Rural Municipality of St. Andrews, Manitoba

redesign, including outdoor athletic fields and a curling facility. The Petersfield area is known for producing curlers who compete at the National Level. In the south, the plan is to build a multi-use facility including baseball fields, soccer fields, and a field house.The Municipality currently owns land and is completing a land drainage design for the area. From initial site plans and conceptual facility plans,work will be undertaken to allow a staged construction approach.Again, the Municipality will be looking at partnerships and grant funding to see the project to completion. For those preferring recreation closer to their own homes and neigh- borhoods, Rural Municipality CAO,AndrewWeremy, points out,“St.Andrews is in the process of complet- ing the survey and layout of a 10 kilometer hiking and biking path that will connect the four southern wards where the bulk of our population resides. Concept plans are in place; the next step is to seek out grants and put together the costing.We hope to move forward in 2019 and 2020 to build the facili- ties and the walking trails.” At the grand old age of 138, St.Andrews benefits from a healthy tourist sector–thanks to its inven- tory of historic buildings (such as Kennedy House, very popular for weddings, alongside the scenic Red River) that drawvisitors from around the world. According to Mayor Pike,“The St.Andrews Church is one of the oldest, still-used houses of worship in western Canada.Another famous location, Lower Fort Garry,was originally a fur-trading post for the Hudson’s Bay Company, and the federal government is pouring a lot of money into it this year for up- grades, including air conditioning, to make it even more amenable to tourists.” RURAL MUNICIPALITY OF ST. ANDREWS, MANITOBA PREFERRED VENDOR n Fort Distributors www.fortdistributors.com Fort Distributors first Dust Control customer was the RM of St An- drews. The council was searching for a more environmentally friendly alternative to the current waste oil method for dust abatement. So, we presented council with a great new option, Magnesium Chloride. Through its benefits they have received many Manitoba Good Road Association awards. We are proud be a supplier to St Andrews for the past 28 years! Weremy adds, “Sports tourism is also big here. Being only a short drive away, when Winnipeg hosts major tourna- ments all the hotels in the City and our area are packed. Unfortunately, we can’t build hotels just for the peak times – they have to be sustainable and profit- able for the owners. But it does become a problem, especially during our huge spring fishing events, where last year I saw several hundred vehicles parked on the shore of Lake Winnipeg. People drive out on the ice in six-passenger snow- mobile-type vehicles, worth upwards of $60,000 each, to go fishing.There are a lot of sport enthusiasts who bring economic benefit to the Municipality and we’re quite grateful for that.”