The Association of Manitoba Municipalities is pleased a new deal has been struck with the province which enhances fee for service agreements.

A working group was established to analyze, research and share perspectives and concerns to explore options for improvements to deliver services to Manitobans. The first two priorities undertaken were gravel road maintenance and noxious weed control for rural municipalities.

Gravel road maintenance agreements between Manitoba Infrastructure and local governments date back to 1997. These agreements allow local operational oversight to undertake gravel road maintenance. Local governments are able to maximize resources, employ local workers and create efficiencies that provide residents the best value for money.
Under the new agreements, a new rate structure was established, supported by over $2.2 million including $500,000 in additional funding that will reflect traffic volumes on gravel roads and service levels required.

AMM executive director Denys Volkov says it’s a good deal for member municipalities.

“This is great news for municipalities across the province. For many years municipalities have been lobbying for more money for contract for some of these gravel contracts. Some of the those contracts have been in existence since 1997. So we have seen an increase in funding and we welcome that.”

The second priority identified was to strengthen existing agreements with local governments to address noxious weed control to ensure Manitoba is compliant with the Noxious Weeds Act. Agreements have been in place with many communities since the late 1980s. With the new agreements, Manitoba will invest $750,000 annually to support local noxious weed control in provincial rights of way.

“We now have a template agreement whereas before it was a patchwork approach. So now municipalities on a volunteer basis can enter into those agreements. It’s a positive because we’ve seen an increase in noxious weeds across the province. Municipalities now have more local control supported by better financial support to control those weeds” said Denys Volkov.