Kids play this week at the splash pad at Etli Milita’mk, the universally designed play park in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad)

UPDATED JULY 20 at 10:30 a.m.

Region of Queens councillors will vote next week on whether to write off almost $51,000 in cost overruns and funding shortfalls at the universally designed play park in Liverpool.

Councillors voted last week to move the issue forward to their June 25 meeting for a final vote. Most of them appeared to support absorbing the cost.

District 2 Coun. Ralph Gidney was the only one against the motion to vote on the matter at their next meeting.

The provincial organization recently asked the municipality to cover $50,962 in unpaid bills on the $630,000 playground. Some $5,988.79 of that is interest on the overdue account.

Joanne Veinotte, director of corporate services, told councillors last week that Autism Nova Scotia told the municipality they believed that the region would cover any shortfalls.

“Fundraising was less than forecasted. The ACOA contribution was less than budgeted and there were cost overruns such as short-term security for surfacing materials, rescheduling of a rubber surface contract and extension of a rubber surface area. This all contributed to the overage.”

Beyond that, however, details about the overdue account were sparse. It was unclear what the outstanding bill is for or to whom, or when Autism Nova Scotia realized that there wasn’t enough money on hand to cover all the expenses of the project.

The playground is named Etli Milita’mk (pronounced ed-a-lee milly-dumk), which is Mi’kmaw for “we are playing here”. It opened last October, after years of community fundraising led by Queens County resident Debbie Wamboldt and others. It’s designed to be inclusive and accessible for everybody, regardless of ability or age. 

The community group raised about $100,000 on their own, with the region donating the land near Queens Place Emera Centre and committing $111,773 from its community investment fund. ACOA and the provincial government also contributed to the project.

Autism Nova Scotia issued charitable tax receipts and held the money in trust to pay the region for construction as invoices were submitted. The region also agreed to own, operate and maintain the playground.

QCCR tried numerous times for an interview with officials from Autism Nova Scotia. Last week, a spokeswoman said in an email that they were “unable to provide an interview at this time”.

QCCR asked the municipality this week for clarification on the account. In an email, Heather Cook, the region’s communications and engagement co-ordinator, explained that the municipality has paid all bills related to the park and no suppliers are owed money.

Because of cost overruns and funding shortfalls, she said, Autism Nova Scotia contacted the region in April to say that it would not be paying the full amount of the final invoice, which the municipality issued in January. The group did not pay any interest on overdue invoices during the term of the project, resulting in interest charges which contributed to the shortfall.

Councillors will vote on June 25 “to fund the outstanding interest charges and project overrun that (are) owed to the municipality due to the funding shortfall.”

The money would come from the municipality’s accumulated budget surplus.

District 1 Coun. Kevin Muise said last week that councillors had voted to donate the land and approve funding from the community investment fund. But he said they didn’t vote to cover any overruns.

District 3 Coun. Maddie Charlton asked if there was any additional information that staff could share with councillors before their next meeting.

CAO Cody Joudry, who took over in November, said there wasn’t.

“I don’t believe there is any other documentation to provide council. … From Autism Nova Scotia’s perspective, they’re like, ‘Well, it’s not really fair to make us cover the difference because we were just the pass-through and really the region was the one who was managing the project.’

“I think if we were doing this over again, we would have brought this to council a lot sooner, like in the construction phase and talked about these issues. But I can’t do anything about that now. So, unfortunately, Coun. Charlton, I do not believe there is any more information I can bring you.”

Councillors did not want to ask Autism Nova Scotia or the local fundraising group to cover the extra costs.

Mayor Darlene Norman said that it was nobody’s fault. Construction delays and weather last summer contributed to the extra expenses. 

She said in an interview Monday that it didn’t help that the region was without a full-time CAO for much of last year. Former CAO Chris McNeill left the job in May. 

“Remember, this was a time when we had no CAO last year, directors were shifting and taking those roles. And then we had the boil water situation happening, we had no permanent CAO. I’m not saying that’s any reason why this may have occurred, but obviously there was lack of communication between Autism Nova Scotia and Region of Queens staff.”

