Inlett Properties looking at development in Nipawin

By Melissa Mangelsen/Nipawin Journal

The Town of Nipawin held a regular meeting of council May 9.

Bylaw enforcement summary

In April three verbal warnings were given, 12 written warnings and no tickets, in regards to parking violations. Council feels it is time to start issuing tickets to those who violate bylaws, as residents have been given plenty of warning that there is a bylaw officer and such offenses will be ticketed. Nipawin's bylaw officer also had one maintenance and occupancy inspection, one noise complaint and has two nuisance abatement files open.

Bylaw enforcement officer

The villages of Codette, White Fox and the Resort Village of Tobin Lake has requested the services of Nipawin's bylaw officer, Dennis Squires. Squires is going to check into their requirements to determine how many hours or days they want him for. He noted that he'd have to be in each community more than one day each month in order for it to be effective. Both White Fox and Codette could be done daily with a drive around; Tobin Lake would be spot-enforcement. Also, for safety purposes, Squires would require radio communication while in the other communities.

Tourism destination area

Planning is almost complete with community consultation to come into Nipawin. A project manager will be hired in the late fall to help implement the program. The destination area is quite large with Melfort and Tisdale as the southern gateways to the destination area and Cumberland House as the northern boundary of the area. The program may assist in lobby for highway improvements, land acquisitions and development.

It was noted that Nipawin is the best-developed tourism marketing area (based on marketing dollars spent) in the province. Discussion also took place around destination marketing and new areas in the province that are implementing fees.

Proposed Development

Inlett Properties has developed a conceptual plan, which includes a hotel, restaurant, strip mall and housing for their land south of the old Movie Gallery building. Inlett is looking for tenants to lease the proposed space. The marketing is the first step, and brochures are expected soon.

As far as the town knows, Inlett won't start any development until they have the tenants.

Installation of televisions at Centennial Arena

The Town of Nipawin approved the installation of two big screen televisions (55-inch), to be mounted in the lobby and lounge area at the Centennial Arena. The televisions should be in place prior to the start of the hockey season.

The televisions will benefit the rink by entertaining families at minor hockey events and some televised sporting events of interest. The upstairs television would also be used by the Hawks for training and replays of games. Murray Dunn of Nipawin, is prepared to buy a new television every year, so the up stairs television would be raffled off as a new fundraiser for the Hawks.

Renovations to the rink are expected to be finished August 2011.

May is MS Awareness Month

The Town of Nipawin declared May as MS Awareness Month. About 55,000 to 75,000 Canadians live everyday with the challenge of Multiple Sclerosis. The MS Society focuses on May to raise public awareness about the effects of MS on the individual, the family and the community.

Downtown Revitalization Program

The town is looking into eligibility to apply for a new government program that assists communities in revitalization of historic downtown areas – specifically those over 40 years old. The province provides matching funding up to $120,000 over three years. The program, which is called A Downtown Revitalization Program's application deadline is June 13. Council's main concern was the timeframe in which the application needs to be completed by.