|
News for September 23rd
Update from the Mayor
Chief Atkinson and I have just returned from a trip to Ottawa where we attended a meeting with Premier Doer and other delegates
involved in the Justice Mission. The purpose of this mission is to instigate changes to the Criminal Youth Justice Act. Discussions
with Justice Minister Chomiak involved all three political parties, and five recommendations were submitted to amend the Justice
Act. Follow-up work may be necessary with the Federal Government to achieve favorable results.
New Connection between Buildings
The IT department has selected the winner of its RFP for the connection of two City sites (Works complex and the new Police Services building) back to City Hall using a high speed network link. The vendor, ABLE networks Inc., uses a novel approach for installation of network cables; they are mounted on existing hydro poles. This cost cutting strategy is used by both MTS and Westman communications to reduce network installation costs. Although part of the network will still be buried, the department plans to complete the project by mid December.
Upgrades to City Parking Lot
Please be advised that some maintenance upgrades are currently being completed to the City-owned parking lot on the east side of 11th Street in the 100 block (north of the Federal Building). While first impression of the site may look as though this property is being redeveloped, our office would like to ensure Council that this is not correct. The parking lot is remaining as it was originally used without any reconfiguration or addition of parking stalls, and is simply being maintained as such.
Plans include replacing the existing plug-ins with power smart receptacles which are programmable depending on the time of day and the various temperatures throughout the winter months. Power is only supplied to the plug-in as required, depending on how cold it is, or the time of day (reflective of business hours), all factors which help reduce hydro consumption and hydro bills associated with this parking lot. Additional plug- ins are also being installed in areas of the parking lot that did not have service as these areas will now be leased to new employees of BDO Dunwoody who are relocating to the 10th Street Emporium location.
In order to change over the existing services for the plug-ins, new trenching was required in the parking lot for electrical power supplies as well as some new fencing for attaching the electrical work. A hydro pole with additional lights was also installed to help improve the lighting levels in this parking lot and surrounding area. Once these electrical improvements are completed, an asphalt overlay of the existing parking lot will be completed in order to repair the aforementioned electrical trenches as well as help reduce yearly maintenance costs for summer repairs to the deteriorated asphalt that previously existed in this parking lot.
Our office hopes the work will be completed by October 5th, and the patrons to this parking lot will be permitted to return to a power smart parking lot. The aforementioned improvements should greatly help reduce overall maintenance costs associated with this parking lot as well as provide an improved service for individuals who lease parking stalls.
Rental Housing Availability Directory
July 16, 2007 marked the launch of the free Brandon Rental Housing Availability Directory. In its first 65 days of operation,
a total of 138 different rental postings have been posted to the directory website. Of those, there are approximately 120
unique rental postings (roughly 18 repeats) and approximately 112 unique landlords / property managers. Currently, there
are 9 postings displayed on the website (Sept 18), however, it has been the norm to find between 10-15 postings on the
website at any given time. Available units currently on the website, range in price from $350 for a shared 2 suite
apartment to $850 for a 2 bedroom house.
On average, the rental directory receives between 2 - 4 new postings a day and those numbers have continued to
grow since its introduction. During the first month of operations many listings went up and were then removed
within 2- 3 days. It is estimated that listings now average between 4-6 days on the directory.
Improvements were recently made to the rental availability directory to assist property owners to navigate the site
and take advantage of a new remove a listing feature. This tool enables property owners / renters to quickly and
easily remove their rental listings if they are rented before the seven day automatic delete function.
Feedback has been extremely positive from both property renters and tenants. This service has provided a fast,
convenient, and current, means to connect renters with tenants. To our knowledge the directory has helped
people from Thompson, Calgary, Saskatoon, rural Saskatchewan and Manitoba find housing in Brandon before they arrived.
Sportsplex
Swim Lessons will begin on Saturday, September 22nd and will continue well into December.
On Wednesday, October 3, 2007 join Healthy Brandon in motion for the World Record Walk and help them celebrate their
1st anniversary.
* Time: 11:30am
* Place: Brandon’s Community Sportsplex
* Address: 30 Knowlton Drive
A healthy lunch will be available for purchase. For more information call 571-8364 or visit www.brandoninmotion.ca.
The Sportsplex will once again be hosting Student Night on Thursday, September 29th from 7-9pm. This is free for all
students from Brandon University & A.C.C. There will be plenty of prizes to be won. The regular Public Swim for that
evening will be cancelled.
New Rider's Guide
Brandon Transit recently unveiled the new Rider's Guide which is now a multilingual publication containing transit-related
information, route schedules and maps. The layout has been completely re-vamped and customers will now find the general
information section in English, French, Spanish and Chinese. The guide can be found in the Transit section of the web
page and can be printed in its entirety or in sections.
Youth Activities Centres
For the third consecutive year youth had access to youth activity centres free of charge throughout the months of July and
August. Two centres were available. The YAC centre located at the East End Community Centre and the UCT Summer Fun Club,
sponsored by Brandon UCT Council located at the former Fleming School site.
