The RM of Portage la Prairie just set up a community development fund reserve for grant money to be received from Manitoba Hydro's Bipole III transmission line project.

Councillor Roy Tufford explains.

"Manitoba Hydro, through their Bipole III program, is providing a grant of money annually to the RM based on the number of miles the Bipole III transmission lines will be going through the municipality. They're giving us a sum of money each year that they want to have earmarked for community development. So, there's a fair scope of things it can be used for."

He adds, "We're going to set it in a separate fund so it doesn't go into general reserve, and doesn't get mixed up with that. All we did today was create a separate fund for that money. They're giving us over a $100,000 a year to compensate us for the fact that Bipole III's coming through the RM, and we're going to use that for community development projects."

Tufford can't speculate on what the money will specifically be spent on, but all of Council will agree upon various projects. He notes none of it has been spent yet, and three years' worth of money has already come in.