Municipalities worked their way through a mostly better year in 2022 and are focused on the year ahead.

Boissevain-Morton’s Head of Council Judy Swanson noted without a doubt work on the new swimming pool in Boissevain was one of the larger projects. “For sure it was the biggest thing for 2022 and for a longtime. The pool is a big project, and we maybe didn’t want to do it right now, but we didn’t have a choice.”

“It’s nice to see it progressing and later this year we’ll have a new pool.”

Work on the new pool started this past summer and the new pool is expected to open by August 2023.

“Every facility we have is important and it’s about quality of life. It’s about what you want to see in your community and if you want to see young people and families and you want to move your municipality forward, we need something for the youth. This pool will be inclusive so what a good way to bring a community together,” said Judy Swanson.

The corner of South Railway and Mill Road saw a major upgrade with a new municipal sign, gazebo and landscaping. “I’m thrilled with how that came together and how that part of town looks. I think that will be a real gathering place for the community. The new stage will allow you to have outdoor entertainment. We had a huge gathering there for the lighting of the Christmas tree. The gazebo is accessible to everyone, and we have people in the community that need accessibility and we have to make sure we’re inclusive with that.”

As for rural road work Judy Swanson not as much work took place in 2022 because of the wet spring and time was spent with repairs and patching damaged areas. “Our crews were busy doing repair work and they didn’t do as much construction as they’d normally do because council decided to work at getting roads back to where they were before the rains.

 

When it comes to construction Swanson feels 2022 wasn’t too bad. She says the municipality sold five lots in Boissevain’s new development and she expects to see of of housing starts this summer.

“We also had a lot of building in town and probably even more in the rural area. There were some new houses but also things like sheds and outbuildings. A lot of renovations projects took place and things like decks being added onto homes. It’s good to see and it means we’re moving forward.”