Morden business, housing construction slowing down over wastewater woes
Mayor says potential short-term solution could see Winkler helping out twin city
The drilling and hammering of homebuilding in the growing city of Morden is slowing down, as the southern Manitoba community grapples with wastewater woes.
Demand for housing is high, say both a local construction company and a real estate agent.
But the city is limited in how many building permits it can issue as its lagoon system is nearing capacity during the winter months, Mayor Nancy Penner told CBC News last month.
The city hasn't accepted new applications for building permits since 2023, she said.
"There's potential for a big lost opportunity for development," said Penner, although she maintains the city is open for business, and had approved 700 to 800 housing units for development as of 2020.
"But we've told the developers you can only sort of build 10, 20 per cent each year going out, so we're just waiting until wastewater is resolved," she said.
One of the affected businesses is Lux Construction.
"This land is all ready for development, but … we can't develop it yet," said CEO Richard Dyck, motioning to dozens of serviced and vacant lots in northwest Morden.
He plans to build apartments, duplexes and houses, but his company can't get additional city permits.
His current projects will be done by 2025, but after that, Lux won't have any more construction or new builds starting in Morden.
Dyck said his company has invested millions of dollars to buy the land, pay taxes and service the properties, which they likely can't sell either, because a new owner wouldn't be able to secure building permits either.
"It's frustrating" for both the city and his company, Dyck said.
Housing demand in Morden remains strong, said real estate agent Dave Kasdorf, but a lack of inventory and rising prices are leading some people to delay making a purchase, and pushing others to search in neighbouring communities.
"First-time home buyers are having a real hard time getting into the marketplace," Kasdorf said.
Homes in the Pembina Valley are going for an average $325,000. New houses are selling for an average of roughly $400,000, with prices increasing three to five per cent annually, he said.
The Morden-Winkler area could also easily fill 50 to 100 rental units, Kasdorf said.
"Right now, the vacancy rate in the Pembina Valley...is below one per cent, so it's a tight market," he said.
Alice Oyardo, a newcomer from the Philippines, heard that was the case, but shrugged it off until her husband and two children arrived in Morden last year.
"We realize[d] that it's really happening … even if Morden is just a small city," with a population of just over 9,000 as of 2021, Oyardo said.
The limited choice of affordable homes and transportation, especially near grocery stores and schools, was a challenge, she said.
If not for a friend who gave up their apartment, "we wouldn't be able to get it," said Oyardo.
"It was difficult."
Potential short-term solution in the works: mayors
Morden can't expand its lagoon system in the northeast corner of the city due to a lack of space and the odour, Penner said.
Among the options available to them, the city already has a design for a new wastewater system.
However, despite commitments of $11 million from the federal and $28 million from the Manitoba government for the project — which has an estimated price tag of $88 million to $108 million — the city is about $30 million short, she said.
"That puts us in a little bit of a bind," Penner said.
"We're looking at alternate sources of funding," including federal and provincial grants.
The city is also looking into building a lagoon system similar to a type used in Steinbach and Winkler, but it would require additional land Morden would have to buy, adding to the overall cost, she said.
To help pay for the changes, sewer and water rates could more than double over three years if approved by the Public Utilities Board, Penner said. That would bring the average annual cost per household in the third year to $2,268, according to figures from the mayor.
Although it's a concern for affordable housing, she doesn't blame past councils for the situation.
"In order for our community to grow and to prosper … this is the cost of infrastructure upgrades," she said.
Morden's twin city of Winkler, about 10 kilometres away, is currently expanding its lagoon system to support a population of up to 25,000 people and may be able to help Morden out temporarily, Winkler Mayor Henry Siemens said.
"We also know that we won't be 25,000 people next year," said Siemens, whose city had a population of just under 14,000 in 2021.
"Morden is in a very difficult place today in that their growth has happened, but their approvals and financial support of their projects hasn't kept pace with it, so they're stuck between a rock and a hard place," he said.
"Our hope is if there's an affordable way … to allow them to pump their excess sewage to our facility and allow us to treat that and buy them the time that they need. There's a lot of things that have to be worked out before that's [feasible]."
Both cities are optimistic about the plan, although it wouldn't be a possibility until the fall of 2026.
This short-term solution eases concerns for Lux Construction's Dyck — somewhat.
"It's a Band-Aid," he said.
He's looking to the federal and provincial governments to contribute more funding to a long-term plan.
"It's hard because this is our business. This is our livelihood," Dyck said. "We have to go to other communities now and go further out [to build]."
Over the next two years, unless wastewater upgrades go ahead, he says his much-needed homes won't either.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
