Star Donovan, manager of special events for Mersey Seafoods, stands in front of the company’s Scallop Shack, which opened Monday at their location on Bristol Avenue. (Rick Conrad)
Residents and visitors to Liverpool can now buy Mersey Seafoods’ world-famous scallops right from the factory on Bristol Avenue.
The company opened the Scallop Shack in a tiny guardhouse in its parking lot on Monday morning.
Star Donovan is Mersey Seafoods’ manager of special events. She said Monday that response so far is good.
“It’s been busy since we put the sign out considering no one even knew we were going to do this. We just put the sign out by the road this morning, and it’s been flat out busy.”
Since the company opened its new building in 2019, many residents were hoping they would also open a retail facility.
Donovan said that until now, they couldn’t do that.
“Since Covid, we have had our doors locked. Prior to that, we used to sell five pounds of scallops to the community when they wanted them. The president of our company has chatted about being able to offer scallops again to the community so we decided we’d go with the Scallop Shack.”
The Scallop Shack will be open year-round, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. It will be selling two different sizes of scallops – 10 to 20 scallops per pound or 20 to 30 scallops per pound.
You can buy them in a one-kilogram or a five-pound bag. Prices range from $37.40 for a kilogram of smaller scallops to $90 for five pounds of larger scallops.
Donovan said that with tourist season underway, it’s a good time for the new venture, especially since it’s difficult to find local seafood in Liverpool.
“I think it’s great, but I kind of figured it would be. We have calls every week from people, ‘Can we buy them, can we buy them?’ I know the community are happy about this and excited, and so am I.”
Mersey Seafoods is also celebrating its 60th year in business this year. And to help celebrate, the company will be putting a float in the Privateer Days parade for the first time, Donovan said.
“The girls in production decided they were going to put a float in the parade this year and so we’re all excited about that, having the Scallop Shack open. You never know what’s to come. We’ll see.”
Scallops sold by Mersey Seafoods are sustainably harvested from the Atlantic Ocean and freshly frozen at sea.
The company also sells coldwater shrimp and redfish or ocean perch. But Donovan says they will be selling only scallops at the Scallop Shack.
The South Shore Open Doors Association will receive $25,000 in provincial funding to help those who are housing insecure.
The South Shore Open Doors Association will receive $25,000 from the Nova Scotia government to help people in Queens and Lunenburg counties in precarious housing situations.
It’s part of a total of $500,000 in one-time funding announced this week for community groups across the province.
“Our government continues to invest in initiatives that support vulnerable Nova Scotians,” Queens MLA Kim Masland said in a news release.
“This funding is another step in assisting our residents who require safe and affordable housing.”
The money will be used to assist with costs such as rental arrears, overdue power bills and other expenses that could affect someone’s ability to get or maintain housing, according to the release.
People will also be directed to other supports and services to help in the long term.
Road crews were working on the Mount Pleasant Road repaving on Thursday in Brooklyn. (Rick Conrad)
It’s that time of year again. The sounds of trucks and heavy machinery along with the smells of freshly laid asphalt will be popping up around Queens County as road work season gets underway.
Public Works Minister and Queens MLA Kim Masland said Thursday that more than $20 million is being spent this summer and fall on sprucing up roads and bridges around the county.
It’s part of the $583 million the government is setting aside for road and bridge work around the province this year.
“We have been very successful in advocating for some roads. But also, we have some very poor quality roads here,” Masland said.
“We are certainly getting our fair share (of work) this year. It seems like there’s never enough money to do all of the road work. But I certainly feel as MLA and certainly as minister that we’re playing catchup on some of these roads.”
Masland said that many roads in Queens County appeared to have been neglected when the Tim Houston government took over in 2021.
“I’m really happy with the work we’ve been able to do since becoming government.”
Some of that work has already begun. The 1.6-kilometre stretch of Mount Pleasant Road in Brooklyn is being repaved. That counts for about $1 million.
“That’s needed some work for a while. That’s one of the roads I really advocated for,” Masland says.
Queens MLA Kim Masland. (Rick Conrad photo)
About $8 million will be spent on ongoing work to replace the Pleasant River Bridge in North Queens.
And the long-rumoured repaving project for the Brooklyn Shore Road is slated to begin this summer, Masland says. That’s 5.5 kilometres at a cost of about $3 million from Brooklyn Wharf Road to Eastern Shore Road.
Known locally as the “shore road”, it’s the scenic route to the popular Beach Meadows Beach.
“That will be done this summer. Very, very bad road. When you drive that, you’re literally having to go over on the opposite side of the road.
“With the Brooklyn Shore Road, it has deteriorated very badly and it’s a safety issue now, so that’s why they have brought that forward as a candidate to be repaved.”
Masland says officials from her department are always driving and inspecting roads and bridges in their areas. She says that as MLA and as minister, she also nominates projects after hearing from constituents.
“The public are the ones that really drive concerns. I actually go drive many of these roads myself. If somebody calls me with a complaint about a road, I go and drive that road myself.”
Masland said the gravel road work budget this year is about $55 million, more than double what it was in 2021. And the province has also increased the bridge rehabilitation budget to $60 million. And her department is devoting $22 million toward the rural impact mitigation fund, which handles things like pavement patching and brush cutting.
“So it shows you the costs of doing these projects. They are not cheap. So to try to manage people’s expectations is certainly very difficult. Everybody’s road that they travel on is the most important. And that’s what makes it very difficult. … If I could pave everyone’s road, I would certainly pave everyone’s road because i understand that the road you travel on is the one that’s important to you.
“But there’s just not enough money to pave every road.”
She said she’s also happy to see the ongoing Highway 103 twinning project, which now reaches from Halifax to Hubbards.
“Many people from Queens certainly travel the 103 to Halifax for medical appointments, school. It just blows my mind the amount of close collisions that almost happen every day. Twinning does save lives. It is costly but you can’t put a price on a life. “
Masland says that although maintaining roads and bridges is expensive, she’s proud of the work her department is doing.
“I’m just really glad where we are now. The team’s doing great work. Our maintenance supervisor is out there talking to people, thinking outside the box on how to resolve issues and to try to get work elevated, and Queens County should be very proud of that.”
List of road and bridge projects in Queens County this summer and fall:
Brooklyn Shore Road, from Brooklyn Wharf Road to Eastern Shore Road
Mount Pleasant Road, from Trunk 3 to Brooklyn Shore Road
Reinstating two segments of retaining wall along Shore Road
Old Port Mouton Road: from Highway 103 Exit 20A to end of service
Old Westfield Road: from Trunk 8 easterly
Carters Beach Road and parking lot upgrades
East Port L’Hebert road repaving
Albany New Road, rebuilding gravel road
Trunk 3: from Broad River Road easterly to White Point Road
Shelley Walker is Queens County’s senior safety co-ordinator. (Rick Conrad)
Almost 200 people turned out on Thursday at the Best Western Plus in Liverpool for the 2024 Senior Safety Spring Expo and Fair.
