Region of Queens councillors rejected a property owner’s application to build four short-term rentals on this property on Fostertown Road in Port Medway. (Rick Conrad)
Region of Queens councillors made probably one of their easiest decisions at their regular meeting on Tuesday.
They rejected a bid to build an Airbnb that almost nobody wanted in their community.
Hans-Martin Klein, the owner of a vacant three-acre piece of land on Fostertown Road in Port Medway, wanted to build a single-family house for himself and four more single units to operate as seasonal rentals.
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Residents signed a petition against it, the region’s planning advisory committee recommended that council deny it and even the region’s planning staff said it should be rejected.
Under the municipality’s land use bylaw, fixed-roof overnight accommodations are not allowed in that part of the small village. It would require a change to the region’s land use bylaw to rezone the area.
Shelly Stevens is a Port Medway resident, who lives next door to the property.
“This area is made up of full-time residents who value safety, privacy and a quiet rural environment. Approving this rezoning would fundamentally alter the character of our community and reduce its liveability.”
Stevens told councillors that the road to the property is narrow, so it couldn’t accommodate increased traffic safely. She said the property owner’s proposal was also light on specifics.
“There’s no information on building size or sizes or layouts. There doesn’t appear to be any plan for garbage or recycling, or parking solutions, and no information on how many people the structures would accommodate.”
In addition to the petition, councillors said they also received a number of emails from residents opposed to it.
Deputy Mayor Maddie Charlton, who is a member of the planning advisory committee, said she was against the proposed development, especially since the region is planning a review of its land use bylaw and regulations around AirBnBs.
“There have been a lot of concerns raised about short-term rentals and how it affects our housing stock … this has been really problematic in Queens County. And so, we’re going to be looking at best practices to regulate those, where we want to encourage those, where we may not. And so that will have a really comprehensive review. So it didn’t make sense to entertain something like this.”
District 4 Coun. Vicki Amirault’s area includes Port Medway. She said the development would not fit with the location and characteristics of the small fishing village.
“As we have seen, many things such as the width of the road, the stone walls, the ditches, the flooding. There’s just so many points that stick out to deny this proposal.”
Councillors voted in December to hire an outside consultant to overhaul parts of its land use rules. One of those areas was the regulation of short-term rentals.
The consultant hasn’t been chosen yet, but the last time the region reviewed its land use bylaw and planning rules about eight years ago, it was expected to take about 18 months.
The Region of Queens is moving ahead with plans to impose a levy on all short-term rentals. (Photo by InstagramFotoGrafin via Pixabay)
The Region of Queens is going to introduce its own extra charge on people who stay at hotels or other short-term rentals like Airbnbs in the area.
The accommodation levy would be up to an extra three per cent per night on top of what the property already charges.
Under provincial law, municipalities can use that revenue only to promote tourism in their area.
If the region required the maximum three per cent, it would generate about $240,000 a year, Richard Lane, a project officer with the Region of Queens, told councillors at their regular meeting on Tuesday.
“Now there are some accommodation providers who are as busy as they want to be, so they’re not particularly interested in additional promotion work. There are some accommodation providers whose business relies on construction workers and such like, and they’re not interested in additional promotion,” Lane said.
“So, on the one hand, you could say the furtherance or the promotion of tourism would be something that accommodation providers are interested in, but that’s certainly not a universal view.”
It also allowed members of the public to have their say.
The survey got 97 responses, 54 of which were from owners of accommodations.
About 67 per cent of owners were strongly opposed to a levy, though the other 33 per cent said it would either have a positive or no effect on their business.
Deputy Mayor Maddie Charlton said she supports the marketing levy. She said some people may have been confused about what the extra charge was all about.
“When people don’t understand what the funds could be used for, then when you hear the word ‘tax’ again, it’s a negative context. And so I think that people didn’t understand the full picture,” she said.
“And we are one of the few who don’t have (a levy). And I think in speaking with people about this, lots of residents who go to Halifax or Cape Breton, for example, they didn’t know they even pay this. It’s on every invoice where you stay. (Halifax and Cape Breton) have had these for a long, long time.”
Charlton said that while some property owners may not need any extra business, many small businesses in Queens County would benefit from more promotion of the area.
“And I really, really want to see more events happen throughout Queens County, specifically at Queens Place. And I think that this is a way to give our residents excitement and more events at no cost to them.”
Mayor Scott Christian said he’s opposed to the levy, especially after speaking with some local hotel and property owners.
“It feels premature to me when we don’t have our economic development strategy in place. We don’t exactly know how we’re going to market the Queens County. And I’ve just heard strongly from some of those operators about some of the impact that an accommodation levy would have upon them.”
Many other Nova Scotia municipalities already have some kind of levy on hotel rooms.
