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In mid-January of this past year, the RM of De Salaberry reeve cut the ribbon at the St. Malo Arena in front of community members and St. Malo Warriors players.
This was to celebrate the completion of phase one of their major project, where they replaced the ice plant and added humidifiers to the arena.
Looking back on 2023, reeve Darrel Curé says one of the biggest highlights for their RM was securing $4.5 million more for phase two of upgrades. Some upgrades they hope to make are replacing the sideboards and redoing the entrance and foyer.
They are currently working on the design plan, which they expect to complete in January. Construction will start in 2024 and be wrapped up by fall 2025.
He says another highlight was working on their recreation master plan for the entire municipality, which they’ll implement in 2024.
For the communities of Otterburne and Dufrost, Curé says they replaced all the Christmas lights in time for the holidays.
“I think that was a significant project that we had done at the RM here, and it brought a lot of joy in the holiday season to the constituents and those communities,” Curé says.
One of their 2023 challenges is something they usually face, Curé says.
“We always seem to be hitting capacity of our lagoons. So, infrastructure has always been a challenge in the communities, and I think it's probably one of our biggest challenges going forward,” he says, adding that Otterburne and St. Malo have the lagoons, but Carey and Dufrost also use them.
The St. Malo Arena upgrades are only one thing on their 2024 to-do list. Curé says they will continue working on the park settings for Otterburne and St. Malo. They will also update municipal planning and zoning bylaws, which he says they hope to finish in 2024. He says they will continue finding ways to make the St. Malo Lake better.
“We're proud to be working and accomplishing and continue accomplishing in our municipality. So, we strive to make this a better place to live,” he says. “We want to wish everybody a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”
With files from Adi Loewen.
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