It featured almost 40 exhibitors with information about things such as housing, health care and senior safety as well as products and services available for older adults.
QCCR spoke to organizer Shelley Walker, the senior safety co-ordinator for Queens, and to one of the exhibitors, Janet Carver, the manager of community programs in palliative care for western Nova Scotia.
Sue and Chres Jensen, owners of Gallery 244 in Brooklyn, are holding a Carnival at the gallery on Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m. (Rick Conrad)
Since Sue and Chres Jensen moved to Nova Scotia from Alberta three years ago, they’ve carved out a distinctive space for the creative community at their gallery in Brooklyn.
And they’re using it to host an event called Carnival that’s just as unique on Saturday.
The owners of Gallery 244 are planning to showcase art, music, poetry, henna body art, laser engraving, hula hooping and even some osteopathy at the free event. And food truck Mama Pita will be onsite too.
Sue Jensen, who is also a musician, said she wanted the event to be as individual as their gallery and the other artists they’ve met.
“I wanted to do something that would be different,” she said Wednesday.
The couple live in East Port Medway, and opened the gallery a couple of years ago, turning a building that used to be a gas station into a space that now features work from half a dozen local artists. It also features a cozy music room in the old service station’s attached garage.
Saturday’s carnival will feature Sue and other musicians playing throughout the afternoon.
Chres says they want their gallery to be a welcoming place for anybody who creates.
“This acts like a mini hub for artists and people to stop in, play music, talk about art, or literature, try to be creative. It’s growing every year.”
Chres works in different media, but with a distinct musical theme. Many of his pieces feature deconstructed string instruments like guitars or ukuleles in sometimes whimsical, sometimes elaborate scenes. Since they opened the gallery, he says, many people have donated their old guitars for his art.
“It’s worked for us really well. My studio where I came from, maybe it’s as big as this room which is 16 by 20 and I have eight, nine, 10 times more space (here).”
Chres says the couple quickly realized the abundance of artists of all kinds in the area.
“Even Brooklyn as a small microcosm is a vibrant arts community. We have a wood carver here, we have MJ (Dominey) and she paints and this lady over here she has crafts. And then you expand it to Liverpool, it’s just a dynamic area for arts and music.”
That’s what they hope to showcase on Saturday from 1 to 5.
And don’t forget the hula hooping. A friend of theirs is a hula hooper, so they invited her to demonstrate her craft. And then a few other people contacted them to do the same thing.
“We have a dark horse who’s too shy to advertise but is actually a freak hula hooper,” Sue says. “It was just a fun (thing), maybe the kids will bring their hula hoops.”
That co-operation and collaboration are some of the things the couple love about their new community.
“Everybody just seems to be working together so that everybody can have fun and be creative,” Chres says.
Saturday’s event is also a fundraiser for the Mill Village fire department. Sue says they have just one goal for the carnival.
“For people to participate, that’s our goal. To show up, to see what’s here. … We just want them to come. If you want to watch, watch, if you want to participate, participate.”
The Privateer Farmers and Artisans Market in Liverpool is participating in the $10 farmers markets voucher program announced Tuesday by the Nova Scotia government. (Privateer Farmers and Artisans Market Facebook page)
The Nova Scotia government will be helping local farmers markets attract new customers this summer.
The province announced Tuesday that it will be giving students from grades Primary to 12 a voucher that they can spend at farmers markets this summer.
The $10 coupon can be redeemed toward any locally grown, harvested or crafted product at participating farmers markets around the province.
“Farmers’ markets are community hubs that can provide wonderful learning opportunities for students,” Susan Corkum-Greek, minister of economic development, said in a release.
“These markets showcase the diversity of products produced here and emphasize the benefits of buying and supporting local, including reductions in greenhouse gas emissions related to transportation and improved food security.”
It’s a partnership between the government’s Nova Scotia Loyal program and Farmers Markets of Nova Scotia. It’s aimed at broadening markets’ customer base.
Nova Scotia has the most farmers markets per capita in Canada.
The $10 voucher will be distributed this month in public schools.
Justin Cantafio, executive director of Farmers Markets of Nova Scotia, says the initiative will help educate younger consumers on the importance of food sovereignty and the local economy.
“As we know, that dollar spent locally recirculates locally,” he said in an interview.
“And every single dollar renewed through this program is going directly to small-scale owner-operated producers throughout Nova Scotia. And we also know that it’s good for helping to rebuild food soevereignty in a time when less than 15 per cent of the food that Nova Scotians consume is from Nova Scotia. It’s very exciting to work towards rebuilding that. It’s also an opportunity to help build the next generation of buy-local consumers.”
During a 2023 pilot project, about 13,000 vouchers were distributed in four school districts. Cantafio said that about 30 per cent of the vouchers in that pilot were redeemed, which he said was quite high for a program like this. He said that pilot was launched later in the year, with limited promotion.
This year, about 131,000 students across the province will receive vouchers under the program. Cantafio points out that’s potentially a $1.3-million injection into local economies.
“If you haven’t been to a farmers market yet, or you haven’t been for a long while, it’s an incredible excuse to get out there and just celebrate what it means to live in the province that has the most farmers markets per capita in the country. We have an embarrassment of riches here and incredible producers. There are over 1,500 vendors that sell at our markets.
“We’re looking forward to a focus on local and getting connected, especially at a time when it’s never been more important to support our local producers.”
The government says Nova Scotia Loyal is meant to support local products and businesses. Officials say they will release more information on the program this summer.
There are two regular farmers markets in Queens County, in Liverpool and Caledonia. Only the Privateer Farmers and Artisans Market in Liverpool is affiliated with Farmers Markets of Nova Scotia.
Mike Murphy of Mersey Seafoods announces the company’s sponsorship of the Canadian mixed doubles curling trials, beginning Dec. 30 at Queens Place Emera Centre in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad)
As one of the people bringing the Canadian mixed doubles curling trials to Liverpool in December, you’d expect Greg Thorbourne to love the sport.
“I used to hate mixed doubles,” he told a crowd on Monday at the Liverpool Curling Club.
“I thought, ‘Who the hell would ever play that game?’”
But after working at the last two national mixed doubles curling events, the longtime booster of curling in Queens County was quickly converted.
“Watching the calibre of curling, the shots made, the number of rocks in play, I don’t think there’s a better game in this world than mixed doubles.”
