The reeve for the RM of Morris was delighted to see progress being made on improved Internet access for his ratepayers during the past year.

In a year-end interview, Ralph Groening said the municipality's collaboration with Valley Fiber during 2019 resulted in advancing improved Internet service in the RM. "We now have high-speed Internet available to about half of our homes and businesses and we are hopeful that we will have wireless service in the next month or two available for the remainder of all our residents. That, for me, is a highlight for this past year," said Groening.

Meanwhile, the municipality continues to push forward on the economic front, approving an 80-acre expansion of the Rosenort Industrial Park. That project is expected to create another 60 to 70 lots which should be ready for use in 2021.

Building construction remained steady over the past year. The RM of Morris saw about a dozen news homes constructed with overall building permit values holding in the 7 to 8 million dollar range, which is similar to last year.

The municipality has also been able to successfully streamline its three fire departments in Sperling, Lowe Farm and Rosenort by merging them under one fire chief, Trevor Dackow. "He's done a great job in combining those three departments and they've been so effective. They managed a couple of major potential fires in Rosenort, so we're really pleased with the leadership from that office and also from our new public works manager," said Groening."

The reeve says the municipality will continue to look for ways to create efficiencies in its operations in the new year.