2021 was another busy year around the R.M. of Morris council table.

One area that received a lot of attention, according to Reeve Ralph Groening, was the Municipality's Waste Management and Reduction priority initiative. As a result, the recycling program was expanded this past year. Sites are now up in Aubigny and Sewell, the rural pick-up program was further expanded on top of the service already offered in Rosenort, Lowe Farm and Sperling.

"We're fortunate as a municipality to have two landfill waste sites and so, we needed ensure that we could extend the lifetime of them, particularly in Lowe Farm which is a smaller site. So, that kind of motivated us, together with the fact there was a lot of interest in recycling and so, we took that as a guide in expanding the program," explained Groening.

A review of the Lowe Farm and Rosenort landfills is also underway. It will examine how Council can extend the life of the two sites and meet all of the required regulations into the future.

Additionally, drought was a bit topic of conversation in the municipality this past summer.

Record low levels on the Red River and Lake Minnewasta forced the Pembina Valley Water Co-op to declare a drought state of emergency, and municipalities asked residents and businesses to reduce consumption between 15 and 25 per cent.