Thorbourne, chairman of the Liverpool Championship Host Society, was speaking at an event at the curling club Monday to kick off the volunteer recruitment effort for the mixed doubles curling trials planned for Dec. 30 to Jan. 4 at Queens Place Emera Centre.
The host society has been working on securing the trials since last June.
It’s the first of three major qualifying events in Nova Scotia for the 2026 Winter Olympics. Wolfville is hosting the full-team Canadian pre-trials in October 2025, and Halifax will host the Canadian curling trials in November 2025.
Sixteen teams will compete in Liverpool for the chance to represent Canada in mixed doubles curling in Italy.
Queens MLA Kim Masland speaks at an event at the Liverpool Curling Club on Monday to kick off volunteer recruitment for the Canadian mixed doubles curling trials in December in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad)
About 50 people turned out for the event in Liverpool on Monday, including Queens MLA and Public Works Minister Kim Masland, Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman and Liverpool native Jill Brothers, who skipped Canada to a silver medal at the 2004 world junior championships.
Thorbourne said he’d like to have about 150 volunteers for the event. Liverpool hosted the 2021 pre-trial curling trials, where the volunteer numbers were lower because of Covid.
“Normally, we have between 135 and 150. With Covid the last time, we were down around 85 so this time we’re looking at getting back up so that people don’t have to spend as many hours on site as they did the last time.”
He said they’re already getting calls from across Canada from people who want to volunteer.
“Last week, I got two calls from B.C., three from Ontario, a couple from up North, a few from Alberta, the Prairies. This is the first of three Olympic trial events in Nova Scotia. So a lot of these people will come here and get trained, work here and move forward.”
Mike Murphy, chief financial and chief operating officer of Mersey Seafoods, also announced the Liverpool company’s sponsorship of the $255,000 event.
“We want to be part of the community and we want to give back to the community when we can,” he said in an interview. “And we think events like this are really good to showcase Liverpool, the South Shore, Queens County. It puts us on the world stage. People show up from all over Nova Scotia, Canada, all over the world and we think it’s great to showcase our community.”
The value of the sponsorship was not disclosed, but Thorbourne said later that it is “substantial”. The Region of Queens has also committed $19,140 to the event. Thorbourne said they are working on other sponsorships too.
Many people at Monday’s kickoff were signing up to volunteer. Valerie Lantz of Liverpool was one of them.
This will be her third curling event in Liverpool. She volunteered at the 2021 pre-trials and the 2019 World Junior Curling Championships.
“I was a curler, … so that’s what brings me to this. Now that I’m retired i can spend the time doing this sort of thing and i thoroughly enjoy it.”
She said the event will bring much-needed business to the community at a slow time of year.
“This will put people in rooms in hotels and in restaurants. And mixed curling, it’s such a high-energy fast sport, I think it will create new patrons to the event.”
Lantz said that volunteering at the curling trials in December will be worth your time.
“You’ll meet people not only from Liverpool volunteering but people from probably around the province. It’s just so much fun. And you get to see some great curling.”
Ronnie Conrad on the West Berlin Wharf on Friday, on the last day of lobster fishing season. (Rick Conrad)
Friday was the last day of lobster fishing season on Nova Scotia’s South Shore.
And fishermen at wharves in Queens County say it was a good one.
Ronnie Conrad of West Berlin has been fishing for 44 years. He said conditions on the water were rougher than last year, with more wind, but catches were up.
“(It’s) been a real good season. It started off good, but it didn’t sound like it was going to be a real good season all over, but I call it a real good season.
“We were up probably stock-wise another 25, 30 per cent.”
Almost 1,700 licensed vessels fish along Nova Scotia’s southwestern shore, from Cow Bay near Halifax, around the southwestern end of the province to the Bay of Fundy.
The season opened in lobster fishing area 33 on Nov. 26. That’s the area from Cow Bay to Shelburne. And it began a couple of days later in LFA 34, which takes in the rest of southwestern Nova Scotia to Digby County.
Conrad said he thinks most fishermen in both districts did well.
“Overall, I think everybody came out pretty good. Southwest, District 34, was down all fall and all winter, but they had a real good spring. So that was a plus for them.”
He said he usually fishes about 25 kilometres off shore in the winter time, leaving at 3 in the morning and getting back about 12 hours later. And for the first few days of the season, if catches are good, he and his crew will be out for up to 20 hours, hauling as many as 500 traps total, double what they would do on a normal day.
This year, though, he decided to stick closer to the coast.
“Normally, I go out there probably about 16, 17 miles in the wintertime. But this year, I didn’t venture out that far because there weren’t any lobsters offshore.
“It got cold quick. It started off colder than last year too. It keeps the catch down. Lobster won’t crawl in cold water. This spring it warmed up quick and we had an excellent spring. Everywhere along the coast we had a real good spring.”
Lobster fisherman Mike Mattatall unloaded his last catch of the season at the wharf in Port Medway on Friday. (Rick Conrad)
38-year-old Mike Mattatall from Sable River has been fishing most of his life. For the past three years, he’s had his own boat out of Port Medway.
“Every season is so different. Last year was probably a little more in catch, but the average price through the winter helped sell some more lobsters through (last) winter because the water was warmer. Colder water made the winter pretty slow this year.”
Mattatall said prices started out around $9 a pound this season, went up as high as $20 in the winter when the catch was scarce and settled around $7 a pound this spring.
Just because the season’s over, though, it doesn’t mean the work stops. Fishermen will spend the summer and fall fixing up their boats, building new traps and spending some time with their families.
But you won’t hear people like Mattatall and Conrad complain.
“It’s a lifestyle, though. I don’t really know what it is, comparable to other kind of work. You’d probably have to come do it and tell me how much different it is than your job. It depends on who you are. We don’t find it hard. We like it.”
Conrad says he’s not going to retire yet.
“My wife wants me to be done now, but the money’s just too good yet, so I’m gonna hang in for another year or two anyway.”
The public will soon have a chance to give their feedback on the design of the temporary library location in Liverpool.
Region of Queens councillors voted in February to move the Thomas H. Raddall Library to the Liverpool Business Development Centre on White Point Road by the end of the year. The current lease at the Rossignol Centre in downtown Liverpool expires at the end of December.
The municipality owns the business development centre. It currently houses the Global Empire call centre and Belliveau Veinotte accountants.
It’s supposed to be a temporary location, while the municipality works on a long-term plan for the library.
Councillors set aside $1,050,000 for renovations to the 9,200 square-foot space, though staff said it could cost as much as $1.26 million.