Lane told councillors that the Town of Bridgewater is the only municipality on the South Shore with a charge that also covers short-term rentals. There are 30 registered properties there, compared with the current count of 165 in Queens County, Lane said.
Bridgewater relies on operators to self-report and remit the proceeds to the town monthly. Owners can be fined if they send inaccurate reports.
The Town of Yarmouth, and the municipalities of the districts of Argyle and Yarmouth contract with a third-party service from the Ontario Restaurant Hotel and Motel Association to collect the fee on their behalf. That organization already works with 35 municipalities in Ontario, collecting more than $30 million annually.
Lane said that the Association of Municipal Administrators of Nova Scotia is working on potentially coming up with a service that would collect the fee on behalf of all 49 municipalities in the province.
“If it is the will of council to have an accommodation levy in Queens County, … the likelihood is that by the time that bylaw is ready to be implemented, there may well be an automated system that we can adopt.”
Deputy Mayor Maddie Charlton chaired the Dec. 19 special council meeting on the capital budget. (Region of Queens YouTube)
Region of Queens councillors had some tough questions for senior staff on Friday afternoon as they pored over their five-year, $57-million capital budget.
Elected officials were concerned about the timeline for water and sewer improvements in Liverpool as part of the $26-million Mount Pleasant extension.
They also wanted to know more about projects like the South Queens Outdoor Pool and planned upgrades at the Astor Theatre. And there were concerns about the municipality’s long-term debt.
District 3 Coun. Courtney Wentzell returned to an issue he’s brought up before about extending water and wastewater services to the Mount Pleasant area to connect two planned housing developments to the system. That project is supported with $10.7 million in provincial funding.
“With the loss of treatable water and with us … hiking the water rates, and then going ahead and starting a project to send transmissible water up Mount Pleasant Street before you fix the issue down here on (the west side of) town, … it does not make sense to me, and it never will. 28/29 before you fix the problem? No.”
The region’s current plan calls for $9.7 million in work to begin this coming year to run new water mains to the Mount Pleasant area and upgrade existing infrastructure en route. Work on other, older parts of the system is now scheduled to begin in 2028/29. The end date to finish the overall project has been pushed to 2032/2033, from the original finish date of 2028/29.
But with South Queens Water Utility reporting more than 60 per cent of its treated water lost through leaks in the system, Wentzell says he wants to see older pipes, like the lines and laterals from Roy Turner Road to Union Street, fixed first.
“Isn’t this all one big project now?” Wentzell asked.
“ Isn’t this all just one project or is the Mount Pleasant exchange separate getting up to Dauphinee Farms than the rest of Liverpool? I’m lost. I’m trying to expedite and get the old infrastructure fixed before we start driving pressureless water up a hill.”
Adam Grant, the region’s director of infrastructure, said the contracts are already awarded for the work to Mount Pleasant. And he said fixing one line won’t solve all their water woes.
“I wouldn’t expect to see 60 per cent of it be in that one segment of line. As we know, it’s spread throughout the town. So if we accomplish 10 per cent, we should be satisfied. I don’t want to set false expectations that replacing that transmission main, it’s gonna save all of our beans that are falling out of our basket.”
Councillors asked staff to return in January with options to expedite upgrades to older water and sewer lines in Liverpool.
District 6 Coun. Stewart Jenkins questioned Grant and Finance Director Joanne Veinotte about cost overruns at the $8-million South Queens Outdoor Pool.
Veinotte said that in trying to keep the project on budget, some details were missed like the $150,000 wraparound concrete bleachers.
“How can you miss $150,000 of cement bleachers?” Jenkins said. “I don’t understand it.”
Grant said many different departments rushed to finalize the pool design for tender. And some things were overlooked.
CAO Willa Thorpe, who was not with the municipality when council approved the pool plan, said that won’t happen again.
“When we, as an organization, make hasty decisions on major projects, these are how items like this get missed,” she told councillors.
“So if we were to explore a project of this magnitude again in future, staff will take a different approach.”
Jenkins also wondered why the region is planning to spend about $5 million on heating, cooling and accessibility upgrades at the municipally owned Town Hall Arts and Cultural Centre, home of the Astor Theatre.
“I can’t believe we’re going to spend $5.4 million, when we have poverty, and we have leaking pipes, and we have everything else to spend money on, but we’re going to spend $5.4 million, for something that is not used by very many people in Queens County, and many of them have never been inside. So I think we should be considering that in our budget deliberations.”
Other councillors said the municipality has put off necessary upgrades at the Astor for a while. They said the facility is used well now and it could be used more with a modern HVAC system. It’s currently limited in what it can offer in warmer months because there’s no air conditioning.
