There is a chance that more residents of Hanover could be getting dust control next summer.

Ward Five Councillor Gord Meneer has been working with staff to develop a plan that could be more encompassing. Meneer explains under their current dust control policy, there are two ways of getting the service. He notes certain residences along gravel roads receive dust control based on their setbacks. The other way to get dust control is to pay for it. Meneer says the service costs about $2.25 per metre and because it is often applied in a span of 100 metres, this ends up costing about $225 per residence.

(Dust control being applied in Hanover.)Meneer is now hoping to adopt a new policy for next year's budget which would include homes in rural residential areas. Currently, those portions of the municipality do not receive dust control because they are in a zone that has a lower speed limit. Yet, Meneer says during a summer such as this, there has been a lot of dust due to the dry conditions and he notes rural residential areas are not immune.

"In towns, we have sidewalks and other means that give them the opportunity to get out and get around the neighbourhood," notes Meneer. "In the rural residential areas we don't have those same types of infrastructure in place for obvious reasons but it doesn't mean that we can't maybe look at improving those roads to accommodate the extra usage of those roads other than vehicular travel."

Meneer says he has provided council with the numbers of what it would cost to expand the service. He notes depending on which roads they all target, it could cost anywhere from $2.50 to $15 per household per year for a house assessed at $250,000.

"That was my proposal that I'm looking to hopefully get adopted for next year's budget and put that in," says Meneer. "The costs are minimal in order to have that happen."

Meneer refers to this as a win-win situation for both council and ratepayers. He suggests dust control will allow residents to enjoy their properties even during dry summers.

Meneer has worked with Hanover administration to identify each of the rural residential areas within the municipality. Hanover council has opted to rather wait until after the October 24th election before making its decision. Under the current proposal, only rural ratepayers would pay for this new service.