Elise Johnston, accessibility and inclusion co-ordinator, told councillors this week that she proposes full public input on the design for the temporary space.
‘We’re not talking about all the options. We’re not talking about the location, we’re talking about balancing the programmatic needs and the sizes of the room.
“Does the public want to see two bigger program rooms together that can join as one making sure one has a kitchen, or do we want to see more of a teen space or more of a theatre space?”
Johnston is recommending at least one morning and one evening in-person “working design” session, where options can be discussed and manipulated in real time using 3D modelling. She also suggested livestreaming the sessions on Facebook.
The meetings would be held at the current library’s location at 145 Old Bridge St., in Liverpool, so that people can get a sense of the space at the new place, Johnston said.
“We’re reusing a lot of the shelving and I think that’s a good way for people to visualize,” Johnston said.
Staff would continue to gather feedback for two weeks, she said, with a final layout being confirmed by mid-July.
Mayor Darlene Norman emphasized that everybody is welcome to attend the sessions and give their input.
District 6 Coun. David Brown said he liked the approach that Johnston proposed.
“I think having it interactive in the library space, it gives people a better chance of scale so they know what they’re getting.”
Councillors will vote on the motion at their June 11 meeting. The region would schedule the sessions as soon as they’re approved by council, promoting them with printed flyers and on social media, by email and announcements on QCCR.
The group bringing the Canadian mixed doubles curling trials to Liverpool is getting a little over $19,000 in funding from the Region of Queens.
Councillors unanimously approved the $19,140 in funding this week for the Liverpool Championship Host Society. District 2 Coun. Ralph Gidney declared a conflict of interest because he is a director of the society. He abstained from voting.
The funding comes from the municipality’s community investment fund. There was about $22,418 left over in the fund before councillors granted the society’s request.
The host society originally asked for $25,000. Councillors agreed to the lower amount because staff said the society’s cash assets and budget surplus were above the threshold that would have allowed for full funding.
Total projected expenses for the event are just over $255,200.
Mayor Darlene Norman reminded councillors that with this funding, the $175,000 community investment fund is essentially depleted for this year, with about $3,000 remaining. But it does have about a $200,000 accumulated surplus.
The Canadian mixed doubles curling trials are one of three major qualifying events in Nova Scotia for the 2026 Winter Olympics. Wolfville is hosting the Canadian pre-trials in October 2025, Halifax will host the Canadian curling trials in November 2025, and Liverpool will host the mixed doubles curling trials at Queens Place Emera Centre this Dec. 30 to Jan. 4.
Nova Scotia’s Public Works Minister and Queens MLA Kim Masland. (Rick Conrad photo)
Like many longtime Queens County residents, MLA Kim Masland lived through the closure of the Bowater mill in Liverpool in 2012.
“When we lost Bowater, it was a huge blow, to not only Liverpool but to Queens County and to the western end of the province,” Masland said Wednesday.
The Nova Scotia government announced last Thursday that Paper Excellence Canada, the company that operated the former Northern Pulp mill in Pictou County, is looking at the possibility of opening a new mill in Queens County.
The company plans to conduct a feasibility study that could take nine months. It’s part of an agreement between the province and Paper Excellence to settle the company’s $450-million lawsuit it filed after the mill shut down in 2020.
Premier Tim Houston and Natural Resources and Renewables Minister Tory Rushton said last week that a new mill would fulfill a need identified in a 2018 report on forestry practices by Prof. William Lahey. It found that demand for forestry products in the western end of the province was seriously affected by the closure of Bowater and Northern Pulp.
Houston said that a new mill would represent a $1.4-billion investment.
Masland, who is also Nova Scotia’s public works minister, has heard from a lot of constituents about the possibility of Liverpool becoming a mill town once again.
“When we look at the reputation of Northern Pulp in Pictou, it wasn’t great,” she says.
“Environmental standards have certainly changed, environmental reporting has certainly changed. I am a rural country girl who grew up and was supported through our industries aof forestry, farming and fishing. I believe in all of them. I believe that in our province and in Queens County we can still continue that. But everything that we do does need to be done with the highest, and I mean the highest, of standards, environmentally. And that will be government’s job to make sure that if this does go ahead that all of those standards are being met.”
Masland told QCCR on Wednesday that opinions seem to be evenly split between concern about the environment and the potential for employment that a new kraft pulp mill would bring to Queens County.
“I do believe that we as a forestry sector do have the ability to supply a mill. This is tremendous economic benefit to our community, but I also understand that economic benefit and the health of a community, one can’t outweigh the other.”
She said that while people are concerned about the smell and about Northern Pulp’s environmental record, it’s also clear that residents, woodlot owners and the forestry sector in general would benefit greatly from a mill.
“Let’s think about this. In Liverpool right now, Queens County has one of the highest poverty levels in Nova Scotia. We have no industry. We have a small industry in a sawmill. We have no industry, we have tourism, fabulous, we have two wonderful resorts that offer great employment, but we really do not have any industry for people in our community. People are struggling and people deserve to have an opportunity that others have had.”
Masland said that she won’t commit to supporting a Northern Pulp mill in Queens County until she sees the results of the feasibility study.
“I would want to see the feasibility study before I would support anything. I’m not going to say I’m going to support something unless I have all the information. I’ve never done that.”
Bill Smyth and Alex Doggett of Queens County Transit with one of the new hybrid SUVs the non-profit society bought with funding from the federal and provincial governments. (Queens County Transit Facebook page)
Queens County Transit has received government funding to expand its fleet and to keep up with the growing demand for its service.
The non-profit based in Liverpool has bought two new hybrid SUVs, thanks to $116,293 in funding from the federal and provincial governments.
Alex Doggett is the chairman of the Queens County Transit Society.
“It came at a very opportune time for us. We were in this condition where we were refusing rides because we didn’t have enough vans and drivers.”
The new vehicles have been on the road since early April, Doggett said. The service now has eight vehicles, five of which are wheelchair-accessible vans.
“By having the two vehicles, we’re able to keep up with most of the requests, not all of them,” he said. “It’s quite amazing how busy the vans are.”
Queens County Transit gave more than 8,000 rides last year. In April alone, their fleet was out 700 times.
The service has been operating since 2018, when it started with three vehicles. It provides a relatively low-cost transportation option for anyone in Queens County. But it’s become an important resource for seniors and those on low incomes.
The federal government chipped in $93,034 through the Rural Transit Solutions Fund with the Nova Scotia government contributing the remaining 20 per cent, or $23,259.
Kim Masland, Nova Scotia’s public works minister and the MLA for Queens, said at an announcement on Friday that the funding will make a big difference in the community.