Councillors also asked staff for a list of how the $10.2-million accumulated surplus will be spent. If they approve the current capital plan, that surplus is projected to drop to $1.7 million by 2031.
And if they approve the proposed five-year capital plan, they’d also be voting to rack up the region’s long-term debt to $26 million by 2032.
Deputy Mayor Maddie Charlton, who chaired the meeting because Mayor Scott Christian was away, said council is heading in the right direction.
“And so you can say what’s working well, what’s not working well,” Charlton told QCCR. “Recognizing we have financial implications. we can’t do everything, but I think if we hear from people and there’s overarching themes or gaps and things that we’re missing, then it really positions council to make decisions about those items moving forward.”
Councillors will be back on Jan. 13 to vote on the capital budget.
Ryan MacLean with UPLAND Planning and Design Studio at a public engagement session in Liverpool in July. (Rick Conrad/File)
The Region of Queens will be looking for outside help for a planned overhaul of some parts of its land use bylaw.
Councillors voted this week to hire an external firm to review the bylaw and municipal planning strategy.
The region passed an extensively reworked bylaw and planning strategy in May 2022. The process cost $140,000 and was led by UPLAND Planning from Halifax. It was also supposed to take 18 months, but ended up taking almost four years because of the pandemic.
Mayor Scott Christian said this week that it’s time for a review.
“The municipal planning strategy and land use bylaw, I think, is second only to a budget deliberation as an allocation of the public resources, and setting of the tax rate in terms of the levers that we have available to us as a council to impact our community, impact business owners, impact residents, in terms of the regulations, the protections and regulations, and avenues that residents and businesses have with respect to permitted use of property in our municipality,” Christian said.
“And I think that it’s really important to me that our land use bylaw or municipal planning strategy is reflective of the priorities and the concerns and the direction that this council wants to take the community.”
The land use bylaw returned to council’s radar earlier this year as developer Eric Fry applied to turn the dilapidated former Stedmans building on Main Street in Liverpool into apartments.
Councillors initially rejected his plan because it contained no commercial space. The rules required that at least half of a downtown building’s ground floor be devoted to businesses.
But after Fry threatened to sell the property, councillors relented. They changed the bylaw in late November to allow a modified version of Fry’s plan to go ahead, with two much smaller spaces for commercial use.
Mike MacLeod, the municipality’s director of land use, told councillors at their regular meeting this week that hiring outside consultants would be more efficient, since the region’s staff don’t have the capacity to carry out the review in a timely manner.
“There is considerable work involved in even an interim planning review,” he said.
“So if staff were to undertake it, the timeframe will be considerably lengthened to complete the review, as well as staff’s ability to carry out the day-to-day operations at the department. We would be very challenged to do it in-house.”
The region has about $50,000 set aside already for future planning review projects. MacLeod said that money could go toward the cost of this review.
Councillors want to create or review regulations regarding
Commercial uses in residential zones
Short-term rentals
Keeping of livestock in residential and rural zones
Light pollution
Additional coastal protection measures and climate resilient land use regulations
Minimum property standards
District 3 Coun. Courtney Wentzell said he was concerned about getting one firm to do all the work.
“I still have some deep concerns about one firm looking after so many different items, and the cost that will be,” he told his fellow councillors.
“And I think of our town hall meetings, and our priorities, where coastal protection and climate resilience is way up there. I didn’t see a whole lot about livestock in our planning meetings and town halls. I think there’s nothing prioritized here, and I am still leery of one contractor looking after all of this.”
MacLeod said that even though an outside company will be hired, staff would still be involved. And he added that professional planning firms are experienced in work like this.
Deputy Mayor Maddie Charlton said that the region could rely on lessons learned in other municipalities who have already addressed things like coastal protection.
Councillors will have input on details of the tender before it’s issued.
The Region of Queens wants ‘clear, enforceable provisions’ around e-bike and e-scooter use. (Mercea Iancu via Pixabay)
The Region of Queens wants to figure out how to regulate e-scooters and e-bikes in the municipality.
And that could include allowing them on sidewalks.
District 4 Coun. Vicki Amirault said that at the Nov. 13 police advisory board meeting, Queens District RCMP Const. Andrew Winsor reviewed the Motor Vehicle Act provisions around e-scooters.
“We discussed the uses of these devices on all roads, but the most challenged road was Bristol Avenue,” Amirault told her fellow councillors at Tuesday’s regular council meeting.
“ The board discussed sidewalk versus roadway use for the e-scooters. Due to the narrow lanes and heavy traffic in this area, it was suggested sidewalk use for limited areas, such as these supported by signage, with expectations for reductions in speed.”
Residents told councillors at their recent town hall sessions that it’s become too dangerous as a pedestrian in some areas, with the rise in popularity of the devices.