The YAC centre saw a total of 136 youth attend at various stages of the summer. YAC continued to cater to younger youth focusing
less on structured sports and more towards arts and crafts, tag games, dodgeball, scavenger hunts, science days, cultural days,
relays, etc. Attendance for the entire summer totalled 1075, with a daily average of 26 youth.
The UCT Summer Fun Club offered similar programming with a slightly more structured focus appropriate to marginally older
youth. The UCT Summer Fun Club saw a total of 155 youth attend at various stages of the summer to participate in programming
which included tournaments, cultural days, mad scientist days, arts & crafts, kids in the kitchen, etc. Attendance for the
entire summer totaled 1125 youth, with an average of 27 students daily.
Youth at both centres were encouraged to give back to their community by organizing a fundraiser. YAC youth held a car wash
and hot dog stand while the UCT Summer Fun Club had hosted a yard and bake sale. Combined these fundraisers raised over
$400.00. The four charities chosen by the youth included Westman Dreams for Kids, Brandon Kidsport, Brandon UCT and
United Way’s Tools for Schools campaign.
All final reports concur it was another successful summer for the youth activity centres providing youth with a
positive experience to share with their peers as they return to school for the 2007-08 school term.
News for September 17th
Christmas Season Jet Service
Classic Canadian Tours (CCT) will offer non-stop jet service from Brandon to both Calgary and Edmonton this Christmas season. They
will be chartering Canadian North’s Boeing 737’s for the charters to and from the Brandon Airport. Timetables and fares are
available at the following link: 2007 Jet Service Schedule. You can also get information at
www.ClassicCanadianTours.com. Guests can book through a travel agent or by calling CCT at 1-866-460-1415.
Update from the Mayor
This week Chief Atkinson, Brian MacRae and I attended the 6th commemorative ceremony at the Peace Gardens in honor of the 9/11
tragedy. There were in excess of 400 people present, the largest crowd in six years.
Emergency Situation Testing
As a city, we need to be ready for emergencies if they occur. Last week a lot of our departments were involved in a mock disaster.
The E911 and Police Dispatch Centers took part in operation “Green Cloud” September 12th. The mock disaster scenario
was staged as a chlorine leak located at the Brandon Water Treatment Plant.
Forty-five people took part in a functional exercise at the Water Treatment Facility on September 12, 2007. This provided an
opportunity for the Water Treatment Emergency Response Team to practice with Brandon Fire Department, Brandon Police Service
and the Office of the Fire Commissioner. In addition, the City's Emergency Response Control Group successfully tested its
notification system and were prepared to respond to and activate the Emergency Operations Center if required. As with any
exercise, several things were learned that will allow us to improve our response plans.
Fire Department part of 9/11 Service
Chief Dane attended the September 11th Remembrance Service at the Peace Gardens to represent
Brandon Fire Department. We were honored to be able to participate in the ceremony by using our Quint (ladder truck) to hold
one of the flags over the Peace Gardens entrance.
Sportsplex
The Sportsplex has completed the pool shut down. The pool will re-open on Saturday, September 15th from 12:00 noon to 8:00 p.m.
News for September 10th
WESTRIDGE COMMUNITY CENTRE
Westridge Community Centre has a board meeting coming up on Sunday September 16th at 7pm at the Community Centre on Willowdale by
Linden Lanes School. We are desperateley in need of volunteers to join and assist the current board. We meet monthly at the
Community Centre. If anyone is interested and/or available, please join us on Sunday evening September 16 at 7pm at Westridge.
WITHOUT VOLUNTEERS, there is no Centre.
Many thanks
Bob McMillan
Westridge Community Centre
RULES FOR NAVIGATING A TRAFFIC CIRCLE
Administration has put together a document outlining the rules for driving in a roundabout. Please click on the following link:
Traffic Circle Rules or visit the Archived Links section. I hope this helps anyone who may have a
question about the rules surrounding the use of a traffic circle.
SANITATION
A review of our sanitation system will be coming forward in October. Once we get a report I will make it available to everyone on my
newsletter list.
WATER & WASTEWATER
Construction on the upgraded Industrial Wastewater Treatment Facility is quickly approaching completion. Last week, the new
reactor was put into service while the existing reactor was taken out-of-service for minor modifications. The plan is to have
both reactors in service as Maple Leaf implements their second shift this week. Phosphorous reduction will begin by mid-September
followed by Total Nitrogen reduction in early November.
Economic Development
Team Brandon for Economic Development, a committee of the Community Strategic Plan, did not meet during the summer. Regular
meetings will resume in September with efforts of the committee centered on networking and sharing of information and meeting
the objectives of the two working sub-committees that were established.
The Business Environment Sub-Committee has two primary focuses:
1. Assisting the Renaissance Committee with moving the efforts to revitalize downtown forward.
2. Engaging the local business people in promoting Brandon as a preferred business location.
The Government Relations Sub-Committee’s objective is to strengthen communication and working relationships with the
various levels of government by providing a setting for government officials to hear community perspectives, challenges
and possible solutions on certain topic areas without being asked to speak to the topic unless they wish to do so.
The committee has identified the topic areas below for the first three meetings.
