandon and Brandon in Motion held a strategic planning session on February 13th at the Sportsplex. The committee was meeting to set the direction of the committee for 2008/2009.

Free public workshop
Shake the sodium habit and learn more about high blood pressure at free public workshop. High blood pressure is still the silent killer. Learn the risk factors and consult the experts on treatment and prevention at a free public workshop on Tuesday, February 26, 2008. The two-hour session, “Blood Pressure and You: Shaking the Sodium Habit”, features two speakers, neurologist and cerebrovascular diseases expert, Dr. Arturo Tamayo, and registered dietitian, Dianne Lamb.

For more information, please contact: Tammy Witko, Communications Manager, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Manitoba Ph: 204.949.2023 / 1.888.473.4636 / Cell: 204.799.7337

News for February 11th

Update from the Mayor
I have been in conversation this week with the Premier’s office as well as with Merv Tweed to request updates and clarification regarding the Industrial Waste Water Treatment Facility and the YMCA/City project.

Discussions were also held on the proposed Brandon University Fitness Centre. I am confident that Council’s decision to refer this matter until March will enable us to obtain sufficient information regarding this development.

Update from the City Manager
I met with Dr. Lou Visentin this week to discuss the issues surrounding the University's MRIF (Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund) application for funding for the proposed BU Fitness Centre. It was a useful meeting in terms of understanding our respective positions relative to the project. It was also positive in terms of improving ongoing communications between BU and the City.

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
Brian Kayes made a presentation entitled "Building B.E.S.T." to Manitoba Hydro's Corporate Safety Officers who were attending a two day meeting in Brandon. They were interested in learning about the Brandon Emergency Support Team and how B.E.S.T. had become successful at building and sustaining its team.

EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
Testing of the E911 backup site was conducted this week to ensure the operability of the centre if required.

9TH AND MARYLAND
Construction has commenced at the west side of the traffic circle at 9th and Maryland. Allen and Bolack are installing new sewer and water mains for Phase II of the Woodlands Subdivision.

34th Street and Rosser Avenue
In response to an enquiry from Councillor Blight with regards to safety concerns at the intersection of 34th Street and Rosser Avenue, our office recently conducted traffic counts to review the warrants for a 4-way stop at this intersection.

Our office will now begin to review the requirements for new signs at this intersection to ensure a high level of safety is maintained during this transition period. Estimated time for implementing this change will be in the spring as there will be a large number of new signs to be installed for safety purposes, which winter conditions greatly restricts.

FIRE & EMERGENCY SERVICES
Deputy Bell will attend a Manitoba Association of Fire Chief’s (MAFC) Board of Director’s meeting on Saturday, February 9th in Portage la Prairie.

The job posting for the Training Officer’s position has been released. This is to fill the position of recently retired member Wayne Ferguson.

BRANDON TRANSIT
Throughout 2007 Brandon Transit continued to increase its ridership base in both areas of Regular Transit and Handi Transit. The Regular Transit ridership increase was 9.5% to 1,070,653 with this increase attributed largely to Industrial ridership, and second through increased Student/Youth usage as a result of programs such as the Industrial Arst/Home Economics Program. The Department looks to further grow the Youth/Post Secondary ridership base further in 2008 through the reduction of pass costs to $35 and $40 respectively.

Handi Transit ridership increased by 11.5% in 2007 over that of 2006, resulting in 26,427 rides. The magnitude of this increase is largely due to the loss of contract services resulting in a reduction in transportation capacity for approximately five months in 2006.

COMMUNITY SERVICES
On Wednesday January 30th, Cathy Snelgrove, Perry Roque and Iain McDonald attended the first IDP (Integrated Design Process) meeting for the City of Brandon/YMCA aquatics facility project. The meeting allowed for the City of Brandon and the YMCA to express their vision for the project to the design team. The meeting included discussions on project objectives, programming and space requirements, budgets and design schedule.

Community Services is currently working on a naming rights policy for the City of Brandon. The Recreation Master Plan identified the need to develop a naming rights policy for community facilities, parks and recreation areas. A presentation to Council should be expected in May of this year.

Community Centre Ice Availability
In response to Councillor Black’s enquiry regarding an update on the status of the ice surface availability at the various Community Centre’s, this year there is ice located at Green Acres, West End, Westridge, Valley View and South End. The hours of operation at each site is dependant on the availability of volunteers, weather, and community interest on any given night.