They reported people riding e-scooters and e-bikes at high speeds and not paying attention to what they were doing.
Councillors asked staff to develop “clear, enforceable provisions regulating e-bikes and e-scooters as recommended by the police advisory board”.
They also want staff to come up with amendments to a bylaw that restricts skateboard use in downtown Liverpool.
Deputy Mayor Maddie Charlton said the 1998 bylaw prohibiting skateboards at Fort Point, on Main Street, park of Market Street and near the Visitor Information Centre is too restrictive.
“The police advisory board wanted to remedy that since we have a lovely skate park and we’re promoting activity and further engagement with our youth. So that doesn’t jibe with the council of the day.”
She said Winsor told councillors that they can’t do anything about reckless e-scooter and e-bike use without a municipal bylaw.
“Where the municipality doesn’t have bylaws with e-bikes and e-scooters, he can’t do any ticketing. So once we have a bylaw in place that covers that, if someone is going excessive speed on Bristol, he actually would be able to ticket them.”
The Motor Vehicle Act does extensively regulate the use of e-scooters. It explicitly says they should be treated like bicycles, and are not allowed on sidewalks.
Users of bicycles, e-scooters, skateboards and other similar devices are also supposed to wear helmets.
“Where a roadway has a bicycle lane for bicycles travelling in the same direction that a cyclist is travelling, the operator of an electric kick-scooter shall ride in the bicycle lane unless it is impracticable to do so,” the act says.
“An operator of an electric kick-scooter who is not riding in a bicycle lane shall ride as far to the right side of the roadway as practicable or on the right-hand shoulder of the roadway.”
The Nova Scotia government recently passed a new Traffic Safety Act, which is due to replace the Motor Vehicle Act. It has not been proclaimed yet, so the current Motor Vehicle Act stands.
Under the new act, however, much of the responsibility for regulating the use of bicycles, e-scooters and e-bikes would fall to municipalities.
Mayor Scott Christian said he’s unsure why provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act aren’t being enforced. But he said he hopes the staff report will help clarify who’s responsible.
“It seems to me that some other municipalities will have already tackled this one. So I’ll be interested to see what approaches to regulating the appropriate and safe use of those devices within a town context where there is sidewalk infrastructure in place.”
Councillors also asked staff to investigate traffic calming measures in the town of Liverpool to respond to residents’ concerns about speeding by motor vehicles.
The Region of Queens wants to offer residents with dug wells access to low-interest loans to convert to drilled wells. (Bluenose Well Drilling Facebook page)
Queens County homeowners who want a new drilled well will eventually have access to low-interest loans through the Region of Queens.
Councillors voted unanimously at their regular meeting last week to ask staff to draft a bylaw for a water supply and septic upgrade program.
Some Nova Scotia municipalities already offer low-interest loans for residents who want to switch from a dug well to a drilled well, sometimes at interest rates as low as two per cent.
Joanne Veinotte, the region’s director of finance, told councillors that municipal staff haven’t had calls looking for help with septic systems. But they have heard from people struggling with dry wells who want a loan or grant program to help drill a new one.
“Council will have to decide, are you satisfied with providing $10,000 of assistance, or would you like to provide $30,000 of assistance, or perhaps more?” Veinotte said.
“Because all of those things depend on how much money you are willing to loan at a low-interest rate, are you going to cover the whole bill or part of the bill? That’s a council decision that will be made through the bylaw process.”
In her report to council, Veinotte said that Queens County has received less than 40 per cent of its annual precipitation in 2025. The area is classified as having severe to extreme drought conditions.
The Municipality of the District of Lunenburg and the Municipality of the District of Barrington are two municipalities on the South Shore that offer low-interest loans for homeowners.
Lunenburg provides up to $20,000 for either well or septic upgrades at a rate of two per cent a year for a term of up to 15 years. Barrington offers a three per cent rate on loans of up to 10 years for well upgrades only. Some municipalities, like Halifax, offer help for both water and septic at prime plus two per cent.
Residents repay the loans through their tax bills.
Initially, staff recommended a program only for drilled wells. But some councillors, like Jack Fancy and Deputy Mayor Maddie Charlton, said they’d like to see septic upgrades included in the program.
“I think of in Milton in particular, there’s so many septics that are going straight into the river,” Fancy said.
‘And that’s part of the environmental issue of it we need to clean up. And if we’re going to do this, I think we need to make this all part of it.”
District 6 Coun. Stewart Jenkins said he’d like to see the cost of a water pump and water tank included in the program.
Veinotte said councillors have the ultimate authority to draft the bylaw the way they want and to hash out the details, including how much to set aside each year for the loan program.
“You guys would talk all of those things through and decide what works best for our residents,” she said. “But absolutely, you as council have the discretion to determine what goes into what pot and how much everyone can take out.”
