Region of Queens Mayor Scott Christian says council will begin budget talks later this month. (Rick Conrad)
The Region of Queens still hasn’t begun its 2025/26 budget deliberations.
Mayor Scott Christian said this week the process will likely begin in the third week of April.
“Some time in the last two weeks of April and we will be notifying the public of that as soon as possible,” he told QCCR after Tuesday’s council meeting.
“Unexpected delays on the staff side preparing the numbers to get the starting point for the budget deliberation process in terms of understanding the lift (from increased property assessments) and our known operating and capital expenses.”
Budget deliberations were also delayed last year by the previous council. They began those talks in early April and finished by the end of the month.
This year, though, councillors will have even less time. Christian acknowledged that when the process does begin, it will be “expedited”.
“We’re right up against it. Tax bills need to come out in June, so it basically needs to be approved by the first council meeting in May to get our ducks in a row to have the tax bills (ready). That’s not ideal. It’s a point of frustration. We want to make it as engaging, transparent as possible. And we also want it to be a thoughtful, deliberate, intentional, patient approach. And unfortunately, we’re just not going to be in a position for the budget deliberations to be in that ideal state.”
He and Deputy Mayor Maddie Charlton are away next week at a conference. He said that budget talks will begin the week after that.
Scott Christian, mayor of the Region of Queens, is preparing for the newly elected council’s first meeting. (Rick Conrad photo)
Queens County residents can expect more than just new faces around the table as regional council meets Tuesday, for the first time since the October election.
Region of Queens Mayor Scott Christian says people will also notice changes in how meetings are run. He says they’ll be a little less formal, and give councillors more opportunity to address residents’ concerns.
“Where we can, making it feel more approachable and trying to generate good, fulsome conversation,” Christian told QCCR in an interview.
“So a little less formal, a little more conversational with the hope of making it more engaging for the public and to really foster good conversation around the table.”
One of the first issues they’ll tackle on Tuesday is the new outdoor pool at Queens Place Emera Centre. In his campaign for mayor, Christian said he wants the pool to be a year-round, indoor facility.
The region broke ground on the new pool on Oct. 4. The $8-million structure is slated to be open by 2026.
Christian says he and the rest of council will discuss the region’s options if councillors eventually decide to upgrade the project.
“We haven’t had an apportuity as a council to debate this and I look forward to hearing what my fellow members of council, what their perspectives are on it,” he said.
“But at this stage, the motion will just be related to having better information. From my perspecitve, that’s the first appropriate step, is to have a complete understanding about if we go down that path what are we getting ourselves into, but also what opportunites are there, what willingness is there on part of the various funders at the table and the construction company who’s been engaged to pursue a shift in scope?”
Before becoming mayor, Christian was a private and public sector consultant. He was elected in a tight race in the Oct. 19 election with former Queens County educator Terry Doucette.
The other new faces on council are Roberta Roy, Courtney Wentzell, Wanda Carver and Stewart Jenkins. They’ll be joining re-elected councillors Maddie Charlton, Jack Fancy and Vicki Amirault.
Christian says he’ll be working as mayor full time. And he admits he has a lot to learn.
But he says he and the rest of council have had a good start, thanks to guidance from CAO Cody Joudry and a productive two-day training and orientation session in Halifax last week.
“What I heard loud and clear throughout the campaign was a desire to see our council working effectively together. I think that we’ve already made some really great strides. I’ve had conversations with each and every member of the council and sought to hear them out. … I think we made some really positive strides as a group in terms of coming together while we were in Halifax. … And another thing too is working effectively with other members of the community, with other organizations, and other orders of government, and what I hear is a real comitment across the team to start to do those things.”
Christian says there’s a lot of work to be done. But he also says that with a staffing crunch at the region, he and the rest of council need to be patient.
“We as a council need to be realistic in terms of the capacity of the staff right now to execute on some of the work that is important. The whole team has a real commitment to addressing the priority concerns in the community, but we need to do it in a way that makes sense.”
Ultimately, Christian says he hopes he and the rest of council can get the public more involved and engaged in the region’s business.
“We are accountable to the pepole of Queens and we need to make sure that they are well informed and that they have access to the decisions that we’ve made and the conversations we’ve had in reaching those deicsions.”
The new Region of Queens council meets Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. at council chambers on White Point Road. You can see the agenda here.
