Rempel enters race for RM of Piney reeve

A 15-year RM of Piney resident with roots that go back well over 100 years in the community is adding his name to the ballot to run for reeve.

Vance Rempel has never served on council or run for a council position before, but the retired poultry processing plant operator said it’s time to step forward.

“I’m very familiar with what’s going on on council, and I think I can make a difference,” he said.

Rempel is the third to put his name forward for reeve.

He will take on three-term incumbent Reeve Wayne Anderson and Ward 4 Coun. Mark Burnard.

Rempel said he’s been to several council meetings and has seen how things are accomplished.

“The council has been together for a lot of years,” he said. “Maybe it’s time for a bit of a change.”

Rempel said as reeve his priorities would be simple.

The first is infrastructure, with a goal of providing better maintenance and pushing forward the proposal to pave Provincial Road 210 from Highway 12 to Woodridge, something he admits has been worked on.

“It’s just been dragging on,” he said.

Improving cell service in the municipality is also a top priority.

“We’re part of Manitoba like anyone else and we have next to no service in that area,” he said. “You have to drive around to find a spot where there’s service if you have to make a call.”

Rempel said the problematic cell service is something that officials have promised to address, but like the proposed paving project he said it simply never comes to fruition.

“It’s getting worse instead of any better,” he said. “It’s just not happening.”

Rempel said it seems that when people talk to councillors about what they’d like to see done it simply falls on deaf ears, something he pledges to change.

But at the end of the day, Rempel said it’s about simple solutions to current challenges.

“People want the basics,” he said. “They want to be able to live out there. It’s a nice place, a quiet place, but they need to have the infrastructure that goes with it and that’s what really matters to people.”

Rempel said he isn’t looking to make dramatic changes.

“It’s a beautify area,” he said of the RM of Piney. “We want to preserve all that and see what we can do to make sure it’s there for the future.”