Candace Derksen

It appears a chip seal experiment on 14th Ave NW in Altona didn't work out as hoped.
    
In a trial run last summer, the former gravel road was resurfaced with the treatment in order to create a hard driving surface, however it hasn't held up, resulting in large breaks in spots.

Harv Schroeder feels he has what it takes to be the next Mayor of Altona. The one-term councillor has declared his intentions to run for the job in October's municipal election. 

"Initially, when Mayor (Al) Friesen stopped by to give me the heads up he would not be running this fall, I was not thinking I would put my name in as candidate," he admitted. However, upon further reflection and conversations with others, Schroeder says he decided to go for it.

A pair of local students will serve on the 2022-23 Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning Student Advisory Council.

They are Bijan Salimi, a grade 12 student at Morden Collegiate Institute in Western School Division, and Brianne Judson, a grade 11 student at Roseau Valley School in Border Land School Division.

Members of Altona/Rhineland Emergency Services (ARES) are using a new method to fight structure fires, thanks to an addition to its fleet of trucks that boasts a Compressed Air Foam system. 

Rates for customers of the Pembina Valley Water Co-op (PVWC) could be going up next year. The Co-op is asking the Public Utilities Board (PUB) to approve new water rates for the next 5 years, starting in 2023.

"As part of our normal process, about every five years, we will do a rate study which is one of the requirements...and we talked to our customers and understand what their water needs are going to be over the next five years," explained PVWC CEO, Greg Archibald, who said this study was the basis for establishing the new rate structure.

The Manitoba Government is providing nearly $215,000 in operating grants to 38 rural and northern communities this year to support festivals that promote their heritage, culture and identity.
    
About a dozen of those recipients are located in the Pembina Valley and Red River Valley. They include:

Nearly the entire collection at the Altona branch for the South Central Regional Library has been packed into boxes in preparation for the big move to its new home at the Altona Mall.
    
Branch manager, Rachael Friesen, says this week has been all about finishing the packing and getting the shelves ready to move during a push planned for Thursday and Friday. Some 600 boxes, as well as shelving, will be relocated those two evenings. 

The Province of Manitoba is supporting half-a-dozen local heritage projects this year through its Heritage Resources Conservation Grant. The grant provides funding to support projects that demonstrate a commitment to the conservation and long-term sustainability of legally protected heritage sites.

Local projects that have snagged a piece of the funding this year include:

Another merger could be in the works for Access Credit Union. Early discussions began after the board of directors for Amaranth Credit Union expressed interest in joining Access earlier this year. 

In a news release, both credit union boards indicated their value of the cooperative principles, which include investing in communities and keeping rural branches accessible and open. Joining Access, the largest credit union in Manitoba would also allow Amaranth members to benefit from better technology and innovative solutions in an ever-increasing competitive environment 

Work is still scheduled to begin on the Town of Altona's highly anticipated Southwest Drainage Project.

Phase One, culvert installation, was originally slated to start in 2021 but the project was met with a few delays that needed to be worked out before crews could start digging. This brought the start date to 2022, however work has yet to get underway. The delay this time, explained Public Works Manager Clint Derksen, is because the contractor is deployed elsewhere in the province doing unexpected flood clean up work from this spring.