“I am so proud to support you. I have never been more proud and humbled to be the MLA for an area that is just growing more and more every day. And the big thing we take away every night is our hearts. The people’s hearts in this community are absolutely incredible and they open them up and do the right thing every day for the people that surround them.”
Doggett said the service survives thanks to government funding like this and support from the community. The Region of Queens municipality also committed $48,500 in funding to the service for this fiscal year.
“What it means is that we didn’t have to go into a fundraising situation, going to the public,” he said. “Where we’re non-profit, it gets very tight at the end of the fiscal year for us and it’s always great to have these types of programs.”
He said the cost of gas has doubled in the past year and maintenance costs have also risen.
“It’s really been quite an undertaking and hopefully it will continue into the future.”
Doggett said Queens County Transit is always looking for new volunteers and board members to help ensure the service thrives for a long time.
“We’re at the point a number of us are seniors and it’s time to get some younger blood in to carry on with this. Some of us are getting to the point where we’re probably going to be stepping down and hopefully get other people to come in and take over.”
The society has its annual general meeting scheduled for June 18 at 10 a.m. at their headquarters at 31 Milton Rd. in Liverpool.
Ava Smith and Koen Shand are Grade 12 students at Liverpool Regional High School. They’re helping out with the LRHS Scholarship Auction 2024. (Rick Conrad)
The graduating class at Liverpool Regional High School may be relatively small, but they’ve had a mighty significant impact over the years on students going on to higher learning.
Since 1998, the Liverpool Regional High School Scholarship Auction has awarded more than 400 Queens County students over $500,000 in bursaries to help them pay for their post-secondary education.
The 26th annual auction kicked off on Facebook on April 18. And this year, for the first time since before the pandemic, the fundraiser wraps up with an in-person silent and live auction event on Thurs., May 30 at the high school.
Koen Shand and Ava Smith are two Grade 12 students who are part of the 40-person-strong organizing committee. About 25 of those volunteers are students themselves, which is about half of the graduating class. Parents, teachers and other community members make up the rest of the organizing committee.
“It’s pretty impactful,” Koen says of the auction. “It’s just nice to know that we are such a small town and we do have that support that you might not get from coming from a big city. It’s just nice to know that we have these organizaitons backing us up.”
“I think it’s nice to feel you have a lot of people in your corner,” Ava says, “you have a lot of people rooting for you. It’s nice to know that you have a big community, a big family here that’s wanting you do well and is going to be there when you need help.”
Koen will be going to Dalhousie University next year to study engineering, while Ava plans to attend Saint Mary’s University and then on to Mount Saint Vincent University for an education degree.
They said they were eager to help out with the auction because pursuing an education is so expensive. They’re both involved with various extra-curricular activities at the school — Koen with the Key Club and various sports teams, and Ava as Nova Scotia International Student Program ambassador and as co-president of the student council.
“This is up my alley, I love helping out with this stuff,” Ava says. “I just think it’s good to get involved and help give back to the community that’s always helped, especially here since it’s such a small community, it’s such a supportive one.”
“My school has given me lots of opportunities, lot of memories, playing sports, doing multiple things,” Koen says, “and I just think whatever I can do to give back and help our grads succeed.”
Organizers expect to get more than 200 items, in addition to monetary contributions, donated from local businesses and residents for the online and in-person auctions. They’ve already auctioned off dozens of items.
The last time an in-person auction was held, it raised about $20,000. Since it went online, it has raised between $25,000 and $40,000 each year.
Students are awarded bursaries based on need and their contribution to school life. In previous years, about a third of the class received the awards, which ranged from $500 to $2,000.
“It’s not based on your academics,” Ava says. “It’s based on what you’ve done to contribute to the school and in the community. Which I think is really good because there are lots of kids in our school who might not have honour rolls but are still an active member in our community and an active member in our school. Which I think is great that they are getting money they deserve.
“I think receiving money like this helps to kind of take the weight off a little bit. It’s still going to cover some of your classes, your books, maybe it’s going to cover your meal card, and even though it is obviously not $25,000 to cover your year, anything that contributes helps a lot. It also lessens the amount of student loan you’re going to have to take out.”
Ava and Koen are excited to participate in Thursday’s in-person event. Students will be helping to display the items up for auction, with Al Steele as the auctioneer.
When asked how much people should bid at the event, Koen has some simple advice.
“As much as they want. It’s going to a good cause, so feel free.”
Ashley Christian is president of the South Queens Chamber of Commerce. (Rick Conrad)
The Nova Scotia government announced this week that as part of a settlement agreement, Northern Pulp will study the feasibility of opening a paper mill in the Liverpool area.
We asked some people at the South Queens Chamber of Commerce annual general meeting on Thursday for their reaction.
Ryan Lutes is the president of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union. (Nova Scotia Teachers Union YouTube channel)
The 10,000 members of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union have ratified a new contract with the province.
The deal was reached on April 26. Some 91 per cent of members voted on the contract on May 22. And 80.5 per cent voted to accept it.
“This agreement contains several important gains for teachers, and while it doesn’t address all the challenges our schools are facing, it is a fair agreement that serves as a solid stepping stone to future progress,” NSTU president Ryan Lutes said in a news release this week.
“This would not have been possible without the strength and solidarity members demonstrated when they provided the bargaining team with an overwhelming strike mandate earlier this spring.”
The agreement includes an 11.47 per cent salary increase over three years for full-time teachers. Substitute teachers will also get an extra 12 per cent raise and will require eight fewer days to qualify as a full-time teacher.
Teachers will also be getting more time for marking and preparation. Beginning Aug. 1, they will have a minimum of 15 per cent of instructional time for marking and classroom prep.
The number of school counsellors will also increase. And the Nova Scotia government has guaranteed that neither class sizes nor the school day will increase for the term of the contract.
The teachers’ previous contract expired last July 31. The salary increases are retroactive to Aug. 1 of last year.
An undated aerial photo of the former Bowater Mersey plant in Brooklyn. (Queens County Historical Society Photo Collection, housed at the Queens County Museum)
The pulp and paper industry may be making a comeback in Queens County.
Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston announced on Thursday that Paper Excellence, which owns Northern Pulp in Pictou County, will be launching a feasibility study into whether it can open a mill in Liverpool.
He was speaking at a news conference in Halifax. His opening remarks were broadcast to a crowd of local politicians, chamber of commerce members and forestry sector workers at the Astor Theatre in Liverpool.
The possible new mill in Liverpool is part of a settlement agreement to resolve the company’s $450-million lawsuit against the province.
“The Pictou mill is not reopening,” Houston said. “The province has agreed to support Paper Excellence in the idea of building a new kraft pulp mill in Queens County, in the areas around the former Bowater mill.
