Roy Enns, Incumbent, seeking re-election for a 2nd term.
Roy Enns, Incumbent, is seeking re-election for a 2nd term as Steinbach City Councillor in this fall’s election.
Experience
• I have served the citizen’s of Steinbach for the past 4 years as their City Councillor
• I have also previously served as a City Councilor in both Niverville and Winkler, this for approximately 10 years
• I have 35 years of financial services background in Manitoba being presently employed by the Steinbach branch of the Royal Bank as a Commercial Account Manager serving the local business community.
• I am very familiar with the community having had the opportunity to live in the Steinbach area for many years having most recently returned to reside in the City of Steinbach nearly 7 years ago.
• I have been active on various community boards over the years, which have provided me with an opportunity to learn and give back to the community. These include the Steinbach Chamber of Commerce, Seine Rat River Conservation District as well as the newly formed Age and Opportunity committee. I have learned that despite having one’s own opinion it is important to be a team player to ensure steady progress can be made.
Issues facing Steinbach that I would like to address in the next 4 years include managing and fostering continued growth. This growth will allow the community to add new services and maintain a reasonable tax base.
• Work to implement the 20 year strategy currently being developed in which we seek to effectively manage continued growth all the while balancing both Business and Residential community interests. An annual community forum would aid such a process and will be brought forward in my discussions with Council if re-elected.
• Foster relationships within the local business community to seek to enhance the local business environment and provide opportunity for new businesses to get up and running. I am still looking to establish a business “incubator mall” in the current expanded Industrial Park as this may be another way to assist fledging businesses get off the ground all the while providing continued financial support to the Steinbach Chamber of Commerce.
• Bolster relationships with both our neighboring Municipalities and the Provincial Government that will ensure growth continues into the future and that we can access Government Infrastructure programs to allow for a cost sharing of larger projects to be undertaken including both affordable as well as senior housing. I am strong proponent of the importance of “networking” to help achieve the community’s goals.
• Continue to petition the Province to make our local highways a safer place via increased traffic signals and turning lanes on Hwy #12 North. This saw the Super Store and Clearspring Road intersections being recently upgraded, however, further improvements remain to be made. Further more I will continue to support increases to our Police officer complement similar to our previous term in which 3 officers were added to better serve the community. Lastly I will also seek to continue to incorporate walkways into our new residential developments as they come on stream to safely enhance foot and bicycle traffic for both our children and the many adults who are choosing to use this mode of transportation.
• Work with my City Council colleagues to give continued attention to our own own roadways via a scheduled maintenance program to include both pavement overlay’s as well as a street replacements as required over time.
• Expand recreational and arts facilities within the community to coincide with the cities population growth. This past 4 years saw the completion of the new soccer pitches, the addition of a splash pool, continued funding of the Steinbach Arts Council and a proposed expansion to our library facilities to name just a few.
• Maintain a strong and supportive relationship with our Volunteer Fire Dept which recently saw a major expansion to their current facilities. Further equipment upgrades will now be required to ensure both the safety of the citizen’s of Steinbach and our own fire fighters. Volunteerism throughout the community needs to be recognized, rewarded and encouraged.
• Attempt to bring further openness and transparency to City Council where issues can be brought forward, discussed openly and then moved forward once all sides are heard. One must remember that no one member of Council sets the agenda and oft times decisions may or may not go as one would wish. It is then that we accept the decision of the majority of Council and jointly proceed. I will provide my full support to Council in those times.
Issues of late
• The proposed library expansion has garnered a great deal of interest for a variety of reasons with all sides having had opportunity to be express their opinions via a variety of forums. I am largely pleased with the process and am looking forward to a positive ruling by the Municipal Board which will allow the project to proceed in 2011.
• It is my intent to minimize the tax implications of these recent capital projects (Lagoon, Land fill and Library) and will be seeking to control both operational as well as capital expenditures over the next 4 years until such time as our debt again reduces as it has similarly cycled in previous expansion periods. This will be possible as we continue to annually budget for substantial debt repayment, due to the shorter debt terms chosen. I thus expect the City to be in an excellent position to undertake future larger projects in the coming years as they no doubt will be requested by the citizen’s of Steinbach.
• Lastly the City of Steinbach continues to be on solid financial footing and should one chose to compare both service levels and taxes levied to other larger Manitoba Municipalites it would quickly become apparent that we are indeed envied by our neighbors. I and your Council representatives have done a commendable job of balancing the needs and related costs of a growing City. We all have reason to be proud of our City as each citizen contributes to this our Vision of a “City of Excellence”.
Projects in last 4 years
• Fire Hall Expansion
• Addition of a Splash Park at the Aquatic Centre
• Expansion and paving of Steinbach’s Industrial park
• Numerous residential street upgrades/replacements
• Completion of Soccer complex with football field upgrades underway
• Water Treatment Plant upgrades
• Land fill expansion
• Lagoon expansion
• Library expansion – proposed
• Finalization of the Community Plan
City is well positioned for the future due to this foundational work having been completed.
