The Town of Morris has been looking into the addition of fiber optics Internet, and continues to weigh options in 2018.

Mayor Gavin van der Linde said council is tentatively looking at 50 to 100 megabyte per second download speeds which would be more than 10 times faster than what it is now. A feasibility study is currently underway.

"One of the disadvantages we've had in the community is we've had one Internet provider," said van der Linde. "So we are exploring together with the school division and the rural municipality around us how we can bring better Internet into the community."

Next year the town will also continue their participation is the Communities in Bloom competition by hosting the provincial conference,

Morris was one of the first communities to take part in the Communities in Bloom program, going back to the early 60's. This year the town received 4 out of 5 Blooms during the 2017 Manitoba Communities in Bloom Competition.

Participating communities are evaluated on tidiness, environmental action, heritage conservation, urban forestry, landscaping and floral displays.

"We have the privilege of hosting it next year, so it's a time to showcase our community," said van der Linde.

Highway 75 flood proofing construction will also continue. 

"On the south side they finished the really large construction project for the bridge near St. Jean and they're busy raising the HWY between St. Jean and Morris, and when they've completed that they will carry on north of Morris with whatever plan they choose."

The town will also continue plans regarding assisted living housing, 55+ housing and affordable housing.

"The board from the Morris Manor had just completed a survey so they have all the details, and they got some really great feedback from the community," said van der Linde.

"We are in discussions with private developers... we would like people in the community to be able to age in place, to be able to live in the community where their friends are, where they've grown up," he added.

2018 is also a civic election year for the province. Van der Linde said this topic is discussed at the council table to some degree.

"In our planning cycle we are looking at 3-5 years, so we try not to get stuck by the election cycle otherwise you tend to be a little bit short sighted. But it does come in, we want to make sure that we're responsible in what we hand over to the next council."