- Agriculture
- Downtown Brandon
- Housing
Manitoba First Nation Gaming Study
Included with this update is a link to the recently released Manitoba First Nation Gaming Study. For those not interested
in reading the full study, key findings from the study pertaining to the Brandon market area appear below.
http://www.mgcc.mb.ca/pdf/market_study_final_2007.pdf
Brandon Market Area Findings
Currently the Brandon market area (approximately 100K around Brandon) has excess win potential of around
$23.0 million available. Given low population growth estimates however, this excess win is only expected to
increase to $30.0 million by 2025.
The Region directly north of the Brandon market area (Parklands) contains approximately a further $10.0 million
in win potential. The Parklands Region however is not estimated to experience any population growth over the next 20
years. Also, this Region is located close to Yorkton, Saskatchewan, which currently is rebuilding its casino.
The Brandon market area could support a small-sized casino. In order to grow, this casino would have to extend its
market reach in all directions. The ability of a small-sized casino to extend its market reach however is limited
unless it contained ancillary facilities (i.e., hotel rooms, food and beverage and entertainment, etc.) that helped
increase its market appeal. The financial viability of investing in these ancillary facilities must be investigated thoroughly.
Babysitting Course
We are currently taking registration for our fall Babysitting Course. The course is run for 5 weeks either on Mondays,
Tuesdays, or Wednesdays. This session starts on Sept 17th, 18th, and 19th. For more information or to register please phone the Fire Department
at 729-2409 and speak to Val or Cathy.
Site at 1st and Rosser
Concerns have been expressed with regard to the unsightly condition of the site at 1st Street and Rosser Avenue. City crews are
doing what they can to keep this area mowed and tidy however it is not possible for our employees to enter the actual site
due to the potential health concerns which have been raised. At this time, the Provincial Government is conducting a human
health risk assessment and will be providing the City with a report. It is anticipated this report will be received in the
not-to-distant future. Once received the City will be in a better position to assess the possible risk to our employees
based on the assessment results and determine the best approach to be taken in this regard.
Music in the Parks
Community Services was pleased to once again have operating funds allocated towards the Music in the Parks program. This
musical series is free to the public, with the musicians performing at no cost (volunteering). While they gain performance
experience the audiences are treated to top quality musicians. The 2007 final report has been submitted by the coordinator
and a part of this is provided below.
Submitted by Kathryn Sheppard – Coordinator – The 2007 season of Music in the Parks involved 25 concerts which took place
every Tuesday and Thursday evening over a 13 week period from May 31 to August 23. This was a specially extended season to
celebrate Brandon’s 125th anniversary. Of the 19 groups involved this year, 11 were returning performers to the series, with
the remaining groups being new with Music in the Parks. This year was very successful at introducing new musicians to the
program, and a desire to return again next year has been expressed by all of them. It should be noted that the 2007 series
involved more musicians from the greater Westman regions than ever before, with five of the 19 groups being from outside
the Brandon area.
For further information on the Music in the Parks program, please contact Kathryn at jshep@mts.net or 726-5025 or
Esther Bryan at e.bryan@brandon.ca
Fall 2007 Police Studies Course, Assiniboine Community College
On Tuesday, September 4th, 2007 Chief Atkinson gave opening remarks to the students at the 2007 Police Studies Course at
Assiniboine Community College. There are twenty four students enrolled.
Chief Atkinson also attended the Opening Day Brandon Police Service Phase B Training at the Training Centre. There
are a total of six recruits, two Brandon Police Service, two Dakota Ojibway Police Service, one St. Anne’s Police
Service and one Victoria Beach Police Service recruit.
The Phase B Training consists of six weeks of high risk liability training in the areas of driver training,
firearms, officer safety, laser/radar training and ASD Roadside screening device training.
C.B.R.N. Exercises
On September 6th, 2007 Chief Atkinson attended a Provincial Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear First Response Team
Exercise. The Team practiced an emergency response to a possible terrorist incident with causalities found as a result
of an accidental discharge of a chemical weapon while being manufactured for later dispersal.
Members of this Team include:
• Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service – Hazmat Technicians and EMT’s.
• Winnipeg Police Service – Bomb Squad and Identification Section.
• RCMP D Division – Explosive Disposal Unit.
• Brandon Police Service – Identification Section.
• Brandon Fire/Emergency Services – EMT’s.
• Manitoba Conservation – Hazmat Technicians.
• Office of the Fire Commissioner – Hazmat Technicians and EMT’s.
Curling Ice at the Recreation Centre
The Brandon Recreation Centre curling ice will be installed and operated by the Wheat City Curling Club for the 2007-2008
season. The goal of the curling club is to start installing ice in the first 2 weeks of October.
Grading of backlanes
The frequency of the rains this season has hindered our maintenance program for back lanes. The challenge for the Streets
staff is the maintenance cannot resume after the rain until the gravel has had a chance to dry out to a texture that will
allow for grading. Premature grading after a rainfall can cause serious deterioration to the original compaction of the
lane causing the material to break, creating soft spots. Although there has been delays with the scheduling of the backlane
maintenance staff will continue to maintain the program and we are confident all areas that require maintenance will be
graded by the end of this season.
| 