Norman said that in future, the region would likely approach projects like this differently.

“It was a lesson that if a project like this should ever be undertaken again there needs to be very firm rules respecting who manages what and conversations and communication between the two partners.”

The June 25 council meeting will be held at the Westfield Community Hall in North Queens.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Region of Queens councillors plan to cover cost overruns and funding shortfalls for the Queens universally designed play park in Brooklyn. (Rick Conrad)

The Region of Queens plans to pick up the tab for almost $51,000 that’s still owed on the universally designed play park in Brooklyn.

The $630,000 playground opened in October 2023. Named Etli Milita’mk (pronounced ed-a-lee milly-dumk), it was the initiative of Queens County resident Debbie Wamboldt, who led private fundraising for the park and who first approached the region in 2015 about supporting it.

It’s designed to be accessible and inclusive of everyone, regardless of age or ability.

The park includes ramped decks, braille and audio elements as well as a spray pad with sprinklers, a fountain, filler buckets and jet spray units.

Wamboldt and other volunteers raised about $100,000 toward the park’s construction. Autism Nova Scotia issued charitable tax receipts and held the money in trust to pay the region for construction as invoices were submitted.

The region initially contributed $111,773 from its community investment fund and it donated the land near Queens Place Emera Centre.

ACOA and the Nova Scotia government topped up funding.

The region also agreed to own, operate and maintain the playground.

On Tuesday, however, councillors were told that project costs exceeded revenue. Autism Nova Scotia said fundraising was lower than expected and the ACOA contribution was less than budgeted.

And there were construction cost overruns with the project such as the material and installation for the rubber surfacing in the park.

Because of that, Autism Nova Scotia asked the region to absorb that extra cost of $50,962. Just under $6,000 of that is the accumulated interest on the unpaid bill.

Mayor Darlene Norman said she and the rest of council were aware of the shortfall only last week.

“It was a dream to have this universal play park,” Norman said in an interview.

“Autism Nova Scotia agreed to be the body that would look after the accounting and the monies as they were collected with the agreement that it becomes the property of the region. It was at that point or sometime later, I’m not certain, that it was evident there may be a shortfall.”

Autism Nova Scotia told the region’s staff that it believed that the municipality agreed to cover any cost overruns or funding shortages.

District 1 Coun. Kevin Muise said he was involved in those negotiations and he doesn’t recall any such agreement. He said he wasn’t opposed to picking up the tab, but that council hadn’t agreed in advance to do that.

Other councillors said they were conflicted about the issue. They said the local fundraising group went “above and beyond” in their efforts to get the park built and councillors didn’t want to ask them to raise more money.

“The majority of council felt it was very unfair … understanding the valuable work that Autsim NS does, it would be very unfair to ask them for another $51,000 because of all they’ve done, and also felt it very unfair to ask the local fundraising committee to raise another $51,000.”

Norman said it’s money well spent.

“I can’t imagine why anyone would question why the municipality should pay the remainder of the cost on something that we own. It’s a lovely play park that as region taxpayers, we paid $161,000 for. And there will always be the dissenters and the naysayers who will say it’s the region’s fault. It’s a beautiful play park, and it’s a lot of money to construct it, however it belongs to the region and the region is paying that outstanding amount.”

The issue will come back to council’s June 25 meeting, where they will vote on taking the money from their accumulated budget surplus.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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Debbie J Wamboldt, ASL interpreter and Mayor Darlene Norman at the official opening of Etli Milita’mk play park. Photo Courtesy Region of Queens, Councillor David Brown.

The Region of Queens officially opened the universally designed playpark on Friday, Oct 13.

Executive Director of Autism Nova Scotia Cynthia Carrol joined Region of Queens staff and council members as well as Debbie Wamboldt, the woman who led the effort to put together the $600,000 to build the park in officially opening the doors to the playground.

Wamboldt first approached the Region of Queens about supporting the construction of a universally designed park in 2015. The Region since   provided the land at Queens Place next to the skate park and will own, operate, and maintain the park for residents.

