An increase in demand has prompted the Municipality of Rhineland to review its annual dust control program.

"The demand...and I guess it's the nature of the year, is ever-increasing," said Reeve Don Wiebe, referring to the persistently dry conditions this season.

As well, requests have come in from ratepayers looking to do their own applications in front of their yards.

"We're a little bit tentative in terms of what materials go on the road," explained Wiebe, "we want to make sure that we're not exposing ourselves to insurance or liability questions, so we want to have some assurance that the chemicals put on are the right kind and follows good practice."

There's also been an increase in requests for Council to cover the cost of some dust control applications. Currently, the Municipality offers an annual program that yard owners can enlist in and pay for out-of-pocket.

"(People) say, 'we're on a priority grains road, or we're at a site where its an intersection and there's so much traffic coming from both directions, we want dust control,' ", explained Wiebe. "But if we did a universal application across the municipality, that would be quite a bit of cost."

As a result, administrators are now gathering more information on the topic and researching what's in place in other municipalities. Wiebe hopes to review the information at Council's annual planning session this winter. For now, he says Rhineland will continue with its current program.