“With the support of the region’s forestry sector, the company believes that Liverpool could again support a new mill, and I agree.”
Houston said the company will likely launch the feasibility study in the next few weeks. It is expected to take up to nine months.
“Let’s keep in mind a new mill is not a guarantee. If the company decides not to proceed with the new mill, Nova Scotia’s interests are still accounted for and protected. But if there’s a business case and the company brings forward a project, it could mean an investment of more than $1.4 billion in our economy.”
Bowater, which operated in Brooklyn from 1929 to 2012, employed hundreds of people in Queens County. It was founded as the Mersey Paper Company Limited by industrialist Izaak Walton Killam.
When it closed, it threw 320 people out of work. It also affected people in other industries.
Many of the employees retired or left for jobs in western Canada or elsewhere. The region fell into an economic funk. And it took years for the local economy to begin to recover.
Houston said a new mill would be good news for Queens County and for the province’s 35,000 woodlot owners.
“We are building a stronger economy for Nova Scotians, and a new mill has enormous economic potential. It could kickstart a new chapter for communities along the South Shore and the province’s economy overall.”
Northern Pulp closed its mill at Abercrombie Point, Pictou County, in 2020, after the Nova Scotia government under Stephen McNeil refused its application for a new effluent treatment facility. It had been pumping effluent into nearby Boat Harbour, sparking protests from the Pictou Landing First Nation.
Houston said Thursday that any new mill in Queens County will have to meet modern standards.
“Let me assure you that any project that comes forward will need to meet today’s standards, and will undergo environmental assessments, significant public engagmeent and indigenous consultation. We will also hold the company to a high standard for the Pictou mill site.”
Many of the people at the Astor for the announcement Thursday would not comment afterward. Queens MLA and Public Works Minister Kim Masland declined to comment. She said all media inquiries were being handled by the premier’s office.
The forestry workers in attendance did not want to be interviewed, but were happy with the announcement and said that the “industry’s needed some good news”.
Mayor Darlene Norman said she was limited in what she could say publicly.
“For those who understand the forestry sector, this is a wonderful opportunity for Queens.”
The possibility of a new pulp and paper mill in Queens County came to light this week when CBC reporter Michael Gorman reported on Wednesday that an announcement was imminent.
Kerry Morash worked at Bowater for 19 years and was also the Queens MLA for the Progressive Conservatives from 1999 to 2006. He welcomed the news that the industry might return to the area.
“I think it’s a big opportunity for the community and western Nova Scotia,” he said in an intervew. “And especially when you look at the storm damage that we have and we have a lot of wood laying down in the forest from Pictou to Yarmouth and that’s getting drier and getting ready to catch on fire. If we can clean up the forest and produce a product and make some employment, envrionmentally friendly and sustainbably, it’s all good news.”
Ashley Christian, president of the South Queens Chamber of Commerce, said she wants to make sure a mill is safe and sustainable.
“As long as all environmental regulations are being met and taken really seriously, I think that we in Queens County would welcome industry, we welcome jobs and what that would provide for our community.”
As part of the settlement agreement with the province, Paper Excellence has to top up Northern Pulp pension plans by $30 million to protect the former employees’ pensions. It also has to pay $50 million of its own court costs.
If the company’s study finds a new mill in Queens County is viable, it will pay the province $15 million to settle its $99 million debt. If it finds a new mill isn’t possible, it would pay the province $30 million and pay $15 million toward the cleanup of the Northern Pulp site.
If the company goes ahead with a new mill, it would seek financing and work with the province and others to get it going.
Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman says new public housing announced for Liverpool is ‘desperately needed’. (Rick Conrad / File)
Liverpool is getting new public housing in the next 12 months, the Nova Scotia government announced Wednesday.
An eightplex is planned for land next to 183 and 185 Old Port Mouton Rd. The building will be modular housing, divided into eight separate residences.
John Lohr, Nova Scotia’s minister of municipal affairs and housing, said in a news release Wednesday that it’s part of 26 new modular housing units being built in the next 12 months in Shelburne, Digby, Wedgeport and Liverpool.
Lohr said it will provide affordable housing for up to 82 people. He said the province is going with modular housing to get the units built as quickly as possible.
The new housing is a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units, with 14 ground-floor units that will be barrier-free.
The units will be affordable, with rents tied to income.
Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman said in an interview Wednesday that she’s happy to see the province is building more public housing in Liverpool.
“I think it’s excellent. It is desperately needed throughout the entire province, so, pleased to see that the province is now looking at (the) western (end of the province) and that we will be getting one eightplex.”
Norman said provincial officials told her on Tuesday that 77 people are currently waiting for public housing in the Liverpool area.
“It will move quickly and (be) a much needed relief,” she said. “I know people have been impatient as the government has been announcing units in other areas, bu they’ve been going zone by zone and now we’re in the western zone.
“So they’re basically already designed. They’re very nice. They’re four units on the bottom, and the four bottom units will be totally accessible and there are four units on the top.”
The province is investing $11.8 million to build the 26 units in the four communities. That’s in addition to the 247 units previously announced, bringing the total to 273.
The Nova Scotia Provincial Housing Agency will issue a tender for a design and construction team to deliver the homes.
A change to the student assistance funding formula means some Nova Scotia college and university students could get more help. (Communications Nova Scotia)
Some Nova Scotia college and university students will get more student assistance beginning this fall because of a change in the funding formula.
The updated formula brings the Nova Scotia Student Assistance Program in line with the federal Canada Student Financial Assistance program.
Part of the formula considers basic living expenses. The living allowance was previously increased based on inflation. It now will also be based on rental information from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. That means some students could qualify for more help.
“We’re listening to students and want to make it more affordable for students to stay and build a life here after they graduate,” Brian Wong, Nova Scotia’s minister of advanced education, said Wednesday in a news release.
The change will cost about $2.9 million for the 2024-25 academic year, which will essentially be picked up by the federal government. Applications for student assistance are now open.
The emergency department at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool will be closed at various times over this week. (Communications Nova Scotia)
Here is when the emergency department at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool will be closed over the next week:
from 1:30 p.m. Wed., May 22, to Thurs., May 23 at 8 a.m.
from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fri., May 24
from 5 a.m. Sat., May 25 to Sun., May 26 at 8 a.m.
from 1:30 p.m. Tues., May 28 to Wed., May 29 at 8 a.m.
Nova Scotia Health advises people with urgent medical needs to call 911. Patients of Queens Family Health can access the same-day clinic from Monday to Friday by calling 902-354-3322. Clinic hours are based on staff availability.
