REDVERS — Redvers Mayor Brad Bulbuck says 2024 will be a busy year in the community.
Bulbuck gave a long inventory of accomplishments Redvers completed over the year when we had a chance to sit down and talk shop, starting with signage.
“In 2022, we started our rebranding of the Town of Redvers,” Bulbuck said. “You’ll notice that the logo has changed and we’ve carried that further. We now have decals on the town vehicles, we’ve got Main Street banners up, we’re currently in the process of redoing our street signs. They’re being approved right now and they’re going up in the spring. So that’s all part of the rebranding of the Town of Redvers.”
He explained how the street signs were designed to pay tribute to the town’s past.
“The signs are kind of a throwback, maybe to a simpler time. I think they look nostalgic, those signs,” he said.
Another important feature regarding signage is the crosswalk at Highway 13 — something the town was fortunate to receive a grant for covering most of the cost.
“We applied for an SGI crosswalk grant this year,” Bulbuck explained. “We put up a new, light-controlled crosswalk on Highway 13 at Broadway Street going across the highway. There is a push button for flashing lights when people are crossing there. We received a $47,000 grant on a $52,000 project to complete that.”
Rounding out signage projects in Redvers was an update that honoured a couple of local sports legends.
“This year, we did new Pride of Redvers signs,” said Bulbuck. “We partnered with Redvers Rockets Field of Dreams, who provided the capital to replace our Pride of Redvers signs. We have two local sports heroes on there, one is Dean Kennedy and one is Danielle Kot. Those signs, they needed some love, so we redid the signs this year.”
There were also big changes with SARCAN in Redvers with a new building and a new location for the eco-centre.
“That new building does not house the oil eco-centre, so SARCAN negotiated with us for some land and the location,” Bulbuck said. “They have moved their eco-centre out to the southeast side of town where the old dump was. We negotiated with them, we went through the permit processes, had a number of meetings and signed an agreement for the Redvers Activity Centre to use the townland for the eco-centre. That was all subject to Ministry of the Environment approval as well.”
Redvers was also successful in gaining several grants for various projects last year, illustrating the resourcefulness and ingenuity within the town.
“Through our process of trying to get new water, we realized that we had some old wells out there that weren’t decommissioned and we received grants of $3,672.80 on a cost of $3,672.80 to decommission these,” Bulbuck said.
A major feasibility study of the rec centre in town also received provincial support through the Targeted Sector Support grant. To encourage inter-community collaboration, the TSS is a portion of the Municipal Revenue Sharing (some $1.5 million total each fiscal year).
“We were awarded $43,000 for a feasibility study to be completed on the Redvers Recreation Centre and that has been done,” Bulbuck noted. “The project cost of that study was $58,000 and the shortfall was funded through the Foundation, which is a joint entity consisting of the RM of Antler and the Town of Redvers.”
The recreation centre also noted some tech upgrades thanks to a sponsorship with Access Communications.
“We signed new agreements, installed internet with Access Communications, there’s new signs in the building, and our recreation centre is now equipped for LiveBarn streaming when they decide to do that,” said Bulbuck. “I’m not sure if it’s in place yet, but that’s something that they’re working towards. So in reality, that was the recreation board that did that with our assistance.”
Another huge influx of funds came from the Canada Community-Building Fund, some $578,000 towards the installation of a second water source as per the recommendation of the Water Security Agency. This took a large bite out of the $675,000 total project cost.
The town also received dollars from the New Horizons for Seniors, which is a federal grant for community-based projects.
“We were awarded $13,519 and what that does is that funds outings for the seniors on our transit bus,” Bulbuck explained. “So it keeps the cost down for the seniors and we’re able to provide that service.
“We also submitted another Rural Transit Solutions grant and we’re waiting for results on that,” he added. The RTS grant is targeted at rural, remote, northern and Indigenous communities that rely on private vehicles for transportation or lack transit options.
Another example of the town reaching out to various partners is an initiative to meet with local organizations and clubs in Redvers.
“One thing that Tricia (Pickard, CAO) and her team have done is they’ve started organizing quarterly meetings with the organizations in Redvers to share ideas and work together,” said Bulbuck, listing the golf club, rec board and tourist committee as examples. “We’re trying to be more communicative with all those organizations so that we’re not overlapping on initiatives, and we can collaborate and partner on certain things that we want to do together as well.”
Tech upgrades at the Town Office have also happened, a proactive approach to combat possible data breaches and hacking attempts other municipalities across the province were faced with.
“Inside the office, we have enhanced our cybersecurity and installed different firewalls,” Bulbuck said. “We’re also in the process of digitizing our files, so we’re moving our historical files, especially any files that we have to retain remotely. We’re scanning them all onto digital, renaming and saving our individual files to the computer and to the cloud.”
The original paper copies of the files will remain intact, but converting digital copies ensures easier access with only a few keystrokes instead of searching through physical folders.
Some upcoming projects town staff are working on include Hometown History and preparations for a very important July 1 celebration.
“The admin team is working on a homecoming weekend and this is part of the collaboration package with the other groups as well,” Bulbuck said. “On Canada Day, 2024, they’re going to do a celebration of Redvers’ 120th anniversary.”
While the Hometown History project is still in the development stages, Bulbuck shared its general scope.
“There’s going to be a sponsorship information package completed, sent out to organizations and it’s going to highlight some local community builders or people who have gone on to do some pretty interesting and exciting things with their lives, whether it’s outside of town or in town,” he said. “We’re going to recognize some of these people who have gone on to be community leaders and builders and also athletic recognition as well.”
Another item that will be quite interesting for residents is the Maintenance Mapping project.
“So what we’ve done is completed and posted maps on our website that outlines which areas of the town are going to be snow cleaned first due to emergency routes, that type of thing,” explained Bulbuck. “We posted that so our residents kind of know when their streets are going to be cleared after snowfall. In addition to that, in the summertime, we compiled a list of kids who are willing to do grass cutting for residents, and we’re doing the same thing in the wintertime. Kids who want to shovel snow, we’re compiling a list in the office here, too.”
As for heading into 2024, there are still a few major projects brewing.
“We had in our budget for 2023 to do the sidewalk replacement in front of Canada Post and we haven’t done that this year, that has been deferred until next year,” Bulbuck said.
Saving the best for last, Bulbuck added, “The town is continuing to work on the water treatment plant, details to be announced shortly.
“We’re pretty proud of Redvers,” Bulbuck concluded. “We’ve got good people here, and you know what, that means a lot.”