Candidate information packages for the Oct. 19 municipal election are now available at Region of Queens offices. (Elections Nova Scotia Facebook)
If you want to run for Region of Queens mayor or council in October, information packages for candidates are now available at the region’s administration building on White Point Road.
The offices are open Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
To run for council or mayor, you must be a resident of Queens County as of March 9.
The deadline to file your nomination papers is Sept. 10, though you can file the paperwork seven business days before the deadline, beginning Aug. 29.
There are two advance polls: Oct. 12 and 15, with Election Day on Oct. 19.
This year, for the first time, voters will have three ways to cast their ballots – in person, by phone or online.
For more information, contact returning officer Ian Kent at ikent@regionofqueens.com or 902-646-1033.
Region of Queens councillors plan to ask RCMP to step up enforcement efforts at the three-way stop at Main and Market streets in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad)
Queens County councillors grappled with traffic safety in downtown Liverpool at their meeting on Tuesday evening.
The intersection at Main and Market streets has been the scene of some close calls between motorists and pedestrians. And in January, a 79-year-old woman was hit in the crosswalk and taken to hospital in Bridgewater. A driver was charged with failing to yield to a pedestrian in a marked crosswalk.
The incident reignited concern in the community about that intersection and others in town. Councillors heard from their constituents that they needed to address safety in that area.
Some residents want the municipality to install pedestrian-controlled crosswalk lights.
At their Jan. 23 meeting, councillors asked staff to review previous reports and studies about that intersection and come back with recommendations. They also asked staff to investigate adding fluorescent orange flags at that intersection for pedestrians to use while they cross.
On Tuesday evening, some councillors were in favour of trying the flags, while others were opposed. It would cost $1,050 to put the flags at each of the three corners of the intersection. The idea has been used in the Halifax region at many crosswalks, but not at those controlled by stop signs.
Adam Grant, the region’s director of engineering and public works, said he spoke with the community group in Halifax behind those flags.
The citizens’ group Crosswalk Safety Society of Nova Scotia began putting the orange flags at intersections in 2008 after a teenager was killed in a Dartmouth crosswalk. According to the group’s website, it got approval from the province in 2011 to allow crosswalk flags on provincial roads. They are now found in Hubbards, Hantsport, Aylesford, Berwick, New Ross, Bridgewater, Chester and Windsor.
Grant said the reception to them in the Halifax region is mixed. And he told councillors there is no evidence that installing the flags at Main and Market would improve pedestrian safety.
“I don’t feel comfortable consenting to the installation, quite frankly, as the traffic authority.
“Any time we introduce anything to a situation which doesn’t have a clear and direct guideline with substantiated evidence determined by professionals, we’re introducing liability. For me to suggest putting these in place will improve safety when I don’t know they will would be contradictory to my intent.”
Councillors decided to defer the flag discussion to a later date.
Grant said that pedestrian-controlled lights at the intersection could interrupt traffic flow and create more problems. He said it’s unusual to install the lights at a three-way stop.
A 2015 study by Insight Traffic Engineering did not recommend installing lights at the intersection. Instead, it suggested changing some signage, remove any trees or greenery obstructing visibility and moving the stop sign and crosswalk from the western approach on Main Street.
The study found that existing traffic control wasn’t an issue, though it did recommend council at the time ask Queens District RCMP to step up enforcement.
Grant told councillors Tuesday that conditions at the intersection haven’t changed since that 2015 report, and that there was no increase in the rate of collisions over the past 10 years, according to the RCMP.
Mayor Darlene Norman suggested leaving the issue for the next council to tackle after municipal elections in October.
District 6 Coun. David Brown said he’d like the region’s police advisory board to discuss increased enforcement with the RCMP at their next meeting, likely in late May.
“It sounds more like a compliance issue,” Brown said.
“Once you make an example of a few peole and word gets out that there are potential fines for jaywalking or entering the intersection illegally when you’re driving, word will get around and pepole will take the extra time and look at what they’re doing.”
Norman said she believes that’s a good idea, and that police need to keep up the enforcement efforts for many days, and at all times of the day.
“And fines. Not warnings, but fines for rolling stops, for all of those things, because it might be the pedestrian once in a while who darts out, but it’s often the vehicle driver.”
