Manitoba Chamber of Commerce
Issue link: http://publications.winnipegfreepress.com/i/70344
Coun. Martin Saxler says the RM's council is fully behind the effort to replace the dilapidated bridge on Water Street. "The problem is that we're constrained by our budget. We just don't have the tax base required to raise the million-plus dollars to replace this piece of infrastructure," he says. The RM recently gave Manitoba Hydro 15 sections of land with a value of $900,000 in return for 200 acres near Seven Sisters that can be subdivided into about 80 building lots. "If we could sell the lots, it would increase our tax base," Saxler says. "But so far they haven't been selling. "The provincial government takes a lot of money out of this RM and returns very little in exchange," he says. In the early 1960s and later in the 1990s, the RM gave the province large areas of land near Otter Falls that became part of Whiteshell Provincial Park. "The former councils were assured they would receive future considerations from the government for ceding the land for the park," Saxler says. "Today, we're still waiting for those considerations." Don McDonald says the original wood bridge was erected in 1925 by a Winnipeg brewer who owned recreation property on the opposite side of the river to the original town site. Unfortunately, it was not properly maintained. Amy Kirby says the town has expanded across the river to include 11 families, two of the largest dairy operations in eastern Manitoba, a golf course, a private airstrip and a campground with access to a white water recreational area. "We've also got hiking and cross-country skiing trails, as well as access to the Whitemouth Bog Conservation area where tourists can view sand hill cranes, bald eagles, black bears, wolves, white- tailed deer and endangered birds," Kirby says. Glarm Sikkenga, owner of the second largest dairy farm in Manitoba, says it used to take five minutes to reach Whitemouth from his farm. Using the present detour adds about 25 minutes to the trip. After-school jobs on his dairy farm are no longer accessible for students in Whitemouth. Kids used to ride their bikes across the old bridge, but it is no longer possible for them to make the long detour. Summer job openings at the golf course, campground and other businesses may also remain unfilled. Moreover, Sikkenga says the detour requires milk trucks that service his farm daily to use a section of road that is not up to code and has a hazardous, unprotected railway crossing. His daughter Manny Sikkenga points out that "because of its weight, one trip by a dairy truck is equal to 100 trips by car in terms of wear and tear on a road." In wet years, tankers have required the assistance of farmers with large tractors to pull them out of quagmires at low spots on the road. Juanita Cousins says a meeting with Highways Minister Steve Ashton is pending. A divided community cannot survive, and "we're not stopping until we have a bridge," Cousins says. MBiz June 2012 35 NEW & NOTEWORTHY >> The Steinbach Chamber of Commerce recently participated in a health care forum on the future of the health care system. The town's Clearspring Centre mall now houses a nurse-run QuickCareClinic, one of four such clinics the province plans to open this year. >> The Steinbach chamber bids farewell to office manager Linda Burdett - who plans to retire later this year - and welcomes new membership development coordinator Heather Hiebert, who will work closely with the business community. >> Like Arborg, Steinbach has seen significant growth due to immigration. The chamber recently celebrated its multicultural community with Culturama. Coordinated by the Eastman Immigrant Services program, Culturama drew more than 1,400 people, who enjoyed a variety of ethnic foods and entertainment under one roof. EASTERN