Rhineland Municipality is trying to get ahead of the game by moving forward with a study on a future Plum Coulee lagoon expansion.
"We want to proceed with that," said Reeve Don Wiebe. "The capacity is still okay for the moment, but these things take a while to build, so we feel we should try to start and plan on enhancing the lagoon. The study, we will do that in terms of nature of design. I'm sure we will have to purchase some additional land, and put in some additional cells."
The Municipality is investigating whether there may be some financial support for the cost of the study through the Manitoba Water Services Board.
Start now to avoid a "barrier" later
"Council feels it's time for that study to go, so we do this in time and before it represents a barrier for development," he said. "Currently, we have a little bit of space left, so we have some time. The de-sludging helps extend that time, but we have to begin with planning forward because it's near capacity."
Wiebe added there continues to be keen interest in developing within Plum Coulee, but also west of the community in the Rhineland West Ag Park.
"Council is dialoguing with the developer right now, and there's more meetings set up so we can try to find a path forward."
- With Files from Candace Derksen -