The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The provincial government has completed the first of three draws that will see 1,000 cottage lots made available to Manitobans through sale or lease, Conservation Minister Stan Struthers has announced. A total of 375 lots were available in the June 30 draw. Names were selected from a total of 2,287 applications with a total of 9,278 subdivision choices for an average of four choices per applicant. "The draw process was carefully monitored and audited," said Struthers. "Conservation staff and auditors from Manitoba Finance were on hand to ensure fairness and we had an RCMP officer assist with the actual drawing." The second draw will be held this fall. There will be a total of 700 identified lots available for the 2004 draws, 500 on Crown land and 200 within parks. Lots within provincial parks are for lease only. The remaining 300 lots are in the process of being identified for a third draw in 2005. The minister noted that a new website providing Manitobans with information on the cottage lot draw received the most visits of any provincial website on its first day and continues to be very popular with over a quarter of a million visits by the middle of June. The cottage lots initiative was announced on May 13. Following this recent draw, notifications will be mailed by July 14. A site selection process follows, conducted through public meetings to be held in locations around the province in the evening of Aug. 5. Applicants who were not selected in the first draw can re-apply for the second and third draws. "Today's draw and future draws will allow more Manitobans to share our provinces' exceptional resources and the joys of cottage life any time of the year," said the minister.
