Brandon, MB – Thanks to additional funding support from the Manitoba Housing and Renewal Corporation by way of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the City of Brandon is pleased to offer its Homebuyer Assistance Program for a second consecutive year and assist qualified renters in the community as they make the transition into home ownership. The Homebuyer Assistance Program has been developed and administered by the City of Brandon’s Economic Development Department, with assistance from the Brandon Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation’s Affordable Housing Programs Coordinator. The program provides successful applicants with funding equal to a 5% down payment on the purchase of a home and a portion of associated closing costs by way of a 10-year earned forgivable loan, to a maximum of $14,000 per applicant. After its initial launch in May of 2018, the program was able to offer multiple intakes and ultimately yielded a total of 25 successful applicant families, 23 of whom have already moved into their new homes. All Homebuyer Assistance Program information, including eligibility requirements and the application process, can be found at http://www.economicdevelopmentbrandon.com/housing-programs. “Though the City of Brandon had never been involved in developing and administering a program quite like this before, those who have had a hand in its creation and delivery are extremely pleased with its success thus far,” notes City of Brandon Director of Economic Development Sandy Trudel. “The City of Brandon’s work through the program has been very rewarding, with many of the successful applicants calling it a ‘life-changing’ opportunity. The program has also created positive spin-offs in the local economy by generating business for housing inspectors, realtors, survey companies, lending institutions, solicitors, the construction industry and interpreters.” Applications for the Homebuyer Assistance Program’s current intake must be received at the Economic Development Brandon office (Main Floor, Brandon City Hall, 410-9th Street, R7A 6A2) by 5 p.m. on Monday, February 4th, 2019. For further information or assistance with submitting an application, individuals may phone 204-729-2412 or email housingcoordinator@bnrc.ca. As with 2018’s initial program, additional intake periods will be entirely dependant on available funding.

Shortly after 8:30 on Thursday night, Brandon Fire and Emergency Services and Brandon Police Service responded to the 400 block of 10th St for a structure fire. Emergency crews arrived to find smoke and fire showing from "Princess Grocery", with fire threatening a new building close-by to the north. Firefighter/paramedics made quick work with getting multiple fire hoses in service, and searching for the seat of the fire. Fire crews hooked up a supply hose-line to a nearby fire hydrant, but extra water was not needed. Firefighter/paramedics were on scene for an extended period of time, making sure the structure was vented of smoke, and that no fire remained. Manitoba Hydro was called in to help shut off electricity to the building, and an Office of the Fire Commissioner investigator was called in to investigate the cause of the fire. 10th St from Louise Ave to Victoria Ave was completely blocked off during the fire to allow crews room to work, and it remained closed for a number of hours after the fire. Thankfully there's been no word on any injuries related to this fire. Photos by Liam Pattison Photography.

The final tally of the the month-long RCMP Holiday Checkstop Program is in.  A total of 11,714 vehicles were checked in the Province during 262 checkstops and RCMP said they charged 90 people with Impaired Driving (87 by alcohol, 3 by drug).  An additional 15-people were charged with Refusing a Breath Demand.  Police also charged 49 motorists with improper storage of alcohol or cannabis in a vehicle, issued 30 alcohol-related tiered suspensions, and issued 2 drug-related tiered suspensions. "Last year during the 2017/2018 program, RCMP checked 8333 vehicles during 176 checkstops. RCMP charged 117 people with a Criminal Code Impaired Driving offence and issued an additional 51 alcohol and drug-related tiered suspensions. There was one traffic-related fatality during last year’s Checkstop program."

Source:  Brandon Police Service Media Release On January 3rd, 2019 at 1:45 am, police conducted a traffic stop in the 300 blk of 20th Street where the 19 year old Brandon man was a passenger in the vehicle. During the course of the investigation police discovered the male had in his possession a set of brass knuckles as well as a handgun which was later determined to be a BB gun. The male was arrested by police and subsequently released from custody on a PTA with Undertaking to appear in Brandon Court on 2019-03-04.

Brandon, MB – The City of Brandon invites all members of the public to provide their feedback on the proposed 2019 municipal budget at a community forum on the evening of Wednesday, January 16th, 2019, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Main Foyer of Brandon City Hall, 410-9th Street. The evening forum will include a brief overview of the proposed budget led by City Administration, which will be followed by a question-and-answer session led by members of Brandon City Council. Mayor and Councillors will be asking for public feedback on the proposed 2019 budget and on where they would like Council to focus its future spending priorities. The evening forum will also be streamed live via the City of Brandon YouTube channel for the benefit of residents unable to attend. All proposed budget documents can be viewed on the City of Brandon website at http://www.brandon.ca/budget/proposed-2019-budget. Prior to Council’s budget deliberations later this month, the proposed 2019 budget is representative of a municipal tax increase of 3.91%. “Preparing the proposed 2019 budget was especially challenging,” notes City of Brandon City Treasurer and General Manager of Corporate Services Dean Hammond. “Funding from other levels of government has been held flat or is, in some cases, has decreased. We are seeing higher than normal inflationary pressures, particularly with utilities and construction costs, and while we rely on fee revenues to somewhat offset tax increases, we are anticipating significantly less fee revenues for the upcoming year.” Following the above noted public forum, Brandon City Council will then deliberate the 2019 proposed budget on Friday, January 25th and Saturday, January 26th. “With continued inflation and government grants having been frozen for several years, our budgets are a greater challenge each year,” adds Mayor Rick Chrest. “Administration has worked very hard to provide a good starting point and now Council will wrestle with ‘big picture’ decisions to hopefully bring us near or below inflation.  Our Council takes the budget and taxpayer dollars very seriously and we always works hard to maintain services and keep costs in line.” The January 25th and 26th budget deliberations will be held in the City of Brandon Council Chamber on the 2nd floor of Brandon City Hall and are open to the public and media to observe. Deliberations will also be livestreamed for the public via the City of Brandon YouTube channel.