Steinbach's Mayor says 2018 promises to be just as busy as last year as the city continues to gather momentum as a bustling urban centre. Chris Goertzen adds, as council enters the final year of its four-year term, there is some unfinished business, such as improvements to cultural and recreational facilities. But he adds those plans will be dependent on other levels of government providing grants.

"We have ideas on where we want to head and we know we have limitations when it comes to dollars when it comes to finding those partnerships with other levels of government. Council chose to move beyond working just for the Performing Arts Centre and this next year, we're going to look for other types of partnerships so that we can continue to work at improving recreation and culture in our city. That continues to be a priority."

He notes new federal-provincial infrastructure money will be coming out this year and the city hopes to qualify to get a share of it.

Goertzen says another key item this year will be updates to the Official Community Plan and Zoning Bylaw, to map out ideas for the newly-annexed area of the city. The review will also look at all other areas of the city to determine whether existing plans are still appropriate.

Looking forward to later in the year, Goertzen says it will be a very busy fall with municipal elections to take place in October where members of council put their performance on the line.

"We try to get as many things done as possible in our four-year term. That time goes very quickly. We as council want to continue that work all the way through 2018 until election time when we assemble a new team and we go from there."