This is just the first step toward a low-interest loan program for wells and septic systems in Queens County.
Staff will draft a bylaw for councillors to review at a future meeting. Once councillors introduce a proposed bylaw, residents will have a chance to have their say at a public hearing before anything is adopted.
Region of Queens Deputy Mayor Maddie Charlton wants a ‘comprehensive review’ of the municipal planning strategy and land use bylaw. (Rick Conrad)
Region of Queens councillors are considering an overhaul of the rules that govern what people and businesses do with their properties.
Regional council voted unanimously on Tuesday evening in favour of Deputy Mayor Maddie Charlton’s motion for a “comprehensive review” of the municipal planning strategy and land use bylaw “with particular focus on commercial uses and allowances within residential zones, regulation and permitting of short-term rentals, the keeping of livestock within residential and rural zones, light pollution mitigation and related dark sky considerations, coastal protection measures and climate resilient land use provisions, and minimum property standards.”
She said she wants staff to prepare a report in time for the Dec. 9 council meeting “outlining proposed consultation timelines, engagement methods and anticipated resource requirements to support this review process.”
“We have had some things pop up that are proving to be challenging,” Charlton said, “other things that I think maybe we didn’t think of during that timeframe. … I think we do need to address the issues in our land use bylaw.”
Developer Eric Fry originally wanted the building to be only residential, despite municipal rules that require at least half of a downtown building’s ground floor be for commercial use.
The region is in the process of changing the land use bylaw to allow Fry to include a much smaller commercial footprint.
Charlton, who chairs the municipality’s planning advisory committee, told councillors that some people want more flexibility to open businesses in their houses.
Currently, the land use bylaw essentially prohibits retail and other commercial operations in residential zones, though there are some exceptions for artists and other small home-based businesses.
“I think some of our measures are a bit too strict and they’re restricting economic development in Queens,” Charlton said.
Mayor Scott Christian said it’s standard practice to review a new bylaw after two years. Plus, he said, residents have raised concerns with parts of the bylaw that he says are “clunky”.
“In this term of council we’re really focusing on making sure we’re striking that balance to foster a business friendly environment, to addressing affordability issues. And I think some provisions within the municipal planning strategy and land use bylaw don’t resonate entirely with the strategic vision and direction that this council wants to take the organization.”
He said council wants professional advice from staff on a “laundry list of items”.
“(The bylaw) doesn’t do enough to give us a strong sense and deliberate approach to managing short-term rentals. It doesn’t strike the right balance in its approach to homesteading. It’s too blunt in its restrictions of the type of commercial activity that can happen in general residential areas.”
In 2022, many residents cried foul over proposed changes to homesteading rules. People who kept chickens or small numbers of other animals on their properties were worried that the bylaw would interfere with their ability to produce food for themselves and others.
Those concerns overshadowed many of the other significant changes in the comprehensive bylaw overhaul.
Region of Queens councillors on Tuesday voted on a revised plan to develop 194 Main St. in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad)
Region of Queens council have changed course to allow a developer to build apartments on Main Street in Liverpool after all.
At their regular meeting on Tuesday morning, councillors voted unanimously to start the process to amend the municipality’s land use bylaw.
A public hearing will be held on Nov. 12 at 9 a.m. in council chambers about changing the bylaw to allow more ground floor space to be used for residential uses in the downtown commercial zone.
Currently, no more than half of a building’s ground floor can be used for apartments.
Developer Eric Fry approached the region in February to change that rule to allow him to turn all of 194 Main St., commonly known as the old Stedman’s building, into apartments. His original plan was for 16 units, with indoor parking and storage.
In July, councillors rejected changing the bylaw. Fry immediately listed the property for sale.
He returned to the region’s planning advisory committee in August with a new plan that would include two commercial units on the ground floor of the 30,000-square-foot building, in addition to 14 apartments.
His latest proposal is for 18 residential units, four of which would be “hotel suites”, and two Main Street-level commercial units of 300 square feet each. One of those would be a laundromat.
“So given the significant size of the building at 194 Main St., 50 per cent of the ground floor area of the building creates some challenges for the owners of the building,” Director of Land Use Mike MacLeod told councillors.
MacLeod reminded councillors that if the bylaw is changed, it would apply to all property owners in the downtown commercial zone.
“Any proposed amendments would apply not only to the applicant’s property, but would apply to all other owners of property of commercial buildings who want to convert more than 50 per cent of the ground floor area to residential uses.”
Planning advisory committee members originally discussed recommending a minimum depth of 6 metres for commercial space on the ground floor, but settled on 3.66 metres or 12 feet and a minimum floor area of 27.88 square metres or 300 square feet.
