Brian Esau running for third term on council representing Mitchell ward

RM of Hanover Coun. Brian Esau said he is running for his third term on council as there are projects he would like to see completed within the municipality.

“I’ve really enjoyed the last term and a half that I’ve been in here. I’ve really enjoyed working with the councillors and the reeve to make improvements in the municipality, and I would like to continue to do that,” he said. “There’s a few projects that we’ve started that I’d like to see come to fruition, and that’s the reason I’d like to run again.”

Esau comes from a rural background. He took over his father’s dairy farm just outside of Mitchell and ran it for 20 years before deciding to follow a different career path as the manager of an electrical company in Steinbach in 2002. He held that position for 21 years and upon retirement decided politics was his next path in life.

“I was on the LUD for just about 10 years, and so I got a taste of what I could make as a difference in Mitchell, and so therefore when the opportunity presented itself, then I just figured I’d take that next step, and I retired from my business so I had time to do this, so that’s the step I took,” he said.

Esau won in 2020 in a by-election and if he wins the election this October it will be his second full term.

He describes his time on council as being very good and he feels he has made a big difference in his ward. He noted the skate park, converting the Mitchell senior’s centre into a recreation centre, and the construction of five miles of sidewalks and pathways that snake through the ward as examples.

“The one that I am really proud of is the Henervic Trail,” said Esau. “Because that one, the nature park…people actually had to drive out there in order to go and visit it. And so when we put the trail in and we paved it, there have been so many people walking and biking out there. And we’ve had so many compliments on the trail…they don’t have to walk past all the streets and houses, and people really appreciate that one.”

Although the Henervic Trail was Esau’s idea and he brought it to council, he said it and all Ward 2 projects are a team effort.

“It was a team effort between myself and the rec department, and private donation (for the Henervic Trail). I brought that one across. I don’t want it sounding as if I can do all this stuff, because everything is a team effort. Without working together with council, without the reeve, without the LUD, none of these things (would) ever happen.”

What most concerns residents of Ward 2 is drainage, said Esau. Currently, council is working with administration on a drainage study for the RM. He said the municipality has come up with a plan for the Oakenwald-Amberfield development and how best to drain it, something that has been in the works for about 10 years. He hopes that construction might start next year. He said Mitchell is a fast growing bedroom community to Steinbach as a lot of people work in the city but prefer to live in the country.

“The growth has been phenomenal. As you can see with the building permits and everything else, we have been probably the fastest-growing community in Hanover. And so it is constantly expanding. And to keep up with the infrastructure is sometimes challenging,” he said.

Apart from his time on council, Esau has also been involved with a number of boards, such as minor baseball and hockey, and the Mitchell and Area Fun Days for 20 years. He is also on the Eastman Regional Municipal Committee, which is made up of mayors, reeves, and councillors from across southeastern Manitoba.