Of course we can not force any individual to undertake any volunteer opportunity, however, we believe that by providing and promoting volunteer opportunities in the community and then recognizing those volunteer efforts more, that this may assist in continuing to channel resources to the Community Centres.

Community Strategic Plan
In response to Councillor Blight’s enquiry regarding an update on the Community Strategic Plan. The Community Strategic Plan committee and subcommittees are continuing to meet regularly. Some of the accomplishments that have been made by the group this year are:
• The introduction of green pages in the new phone book which highlights environment related businesses (coming out in February / March) through a grant from the Brandon and Area Community Foundation.
• Maryland Community Garden development in partnership with the Healthy Brandon, the City of Brandon and the RHA.
• Community Strategic Plan questions posed to the community through the City of Brandon’s citizen survey.
• Team Brandon for Economic Development set up an information sharing meeting between the Honorable Ron Lemieux and business leaders to talk about issues and discuss solutions related to transportation and infrastructure.
• The Environmental Committee hosted the Hydrogen Steering Committee in Brandon complete with a tour of the City of Brandon Recycling Facility, Canexus and ACC in September 2007.
• Coordinated and participated in the first Human Right Day program in conjunction with the Brandon School Division through a grant from the BNRC.

Also in the fall, the Leadership Committee and Implementation Committee decided to combine their function to form one overarching committee, with varying roles by the different members. As part of the role of this committee, they are currently working on developing / identifying a set of metrics to assist in articulating the accomplishment of the committee in a simple, ongoing basis.

Recreation Plan Update
This is in response to Councillor Blight’s enquiry to previous discussions between the Brandon School Division and the City of Brandon regarding recreational properties as the Recreation Master Plan moved forward and recreation hubs were being created whereby he requested an update on same.

News for February 4th

Plebiscite Update
Mobile voting stations have been established as follows:
1 Rideau Park Home 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. 525 Victoria Avenue East
2 Dinsdale Home 9:45 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. 510 – 6th Street
3 Sokol Manor 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 Noon 30 – 13th Street North
4 Fairview Home 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. 1351 – 13th Street
5 Hillcrest Home 2:45 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. 930 – 26th Street
6 Central Park Lodge 4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. 3015 Victoria Avenue

A mobile voting station will also move throughout the Brandon Regional Health Centre and the Assiniboine Centre to enable patients to vote.

Emergency Preparedness
Sgt. Palson, Deputy Fire Chief Romanik and Brian Kayes attended a one day table top exercise hosted by the Brandon Regional Health Authority. This exercise dealt with the BRHA's Pandemic Emergency Response Plan and how their planning works with its supporting partners. The BRHA have a well developed plan and their response team members are equally well prepared. While there is still some work to do, this plan has made great progress and would be a very useful tool in a response.

Economic Development
The Economic Development Brandon (EDB) office is working closely with Westman Immigrant Services to define respective roles and formalize a referral process for individuals wishing to immigrate to Brandon. In the first month of 2008, the EDB office received a notable increase in the number of immigration requests, originating from a variety of countries including the United States.

As part of the efforts to implement a proactive business retention, expansion and attraction strategy for Brandon, the Business Development Specialist has spent the past few weeks meeting with Brandon’s manufacturers. The familiarization visits provide an opportunity to understand the status of local businesses, identify problems facing existing businesses and determine opportunities for growth. With this knowledge, the EDB office will be well positioned to assist local businesses overcome barriers and take advantage of opportunities.

Fire & Emergency Services
Chief Dane and Deputy Chief Bell participated in the street hockey kick off on January 31, 2008 for Heart and Stroke Foundation month.

As part of the Flex Hour Training, Department Staff are participating in Advanced Medical Training and Recertification this week.

Handi Transit
The Handi Advisory Committee has been working for several months on the revisions and development of resources used in the delivery of Handi Transit Services within Brandon. Several of these documents were either out of date or missing and required researching other communities to see how they operate different components within their systems. The Committee was recently expanded to include related agencies who provided valuable input as to how the proposed recommendations would affect their day to day operations. We are pleased to share with Council the recommendations that have been put forward by the Advisory Committee.