The ER at South Shore Regional Hospital in Bridgewater will be open.
Stephanie Miller Vincent is the co-ordinator of the South Shore Tourism Co-operative. The organization held its annual general meeting Tuesday at the Quarterdeck Resort in Summerville Centre. (Rick Conrad)
Tourism operators on Nova Scotia’s South Shore are looking forward to a good season, optimistic that visitors will return to the area after a disappointing 2023.
Stephanie Miller Vincent is the co-ordinator of the South Shore Tourism Co-operative, which counts almost 120 members from Peggys Cove to Barrington.
“We’re a resilient group. We’re also a really optimistic group. And weather will play a factor, the economy will play factor, but we know we’ve got first-class product, we’ve got things to offer that nobody else has in other regions of Nova Scotia or Canada, so we’re looking forward to a really great year.”
The co-operative held its annual general meeting on Tuesday at the Quarterdeck Resort on picturesque Summerville Beach. About 40 members from hotels, restaurants, municipalities and chambers of commerce around the South Shore got an update on the group’s efforts to boost tourism and to extend the season beyond the summer and early fall.
Wildfires, floods and rain contributed to a challenging 2023 tourist season for the area’s businesses. The South Shore, the Yarmouth and Acadian Shores and Cape Breton saw declines in room nights sold compared with 2022, while accommodation numbers in the rest of the province were higher than the year before.
Hotel stays, or room nights sold, on the South Shore for the May to October 2023 period were down about five per cent over 2022.
Those at the meeting on Tuesday said early indications are that this year’s bookings are up over last year.
Jill Forrest, the general manager of the Quarterdeck, said early bookings look good.
“It’s promising for this upcoming year for sure. We are in a last-minute trend, it seems. Even last year, people tend to wait and see what the weather’s going to do and pull that final trigger on booking and knowing where they’re headed. But things are looking very good for the year.”
Susan Corkum-Greek, MLA for Lunenburg and Nova Scotia’s minister of economic development, told the co-operative’s members that she checked with the province’s tourism officials before the meeting to get an idea of what the season might bring.
“And we have early indicators of early bookings. We know for instance that the Yarmouth ferry has a higher percentage of advance bookings, The hotel association is saying that. Room nights are not the only indicator but it shows buy-in intention and says something of length of stay.”
The co-operative’s annual lobster crawl in February always attracts a lot of attention. This year, the group says its marketing efforts resulted in more than 100 media headlines, reaching about 270 million people, with an advertising value of just under $7 million.
About 100 of the co-operative’s members held 128 events around the South Shore connected with the lobster crawl. And just under 80 per cent of those who attended a lobster crawl event were from Nova Scotia, according to a survey conducted by the co-operative.
Miller Vincent says it’s always difficult to predict what the season will be like. But she expects staycations to be big again this year.
“You’re always trying to look at the data,” she says. “We always look at the price of gas, but we’ve got more flights coming into Halifax so that’s important. The economy will probably keep people closer to home and looking to see not only what’s in their own neighborhood but what’s next door. Staycations have become more important than before Covid because we recognize what we’ve got here.”
Brooklyn judo athlete Abigail Smith is getting ready for the 2024 Canadian Open Championships in Montreal from May 23-26. (Rick Conrad)
Queens County judo athlete Abigail Smith is the first to admit she isn’t the best driver — yet.
Smith doesn’t have her drivers licence, but she’s learning. And if she takes the same approach to mastering the rules of the road as she does to racking up medals at national and international competitions, she’ll be motoring around in no time.
But first, the 16-year-old from Brooklyn is gearing up for what she calls her most important tournament of the year.
The 2024 Canadian Open Championships in Montreal are set for May 23 to 26. Smith will be competing in the U18 and U21 divisions. She’s been there twice before and won silver both times.
“My goal is to win,” she said in an interview this week. “I really think I can win this year. If I win in my U18 division, then I’ll be going with Team Canada to represent them at (World Championships Cadets), which is in Peru. So if I win, I’ll go to worlds, which is my goal. Still, if I don’t win, it’s a huge experience to be at nationals. It’s a big deal.”
So far, Smith seems to be on the right track. The Grade 10 student at Liverpool Regional High School captured two gold medals at the Eastern Canadian Championships in April.
She won the top spot in the U18 division, and she also triumphed for the first time in the senior division.
“The senior division is always a lot harder, because I’m fighting women, and they’re more experienced and they have more knowledge of fighting. But knowing that I fit in in the senior division I know I’m on the right track for when I eventually am a senior, hopefully I’ll be medalling as well and hopefully I’ll keep winning.”
Her wins at the Eastern Canadian Championships were only a month after an impressive showing at the International Thuringia Cup in Germany in late March. She won two meets and lost two. But she says the experience was “next level, it was so amazing.
“When you’re training in Canada, you know most of your people so you’re all friends. But in Germany, everybody is there to win, even when you’re just training and doing a basic little practice fight, they’re going to try to kill you. So you have to fight like it’s the biggest fight of your life for every round you do.
“It was really intense which is exactly what you need to train like if you want to get somewhere in judo.”
Smith was in Germany for a week and a half. She said she learned a lot.
‘The biggest thing I think it helped was my confidence, to be able to travel by myself, to be able to fight people who are not from Canada, to have no idea who the heck you’re fighting, that really boosted my confidence. … The competition of course was beneficial. But the training after, that was the reason I was there, for the training, it was amazing.”
Smith is doing more than making an impression on the judo mat. She is also Sport Nova Scotia’s True Sport ambassador for May. Twelve young athletes were chosen from around Nova Scotia to post about their experiences and to promote the values of fair, inclusive and safe play.
“Lots of ambassadors have been posting about one or two experiences. I’ve been posting about my experiences. But I’ve been involving my judo team and my coaches so they can share their experiences as well.
“Having a bond with my team is so important. We work as a team together so whatever I’m doing, I want them to be involved in, so I want them to be promoted too.”
Smith trains four days a week with her club Nova United Martial Arts, in addition to daily strength and cardio workouts. She also coaches young judo athletes two days a week in Liverpool and older athletes one day a week in Halifax.
While Smith says she’s getting busier with school, training, coaching and competitions, she also has to find time to get behind the wheel.
“I just turned 16, I want to be able to learn to drive now. So I have to make time for that. I have to make time for training. I’m getting to the age where judo needs to be my main priority, so I have to add in more hours for judo. It’s been a lot lately, school’s been getting harder as I’m getting older. But I’m doing my best to keep up with everything, and if there’s a point where I can’t handle it, I’ll cut back. But hopefully, I’m never going to have to do that because I never want to cut back on judo.”
Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston told reporters Thursday that a $25,000 fine for violating burn restrictions is about preventing more wildfires. (Nova Scotia Government)
With wildfires breaking out in western Canada, Nova Scotia has increased the fine for violating the daily burn restrictions to $25,000.
From March 15 to Oct. 15, daily burn restrictions are in place across the province to help prevent wildfires.
Burning is not permitted anywhere between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. because that is when the wildfire risk is greatest.
Premier Tim Houston told reporters on Thursday that the increased fine is to help prevent the wildfires from happening in the first place. The basic fine for violating burn restrictions is $237.50. The larger fine is in place until the end of wildfire season.
“We encourage all Nova Scotians to check before you burn,” Houston said. “Check the website, reach out to find out what’s the situation in your community. … With the weather changing, the risk increases and we know the experience that we had in this province last year and we are seeing what is happening across the country, significant forest fires across the country. We should do what we can to prepare and encourage prevention.”
Last spring, wildfires in southwestern Nova Scotia and in the Halifax area consumed more than 25,000 hectares and destroyed 200 homes.
Houston said people should check the province’s BurnSafe map every day to check the restrictions in their area.
The daily burn restrictions also now apply to campgrounds. Open fires like campfires are permitted only after 2 p.m. when the BurnSafe map is green or after 7 p.m. when the map is yellow. Those are the same standards for open fires in people’s backyards.
The province increased the fine to $25,000 last year when the Nova Scotia wildfires were still burning. Houston said Thursday he’s confident that if somebody violates the burning restrictions, they will be fined.
“So the enforcement is there. We’re serious about preparation, we’re serious about prevention. I would personally push for if anyone ignores the burn ban, I want them charged for sure.”
So far this year, crews have responded to 41 wildfires across the province that have burned about 39 hectares.
The Nova Scotia Teachers Union will hold a runoff vote on May 29 to elect its next president. (Ray Shrewsberry via Pixabay)
It’s down to two people vying to represent the 10,000 members of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union.
The vote for NSTU president is headed for a runoff. About 69 per cent of the union’s members cast ballots on Wednesday to elect someone to replace Ryan Lutes, who did not reoffer.
Five members ran for the two-year position. But nobody got the required majority of more than 50 per cent. So it’s now down to Peter Day, who got 44.71 per cent of the vote in the first round, and Shawn Hanifen, who garnered 25.09 per cent, according to an NSTU spokesman.
Day and Hanifen were both on the ballot in 2022, when Lutes was elected president.
Ryan Lutes did not reoffer as president of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union. (Nova Scotia Teachers Union YouTube channel)
The 10,000 members of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union are voting Wednesday to elect a new president.
NSTU presidents are elected to two-year terms. They can serve no more than two terms.
Ryan Lutes was elected president in 2022. He decided not to reoffer.
Five people are running to replace Lutes. They are Peter Day, who lost to Lutes in a runoff in 2022, Nancie de la Chevotière, Grant Frost, Shawn Hanifen and Mike Kelly.
Hanifen was also on the ballot in 2022.
Polls opened at 6 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. The union said it would announce the results at 9 p.m. Wednesday.
To be elected president, a candidate must get more than 50 per cent of the votes. If a run-off vote is needed, it will be held May 29.
Region of Queens councillors want a staff report on installing traffic lights at the three-way stop at Main and Market Streets in downtown Liverpool. (Rick Conrad)
Queens County pedestrians and motorists won’t see orange crosswalk flags at a busy intersection in downtown Liverpool, but they could see a return of traffic lights.
Region of Queens councillors on Tuesday voted against installing the flags at the three-way stop at Main and Market streets. But they did support getting a staff report on having full traffic lights at that intersection.
The area did have traffic lights decades ago, until they were damaged by a transport truck, and taken down.
Safety concerns have long been an issue at Main and Market streets. In 2015, regional councillors commissioned a study by Insight Traffic Engineering that found traffic control wasn’t an issue and recommended minor changes.
In 2019, councillors rejected installing pedestrian-controlled crosswalk lights at a cost of $27,000.
But a collision in January which sent a 79-year-old woman to hospital rekindled concern in the community about safety at that intersection.
Councillors asked staff to come back with options about how to make that intersection safer. Adam Grant, the region’s director of engineering and public works, said in April that there is no evidence crosswalk flags would help. And he said pedestrian-controlled lights at that intersection could interrupt traffic flow and create more problems. He said it’s unusual to have the lights at a three-way stop.
The Town of Mahone Bay installed an all-way stop in 2021 near Saltbox Brewery on its Main Street. It also has flashing red lights and orange crosswalk flags for pedestrian use.
The all-way stop in Mahone Bay by Saltbox Brewery. (Google Streetview)
Even though councillors on Tuesday rejected the flags, they said action needs to be taken to make Main and Market intersection safer.
District 2 Coun. Maddie Charlton said that it will only get busier with the new Queens Manor, the apartment building planned off Bristol Avenue and the planned Mount Pleasant development expected to house up to 1,200 people.
Charlton asked staff for the traffic light report.
“When I look around at other communities that have these three-way intersections, they have lights. And so I think it’s important that we understand what the criteria (are) for those lights. If another option has presented itself that we can consider, I think that would be helpful to have. We need something that tells us how we could get those traffic lights, what the criteria is, so if we’re not there yet, when can we pull the trigger on them.”
District 4 Coun. Vicki Amirault said it’s time for the region to address the problem.
“One person getting hit there is too many, and it’s been many over the years. So I think we really need to look into this and go forward on this and not stall so much on this problem. I know it’s been years and years, but I think we need to find a way forward.”
District 5 Coun. Jack Fancy said the flags would have been better than nothing. And he said he also supports pedestrian-controlled lights.
“There’s always going to be issues with each thing, but I believe the good outweighs the bad with this. Especially, what we’re aiming for right now is doing nothing. And I don’t think doing nothing is the answer.”
District 6 Coun. David Brown said enforcement and education would resolve a lot of safety issues.
“The lights won’t stop cars, the lines on the pavement won’t stop cars. You have to look for yourself and guard your safety. We’ve got a lot of development coming and I’d like to know what would trigger a need for (traffic) lights at that intereseciton because I think the stop control works well now if we enforce it.”
Mayor Darlene Norman said that when the traffic lights were operating at that intersection years ago, it seemed to help.
On Tuesday, councillors also approved $1,000 to study the feasibility of reducing the speed limit on Main Street from School Street to Riverside Drive, near Fort Point Lighthouse Park.
Residents submitted a petition to council in November, asking them to improve traffic safety in the area by lowering the speed limit and installing an all-way stop at Main and School streets.
