Niverville annexation considered by municipal board

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/01/2015 (3382 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba Municipal Board heard arguments on Wednesday night in Niverville at a public hearing regarding the town’s proposed 1,100 acre annexation of lands from the RM of Hanover.

Niverville mayor Myron Dyck and RM of Hanover CAO Luc Lahaie both spoke to the board about the merits of the plan which was spurred by an agreement regarding the Hanville Industrial Park. Hanover agreed to sell its 50 percent stake in the industrial park to Niverville for $271,000 in late 2013.

Dyck told the municipal board the annexation is critical to the town’s future growth saying a decision for or against the move would, “set the course of history for Niverville to flourish or flounder.”

Lands being annexed include far more than just the industrial park located in NW 32-7-4. Dyck said the town also has a interest in making available more commercial property along Provincial Road 311, east of the town’s current boundaries.

The annexation plans were met with opposition from the province’s agriculture department. Sheri Grift, a land use planning specialist with the department, told the board that the move would take some of the RM of Hanover’s best agricultural land out of production at a time when Niverville still has plenty of undeveloped land already within its boundaries at the west side of town.

Dyck acknowledged there was room for about 500 residential lots on the west side but cautioned that the opportunity to move forward with this “friendly annexation” would not necessary last forever.

“The opportunity is here today,” he said.

The board gave no timeline for when it would rule on the matter. Often municipal board deliberations take several months to complete.

Read more about Niverville’s plans for the annexed lands and other concerns raised at the meeting in the Jan. 29 issue of The Carillon.