The mayor of Altona believes regionalism is the best way for municipalities to move forward successfully.

In a year-end interview, Melvin Klassen said Altona and Rhineland Municipality have been able to work jointly on a variety of services and programs over the past number of years, to each other's mutual benefit, and those kinds of partnerships will be key to the future growth of both communities.

"Certainly it is more cost effective if we are willing to share our resources, share our personnel in developing this area," said Klassen. "Again, I think it's a strength that we need to continue to work with."

According to the mayor, Altona and Rhineland are partners on close to a dozen projects and services in the area, such as the landfill, the lagoon, the fire department, local

Mayor Klassen (centre) and council will have many decisions to make in 2017 - File photoairport, library, and the local moto-cross track, to name a few.

"We realize that for our town to be a viable and thriving community we have to be willing to cooperate and jointly work on projects that will benefit communities in our region. That's why we have a policing agreement with Plum Coulee, and are partners in the local health clinic. It's also the reason we partnered in forming the RPGA Planning District."
    
Meanwhile, the town of Altona will need to make some critical decisions in 2017 with regard to its industrial park. According to Klassen, there are just 10 lots left to sell and town council will need to address a number of questions on this issue. Those questions relate to a location for an expanded industrial park, concerns about industrial development in the town's fringe area, and how to fund the development of industrial parks. Funding remains the largest obstacle, according to the mayor.

"We will certainly want to talk to the municipality of Rhineland to see if there is interest in becoming involved, because some of the land we're looking at is in the municipality. So, we want to see if we can do something jointly. I'm hoping we will have something more concrete in 2017."

Another major issue facing Altona council is how to improve the community's drainage system. The town hired Steckly Engineering in Winkler to conduct a thorough examination of the system and come up with some recommendations.

"As most citizens know, we have a problem with drainage in that 2nd Street area. During heavy rain events the street floods and it can get quite deep. It's generally gone in about half a day, but obviously property owners in that area and in other areas around town have concerns, so we're asking Steckley how we can move that water out faster."

Town council will study the engineering recommendations at its annual planning session, which will be held in a few weeks.

Industrial expansion will be a pressing issue for Altona council in 2017 - File photo