The New Year could bring some big changes to the Rural Municipality of Montcalm.

Reeve, Derek Sabourin, said there is the potential for a few capital projects in 2018, such as a possible new fire hall in St. Jean.

"We have some empty buildings in town that we're trying to make sense out of so we might be retrofitting one of them into a newer/larger fire hall."

He noted there is also talk of a lagoon expansion in Letellier.

"(The projects) are being planned in 2018, if they start in '18 or not we don't know yet, but we'll see what's the best time frame for construction. We're just in the planning stages right now."

In addition, Sabourin said Council hopes to amalgamate all four of the municipality's utilities in the coming year.

He explained that this move would simplify administration and result in one standard water rate across the R.M. of Montcalm.

"We buy our water bulk from Pembina Valley Water Co-op and then we have a St. Jean utility, a St. Joseph utility, a Letellier utility and the rural utility. There are different costs associated with running all of these utilities and they all have different rates of water."

Sabourin said this set up creates a very cumbersome situation when it comes to bookkeeping. He admitted an amalgamation would mean water rates could increase for some and decrease for others but noted Council is trying to be as fair as possible.

As for goals he has for 2018, Sabourin said he hopes his government and the province can work together to fix drainage in the municipality. He is referring to two drains between St. Joseph and Altona that affect both the R.M. of Montcalm and the Municipality of Rhineland.

"We're going into 2018 and we've been told for the last four years that it's getting done this year - this year, this year, this year - and nothing has been done," he said.

Sabourin added that it's as simple as cleaning eight or nine miles of drainage ditches.

"When guys get the tax bills in the twenty-five to thirty dollars an acre range, and they're in crop insurance every year because of inadequate drainage, it's pretty tough to stomach."

Overall, Sabourin feels that the items looked after solely by the municipality are in good shape, such as recreation, public works and fire/emergency.