Rural Roundup — April 10, 2025

DAUPHIN

The City of Dauphin is pushing to clean up graffiti, with partnerships around town and use of its bylaw officer.

Mayor David Bosiak said graffiti affects the look and feel of the community. He said the city has been working with a couple of agencies and organizations to clean up parts of the town, and prevent the situation from getting worse.

“I know from my life in the recreation world, one of the key strategies to minimizing vandalism and/or graffitis is to repair it immediately,” he said. “The longer it lingers, the more it produces. So we’d like to get out there right away.”

Dauphin’s bylaw enforcement officer has compiled a list of properties stained by graffiti and the city is encouraging people to remove or cover up the tags.

“This is mostly a heads up saying we want this to be a priority this summer,” said Bosiak.

The city has offered some tips for residents, which include removing the tag within two days, installing motion-sensor lighting and the use of anti-graffiti laminate on surfaces that are vulnerable to graffiti.

» Dauphin Herald

ROBLIN

A North Dakota-based housing developer is making plans to move his operation to Roblin.

With costly tariffs expected on Canadian lumber, and the state of politics in the U.S., developer Kwiecien Glupiec says he has had enough. He is kicking the tires on Roblin as a future for his tiny-home business.

“I am done with it all,” he said.

Glupiec said Roblin is on his radar because he believes Manitobans and North Dakotans have a similar mindset. He also visited the area for fishing trips and considers it beautiful.

Glupiec employs 20 people, about half of whom are following the work to Canada. He said once he lands in Roblin, he’ll look for another 10 employees or so, and resume work producing tiny homes.

He said he plans to produce a few tiny-home neighbourhoods in Roblin.

The developer is unsure what the timeline will look like, but hopes to have his business up and running fully next spring.

» Roblin Review

NEEPAWA

A problem of people disposing of grease in their sinks and toilets has reached a boiling point in Neepawa as the city investigates who is responsible.

For just over two years, the Town of Neepawa has issued requests for people to stop dumping grease into the sewer and drainage systems. The pleas have not succeeded however, and town staff are now taking the issue under a microscope with a recent case.

“We’ve narrowed down the (case) to three houses that could be responsible for this,” said Operations Manager Denis Saquet. “It’s likely that it’s not all three houses that were responsible, so potentially it’s one house that plugged an eight-inch pipe. This is ridiculous.”

Saquet said the amount of grease being unsafely dumped is comparable to what is used on a street lined with commercial restaurants and is not normal for residential properties. However, the recent case seems to have come from a residential home.

He suggested that staff look into an option to issue fines. The recurring incidents are causing substantial grief to neighbours, whose pipes get backed up by the clog, as well town infrastructure, he said.

A contractor out of Winnipeg was paid $30,000 in January to investigate a previous issue. The town is considering options to recoup the costs of the problem.

“Issuing stiff fines would be my recommendation,” said Saquet. “I [would] 100 per cent recommend fines being imposed here.”

Grease, cooking oils, residue and fats form a hardened mass over time that blocks the sewer pipe.

» Neepawa Banner & Press

VIRDEN

Volunteers are wanted to help make the town more beautiful.

The Virden Booster organization wants the volunteers to plant and maintain flowers this summer. A meeting was scheduled for Apr. 10, at 7 p.m. in council chambers to co-ordinate.

The goal is to put together a team of local residents for the 2025 year. Several flower beds, such as those at Victoria Park, are targeted for care and would benefit from things such as a “weed watch” program.

The organization also encourages people to pull weeds when walking by municipally-owned flower beds, and get involved in gardening around town. Garden beauty will be the focus this summer.

A clean up is set to kick off the year on May 9 (for students) and May 10 (for adults). A noon barbecue will follow the second event.

» Virden Empire Advance

MANITOBA

4-H clubs in the province will receive $300,000 in support, the agriculture minister has announced.

Emphasizing the importance of inspiring young Manitobans to learn about agriculture, Minister of Agriculture Ron Kostyshyn announced provincial funding at the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair. The announcement in April came as folks from all over the prairies gathered in Brandon at the fair for a week built around horse jumping competitions.

Manitoba 4-H council president Greg Penner accepted a cheque during the presentation at Westoba Place.

Kostyshyn said agriculture plays an invaluable role, and that “if it was not for our farmers, food would be a challenge.”

» Brandon Sun