Region of Queens councillors Jack Fancy, David Brown and Vicki Amirault in a file photo. (Rick Conrad)
The Region of Queens plans to increase the income threshold for people eligible for the low-income property tax exemption.
As part of budget discussions on Tuesday, District 6 Coun. David Brown asked council to consider increasing the income brackets for those eligible for the tax break.
“We know there’s been a lot of inflation this year and the consumer price index went up 3.4 per cent,” Brown said.
“We end up with bracket creep. I know some people are getting small raises in their pensions, small raises in the EI rate, and minimum wage that could price them out of that benefit. So we could be clawing back what little benefit they gained out of inflation.”
Property owners with a household income of $20,000 a year or less are eligible for a maximum $400 tax exemption. Those who make between $20,000 and $25,000 get up to $350, and those making between $25,000 and $30,000 get as much as a $300 break.
The revised income amounts would add $5,000 to each of those brackets. So the lowest income bracket would now be up to $25,000, and then $25,001 to $30,000 and $30,001 to $35,000. The tax exemption amounts would not change.
Brown originally wanted council to increase the income brackets by the same rate as inflation. That would have added about $680 to the lowest income group and about $1,000 to the highest.
But District 3 Coun. Maddie Charlton said council should increase the top bracket by $5,000. She said the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg recently changed its low-income tax exemption to give people a 14 per cent boost in savings on their property taxes.
“I think upping that to the $35,000 is more than reasonable and helps those who need it the most,” Charlton said.
Council decided to increase each income category by $5,000.
“We’re talking about the lowest (paid) and the poorest in our society who need the most help from us,” Brown said. “And it’s a small amount of money to be able to help those who need it the most. I think it’s something we should do.”
The region originally set aside $125,000 for the low-income tax exemption in their 2024/25 budget. CAO Cody Joudry said staff would add another $10,000 for it in the budget.
The increase will be funded from the municipality’s accumulated surplus special operating reserve fund, which sits at just over $10 million.
Council is holding a special meeting on Monday at 9 a.m. at the region’s offices to vote on the final budget.
Region of Queens administration building. Photo Ed Halverson
Schools weren’t the only institution getting back to business online in the new year.
Gathering restrictions meant to slow the spread of the omicron virus caused Region of Queens council to meet via zoom January 11.
Mayor Darlene Norman says everyone has learned to be flexible in these times including council.
“It appears to be working,” said Norman. “I wouldn’t want to do this forever; I think there’s something about actually being in the space. But this is just as good, let’s say.”
It was a busy agenda to start the year.
Mayor Norman started the proceedings by discussing Project 1792, an initiative which highlights the anniversary on January 15 of the 1,196 Black Loyalists who boarded 15 ships to return to Africa after the British government broke their promise to provide opportunities in Nova Scotia.
“It’s time to start looking at our past and realizing and learning from it and learning how to be better people going forward,” said Norman.
Council also heard from the North Queens active living committee who are hoping to renew funding for their part time programming coordinator.
That position will be discussed when budget deliberations get underway.
Several properties that were meant to go to tax sale will instead be disposed of via a sealed-bid tender process.
The public has until February 22nd to bid on a dozen properties being sold to recover outstanding property taxes.
The region will be hiring an asset management coordinator to track and assess the millions of dollars’ worth of property and equipment owned by the municipality.
Transfers payments from the federal government are based on an accurate assessment of municipal infrastructure.
“We need to get this done because, your gas tax is based on your infrastructure, and we’re required to have this done,” said Norman. “So, if we want to continue getting gas tax money, we have to get ahead of this.”
Council will also form an ad hoc policy review committee.
Mayor Norman says she, two members of council and municipal staff including the diversity and inclusion coordinator will convene a series of half day meetings to go over the 20-year-old policies.
Norman says the plan is to have policies written in plain language which are easily understood and compliant with current laws and regulations.
“The policies need to all be reviewed; they need to be corrected,” said Norman. “There’s questions such as why was this made, is it still valid in today’s world, is the language diverse and inclusive?”
The committee will bring their recommendations back to council once they’ve completed their work.
The next Region of Queens council meeting will be held live over Zoom January 25.
Anyone wishing to view the proceedings can contact Heather Cook at the municipal office for the sign-in information by e-mail: hcook@regionofqueens.com or telephone: 902-354-3453.