The other changes proposed would require that commercial uses extend along the full width of the building facade from its main entrance.
Deputy Mayor Maddie Charlton, who is a member of the committee, said PAC members believe the bylaw needs to be more flexible for property owners in the commercial zone.
“There are buildings of significant sizes that make it really challenging to allow for more residential while protecting the commercial area. And so what this does is it protects the Main Street and surrounding streets in those commercial zones or commercial core zones anywhere.
“We do recognize that there are folks beyond this proposal that have an appetite to decrease the size of commercial space. They could put in more residential space, which we feel like is a win-win.”
Under the proposed amendments, the commercial units could not be used as office space by the building owner or manager.
Mayor Scott Christian said after the meeting that the changes would be good for downtown Liverpool.
“We’re hoping to see that generate more investment, because right now we all know that there’s a lot of vacancy and underutilized spaces in the downtown core and there’s also a lot of space that could be repurposed for residential units, which we know there’s a huge demand for. So we’re hoping that we’ve struck a good balance there.”
Christian said the municipality looked at rules in other areas for guidance on the changes. He pointed to Halifax, which encourages businesses to set up as boutique shops in some buildings.
“Like a fishmonger or a small deli or an ice cream shop or a candy shop or small sort of micro retail models,” he said in an interview. “If property owners take advantage of the opportunity to create really small spaces, that micro retail model, which I think could be attractive to our residents and our visitors.”
Christian said he understands if some people might believe the process has been tailored to suit one developer. But he says it’s an issue the community had to tackle.
“That was certainly the impetus or the catalyst to have the conversation, but I’m quite excited about where we’re going to land. I think that if the amendment goes through, I think it’s a step in the right direction, in getting more flexible in the way that folks can use those buildings in the downtown core to make it more vibrant, breathe more life, bring more people into the downtown core.”
In a survey conducted by Halifax consultants UPLAND Planning in July, 18 of 30 respondents said they were fully or somewhat supportive of changing the bylaw.
But 90 per cent of the business owners who responded were against a bylaw change. They said they were concerned about eroding the commercial area.
The dry hydrant at Bangs Falls pictured in early September, one of the photos of the condition of dry hydrants, posted by the Greenfield and District Fire Department. (Greenfield and District Fire Department)
A new dry hydrant will be installed behind the North Queens Nursing Home but at almost three times the cost that Region of Queens councillors were expecting.
The dry hydrant behind the manor in Caledonia has been on a list of planned work for the past five or six years, council heard at their meeting last week.
Councillors had budgeted $40,000 this year to install three new dry hydrants. The two others were planned for Mary Lake and Westfield Road, also in Caledonia.
But the one approved by council last week near the nursing home is the only one that will be installed this year, and at a cost of $40,000. The others will be pushed to next year, according to Garrett Chetwynd, the region’s manager of public works.
Chetwynd told councillors that staff decided to contract out the work because public works staff were busy with other projects.
“The original request for pricing was posted to the provincial procurement site where we received no responses. When we received no submissions to that, it was submitted to, I believe, 12 local contractors. So that same RFP was sent to them and we only received one submission back.”
That was from C. Eugene Ingram Construction in Liverpool, who will install for $40,000 plus HST.
Dry hydrants are used where traditional hydrants aren’t available. They access water sources such as ponds, lakes or streams to help fight fires. The municipality maintains 51 dry hydrants around the county.
District 6 Coun. Stewart Jenkins said he was concerned that one hydrant will cost so much. He asked how much it’s historically cost to install a dry hydrant, but Chetwynd said he was familiar with only one being installed during his time with the region and he didn’t have those numbers.
“I’m not against dry hydrants coming in,” Jenkins said. “I am against one hydrant costing what three was expected to cost.”
He said he’d like to see council combine dry hydrant maintenance and installation into one larger tender to attract more bids.
“If we as a region working with the fire departments came up with a plan of putting in new hydrants or fixing old ones and came up with a group of hydrants to have fixed, then we would get a tender because it would suddenly become a higher dollar value,” Jenkins told his fellow councillors.
“And I think if we had, you know, $150,000 worth of work out there or $200,000, we’d do it once every two years and fix up a whole bunch of things, it would make it more acceptable to get better quality quotes from the people that do this sort of work in Queens County.”
Deputy Mayor Maddie Charlton said bundling the work into a higher-value tender makes sense, especially if municipal staff can’t do it.
“We do have to try to make this more competitive for sustainability moving forward.”
Councillors voted to direct staff to compile a list of new dry hydrants requested to date and those in need of repair to attract more competitive bids for tender.
Some councillors were also concerned about delaying the work on the other two new hydrants to next year.
