The City of Winnipeg’s North End sewage treatment plant will now treat wastewater from the Rural Municipality of Rosser. The two municipalities have entered a service-sharing agreement, which was approved by Rosser’s municipal council on December 2.
The agreement presents both parties with significant benefits: Winnipeg will see increased sewer revenues, and Rosser residents now have a solution for a sustainable wastewater plan. In addition, the agreement is beneficial to the development of Manitoba’s inland port, CentrePort.
“We believe this service-sharing agreement will be a real boost to CentrePort,” said Winnipeg Mayor, Sam Katz. “Reaching this milestone with the R.M. of Rosser will help attract large-scale distribution centres and new business interest from within the province and beyond.”
Reeve Frances Smee of Rosser also commented on her community’s satisfaction with the agreement, saying, “Landowners and developers in the first area to be serviced have been anxiously awaiting this moment and it has arrived.”
The agreement’s benefit to CentrePort is seen by both Rosser and Winnipeg as a positive. The two communities have been working in tandem to move the project forward, and the introduction of the first wastewater lines to the area is a positive step. The Partnership of the Manitoba Capital Region (PMCR), which includes both Rosser and Winnipeg, has focused on a goal of regional service-sharing cooperation for projects like CentrePort.
“With this latest agreement and the recent opening of the new expressway, CentrePort Canada Way, we are experiencing real momentum at CentrePort, which we believe will translate into new private sector investment, jobs, and economic opportunity for Winnipeg and the capital region,” said President and CEO of CentrePort Canada Inc., Diane Gray.
