Life-long Niverville resident Kevin Stott has many reasons why he'd like to continue on the Niverville town council, but feels seeing the town continue to grow has been his biggest motivation to run for re-election.
Stott has been on council for 16 years and remembers well the first projects he was a part of. The building of the Heritage Life Personal Care Home and Personal Care Home next door were very rewarding for the town but also for himself personally.
“My parents and my parents' friends that I grew up with, cousins, aunts, uncles didn't have to move out of town to go to a different town to live. We could keep them right here in the community,"
Another project that he’s found to be beneficial for the town is the new Niverville High School and the Niverville Community Resource and Recreation Centre (CRRC). He is optimistic about its impact in the future and already sees the immediate benefits it has created, highlighting the sports programs like their school hockey team, being able to host volleyball provincials and more recently bringing an MJHL team to the community. He notes that Providence’s Jr. Pilots program has also come in with their teams.
If re-elected, Stott will look to education and the health system, along with other priorities.
“We have to start looking, I would say almost right away at education. Where and what our next school would be? We got to increase our Medical Center. We have to do something soon with our wastewater so that we can continue growing.”
According to census data from Statistics Canada, Niverville is the fastest growing municipality in Manitoba, fifth in the nation.
While Stott looks forward to the future, he also reflects on the town’s growth over the course of time. "For example, in Fifth Estate or in the Dover's, the golf course area, here I think we have a beautiful tone and I would like to be part of keeping it beautiful, not just a grid system, but I mean we do have lakes and walks and I would like to keep that feel."
When talking about his past 16 years on council, Stott says, “I enjoy the group we’re with and I think we accomplished a lot,” Stott said. “It's a good feeling when you can accomplish things and make a town move forward like that.”
"I think we have to get together and do things. Try doing it better and try doing it right and I hope we can do something here and when you're a part of it to accomplish these things it's rewarding, especially to see our town grow nicely."