With the recent drought conditions in Nova Scotia, many of the water sources for the hydrants have literally dried up. The Greenfield and District Fire Department recently sounded the alarm about the condition of some of the hydrants in their area. According to a Sept. 1 Facebook post, the department has reported problems with dry hydrants to the region many times.
Councillors had set aside $110,820 in this year’s budget for maintenance and installation.
Jenkins said that while the dry hydrants provide handy access to water, the county’s volunteer fire departments have other ways of getting water to a fire scene.
“I know from experience with the fire departments that they do have other ways of getting water out of water sources than the dry hydrants. There’s portable pumps that are high volume. Many of the trucks have front intakes so they can pull into a site and pump water. So I don’t think it’s a fact that they’re not going to have water to that site. There’s other ways of doing it. And Greenfield (fire) department has had to lay out the other ways of doing it because half of their dry hydrants are very dry and the other ones are plugged up with mud.”
When asked, Chetwynd said he believes the work will likely begin in the next month, though he wasn’t sure exactly when or if the agreement dictates a timeline.
A consultants report does not recommend installing traffic lights at the Main and Market intersection in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad)
A study of the troublesome three-way stop in downtown Liverpool has found traffic isn’t that bad and that it doesn’t warrant installing traffic lights.
Engineering firm CBCL presented its findings to council this week about the intersection at Main and Market streets.
“We found overall that the intersection has sufficient capacity for the current traffic volumes and the future traffic volumes with the current stop control configuration. We found that the traffic signals are not warranted,” David Copp, a transportation engineer with CBCL who conducted the on-site traffic study in February, told councillors at their regular meeting Tuesday.
Copp said that opinions about the intersection are mixed. While some pedestrians and business owners believe there’s no problem, others told him it is hazardous.
“There was a number of folks who identified that cars or trucks were not yielding to pedestrians. They were sort of blasting through the stop signs and just ignoring any pedestrians who were waiting. There definitely seems to be a bit of a lack of trust on the part of the pedestrian that vehicles will actually stop where they’re supposed to when they approach the intersection.”
Collision data for the area is very limited. There have been 36 reported collisions within a 100-metre radius from 2009 to 2024. Most of those were vehicle collisions. Five of them involved pedestrians.
“So it made it very challenging to draw any conclusions or highlight trends or causation between these incidents,” he said.
Overall, the study found traffic flow and vehicle speeds were within acceptable limits. And it also found that five new housing developments planned for the Mount Pleasant area just outside downtown Liverpool won’t make volumes a problem in the next 10 years.
Copp said some changes could make the area safer for pedestrians.
He said combining the through and right-turning westbound lanes at the post office on Main Street would shorten the crosswalk there and improve visibility.
There would still be an issue of cars entering and leaving the angled parking spaces next to the post office. He said most of the collisions in the area were related to those spaces and that council should consider removing or reconfiguring them.
The intersection has been the scene of lots of close calls over the years.
District 5 Coun. Jack Fancy said he doesn’t believe combining westbound lanes on Main Street is enough to protect pedestrians.
“We’ve had people hit and I think due diligence, if we just walk away from this and say we’re going to combine those two lanes, I don’t think we’re doing our job,” he said.
“I can live with the car to car (collisions), you can fix those. Car to pedestrians, you can’t fix. So I think the car to pedestrian is our biggest concern.”
He wants to see some kind of pedestrian-activated signal to alert drivers when somebody wants to cross.
District 4 Coun. Vicki Amirault said the intersection and the sidewalk approaches have to be improved to be more accessible for people with visual, hearing or mobility impairments.
“It’s very scary to go through that intersection for pedestrians, very scary. So I think there’s a lot of work we have to do there, and if it doesn’t warrant traffic lights, maybe put up the lights for the signals for the pedestrians. But I think this is a situation where we really have to do a lot of a lot more conversation, a lot more work. We just cannot leave it the way it is.”
Deputy Mayor Maddie Charlton told QCCR after the meeting that even though the traffic count was done in February, when numbers would be typically lower, she said it still gives a good baseline for council to consider.
“And so our conversation with that particular intersection, I think, is far from over, and we should consider if there’s any improvements that we can make to the parking there (at the post office), how we make that the best it can be, given the information that was presented today.”
Thomas Bjerke of Waterloo Street in Liverpool during an appeal hearing Tuesday of a proposed development next to his house. (Region of Queens YouTube)
A 10-unit apartment building in Liverpool, geared toward health-care workers, will go ahead after regional councillors turned down an appeal by local residents on Tuesday.
Thomas Bjerke and his wife live next to the undeveloped land on Waterloo Street. Bjerke told councillors he was worried about how the development would affect his and his neighbours’ quality of life. He appealed the site plan filed with the region.
“We are opposed to this project from the get-go,” he said at the appeal hearing, which was held during the regular council meeting.
