Rhineland officials have started the process of creating an asset management plan for the municipality.

Mandated by the provincial government, Reeve Don Wiebe explains the plan is meant to provide full-cycle costs of owning and managing municipal infrastructure and services and ensuring they are sustainable into the future. This includes roads, bridges, land, drainage, culverts, wastewater treatment plants, landfills, buildings, and equipment.

The plan, which is still about one to two years away from completion, will ultimately be integrated into the municipality's strategic plan.

"So it's a way of thinking, it's a way of taking care of business I guess," said Wiebe. "One of the principles of good management is to look at continuous improvement so that also involves a research piece. It gets that involved."

So far, a plan has been created to build reserve funds that will pay for future necessary improvements.

Wiebe says the focus will now shift to establishing a baseline for municipal services and community expectations. Officials will also need to take stock of the municipality's infrastructure and the condition it is in, and fully assess a replacement timeline as well as estimated replacement costs.