District reeves optimistic about 2000

Rainy River District was treated well in 1999–and municipal leaders are looking towards 2000 with a very optimistic attitude.
Chapple Reeve Cecil Wilson said 1999 was a “spectacular” year for his township, with the municipality’s centennial celebrations at the forefront of activities.
“I think that all our people in our community should have a pat on the back for all they’ve accomplished because the people really worked this year,” Reeve Wilson stressed.
“We got a lot accomplished.”
As for 2000, Reeve Wilson didn’t foresee any big changes in the direction Chapple’s council will take.
“I feel that we just have to look after what we’ve got and keep building on it,” he remarked. “I can’t see any one [item] really sticking out.”
Rainy River Mayor Gord Armstrong said 1999 ended on a positive note despite starting the year with a large deficit from 1998.
“That put a damper on a lot of things we wanted to do,” he admitted. “But it looks like at the end of 1999, we’re going to have a slight surplus, so it looks like we’ve done a good job managing that.”
Perhaps the biggest event in Rainy River in ’99 was the opening of the new hospital last summer after 15 years of fundraising and frustrations.
Although it technically started in 1998, Mayor Armstrong said the way the town and surrounding municipalities came together to fundraise for the new hospital was the big highlight of the year for him.
“I still find that almost awesome how that happened,” he enthused.
Looking ahead, hopes are the Globeco panelling factory will get underway soon in 2000 despite several delays the company has had in getting off the ground.
“Everyone is sitting with bated breath to see that get started,” Mayor Armstrong noted. “Once that happens, people will start expanding [businesses].”
Meanwhile, two big projects loom in 2000 for Rainy River. One is the completion of the renovation project at the town’s community centre and arena.
So far, $25,000 of the roughly $100,000 local share needed has been raised–excluding the $25,000 pledge from the Royal Canadian Legion Br. #54 there.
“One major thing the town needs to look at is the third lagoon,” Mayor Armstrong said, which is needed to get the town’s sub-division project underway.
“For a small community to come up with the $2.3 million to do this is almost overwhelming,” he added. “We have to somehow convince the government this is something we need help in.”
Both La Vallee Reeve Ken McKinnon and Alberton Reeve Judy Koski said their municipalities handled the downloading of responsibilities from the province to the local level very well. But whether the two municipalities should–or even have to–amalgamate is the big question for the year ahead.
“I hear there’s more [towns] in the east that are going to be amalgamating now,” Reeve McKinnon said. “Is this going to be compulsory?”
Both municipalities will be looking to do a cost analysis to see what impact there would be if they merge. With that, Reeve McKinnon said it will give La Vallee and Alberton some grounds to argue for or against amalgamation if the government forces the issue.
And right now, that “if” makes it awfully hard to predict what 2000 will be like.
“When you’re not really sure what’s down the road, it’s hard to make the decisions locally,” Reeve McKinnon noted.
“Ask me in December [what 2000 will be like],” echoed Koski.