In addition to the land contribution, the municipality kicked in $112,000 from the community fund with the province topping off the rest of the funding.

But it was the efforts of Wamboldt and her team who raised approximately $100,000 which spurred the rest of the agencies to follow suit.

Autism Nova Scotia issued charitable tax receipts to donors and held the money in trust to pay the Region for construction as invoices were submitted.

Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman says the generosity of residents came in all forms.

“You see pictures of children who, all they wanted for their birthday presents was money so they could give it to the play park. I knew of children that with the help of their mother, they set up a little bakery and they kept a set of books, all the profit went to the play park,” said Norman. “There were many, many things.”

A universally designed playpark is built to be inclusive of everyone, regardless of age or ability.

The park includes ramped decks, braille and audio elements as well as a spray pad with sprinklers, a fountain, filler buckets and jet spray units.

The name Etli Milita’mk (pronounced ed-a-lee milly-dumk) was selected for the playpark after consultation with Acadia First Nation representatives. The Mi’kmaq phrase means, “We are playing here”.

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E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com

Rendering of new spray pad at Etli Milita’mk park. Photo Region of Queens

The spray pad in the long-awaited universally designed playpark at Queens Place opens Tuesday.

The water feature includes sprinklers, a fountain, filler buckets and jet spray units and is the first phase of the complete design

Community members raised over $450,000 with the goal of building a universal playpark that includes ramped decks, braille and audio elements as well as a Spray Pad to make it inclusive to everyone regardless of age or ability.

The park is the realization of a dream shared by several groups throughout Queens.

Local resident Debbie Wamboldt first approached the Region of Queens in 2015 about supporting the construction of a universally designed park. Since then, she was the driving force behind the fundraising effort. For their part, the Region provided the land next to the skate park at Queens Place and will own, operate, and maintain the park for residents. Autism Nova Scotia holds the money in trust and releases it as invoices are submitted by the municipality.

The name Etli Milita’mk (pronounced ed-a-lee milly-dumk) is a Mi’kmaq phrase which translates to “We are playing here” and was selected for the playpark after consultation with Acadia First Nation representatives.

Construction of the park has been delayed by supply and staff shortages brought on by the pandemic but if all goes as it should, the park will be fully opened and operational by the end of September.

In the meantime, the spray pad will be open from 9:00am to 8:00pm every day until September.

E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com

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Ginette Petitpas Taylor at Queens Place in Liverpool February 24, 2022 to announce $2.4 million in ACOA funding for South Shore. Photo Ed Halverson

The Government of Canada has spent over $2.4 million on 23 projects across the South Shore that will benefit communities while helping kickstart an economic recovery from COVID.

Ginette Petitpas Taylor, the Minister responsible for ACOA was at Queens Place in Liverpool on Thursday to announce the list of recipients.

Queens saw funding for several projects including: $100,000 to Autism Nova Scotia and Region of Queens for the universally designed playpark, $79,462 for efficiency upgrades to the Liverpool Curling Club, $77,073 for safety and accessibility improvements at the Queens County fairgrounds, $53,369 to Medway Community Forest Cooperative to build new trails between Kejimkujik National Park and Annapolis Royal and $100,000 to White Point Beach Resort to build their Oceanfront Treehouse accommodations.

Petitpas Taylor says as pandemic restrictions lift, the projects being funded are really making a difference in their communities.

“The purpose of the projects and the purpose of these investments is really to make sure that people can get out there again and just be amongst people,” said Petitpas Taylor.

She says for some of the community groups the funding is the last piece to get them across the line and meet their goals.

“That’s exciting that you’re able to do that. It may not sound like a huge amount but for the community and for the people that have put this project together, it’s really, it is huge.”

The money comes from two sources, the $500 million Canada Community Revitalization Fund (CCRF) which helps make shared spaces greener, safer, and more accessible; and the half a billion dollars Tourism Relief Fund (TRF) which helps the tourism sector adapt to meet public health requirements while promoting growth.

E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

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