“You’re taking the essence out of the neighbourhood by plopping a big building into essentially a house lot. So now we’re just foregoing any stage of quality of life.”
Bjerke said he and his neighbours are worried about increased traffic, noise and light pollution from the two-storey complex once it’s built.
He said that an enclosed garbage area planned for the property would be less than six metres from his bedroom window and about two metres from his backyard fence.
He said the area already has a problem with raccoons and rodents.
“But rats are the biggest issue in that area and we fear that by putting a garbage area that close to us and any of our neighbours is a deterrent to any healthy living because we have a backyard that will be right behind this and this is where we do most of our recreation during the summer months.”
The Housing Trust of Nova Scotia has been working on plans for the building for about a year.
They have a contract with the Nova Scotia government to build 116 modular units for health-care workers around the province.
Jordan Rogers, an engineer and project manager with the trust, told councillors that the plan is to build six two-bedroom units and four one-bedroom units on Waterloo Street, just around the corner from Old Bridge Street.
He said tenants are required to be nurses, doctors, hospital cafeteria workers or others who work in health care. If workers from that sector don’t fill the apartments, then they would be offered to those in the skilled trades. But Rogers said that the housing trust hasn’t had a problem finding tenants who work in health care.
He said they worked closely with Region of Queens officials to ensure they complied with all bylaws. He also said they could look at relocating the garbage enclosure to another part of the property.
“We had to go through and check all of the boxes based on the bylaws, working with Mike (MacLeod) and his team to ensure that everything meets all those requirements with respect to, for example, garbage and parking, for meeting the absolute minimum and where we can, go further and beyond to those requirements.”
Mike McLeod, the region’s director of land use, told councillors that the Housing Trust’s proposal meets all municipal requirements.
Councillors voted unanimously to deny the residents’ appeal.
After the meeting, Bjerke and other residents said the municipality’s appeal process was rushed and excluded some adjacent property owners.
“The engineer himself said they worked on this for over a year now and we got two weeks to appeal something that affects our lives and everybody in the neighbourhood,” Bjerke said in an interview.
“I find that unacceptable.”
Dina Dexter of Liverpool was at the meeting to speak on behalf of her father and brother who live next door to Bjerke. Their backyard also borders the lot where the new building will be.
She said her family didn’t receive a notice that they could appeal, and when she asked municipal officials about it she was told the appeal period was over. Then she was given the wrong date for the hearing. On Tuesday, she wasn’t given a chance to speak.
“And if it wasn’t for my neighbours telling me about this we would not have even known,” Dexter told QCCR. “There’s no posting of a sign. There’s nothing.
“We desperately, desperately want more housing, but in a place like Liverpool, Nova Scotia, where there is so much space. There’s been a derelict abandoned piece of land since the Canadian Tire burnt down in the ’90s on Main Street. Why is it that (this building) is being placed in such a bizarre manner in essentially a backyard lot?”
Deputy Mayor Maddie Charlton told QCCR that she understands the residents’ frustration but that the region fulfilled its obligations under the Municipal Government Act.
She said if residents encounter any problems with the development, they can report those to the region’s bylaw enforcement officer.
Workers were cleaning up in front of 194 Main St. on Wednesday morning. The construction barricades have been removed and work has stopped. (Rick Conrad)
UPDATED Wed., July 9 at 1:55 p.m.
A rundown building in downtown Liverpool will go back on the market after regional council denied a developer’s request to turn it into apartments.
Councillors voted Tuesday not to change the municipal land use bylaw to allow Eric Fry to build up to 16 apartments at 194 Main St., known locally as the old Stedmans building.
Fry, president of SDL Investments Limited, told QCCR in an emailed statement on Wednesday evening that he won’t pursue the project any further.
“Unfortunately, we will be ceasing any further work on this project and putting the building up for sale immediately,” Fry said.
“While I understand that Liverpool does not wish to abandon its commercial presence on Main Street, we firmly believe that this decision is very short-sighted and does absolutely nothing to move the town forward, encourage new residents to move here or assist in revitalizing the downtown.”
He could not be reached for a followup interview about his statement.
The municipal planning strategy allows residential development downtown only in buildings with a primary commercial use. The bylaw requires that residential buildings in the downtown core have at least 50 per cent commercial space on the ground floor.
Fry’s proposal was to transform the whole building into living space.
Deputy Mayor Maddie Charlton told QCCR on Tuesday morning after the council meeting that even though councillors voted 5-2 against a bylaw change, she hopes Fry continues with some apartments in the space. She made the comments before Fry’s evening statement.
“I think our community and our council members have made it very clear that they want there to be a downtown core commercial presence. And that is our Main Street,” Charlton said in an interview. She chaired Tuesday’s meeting because Mayor Scott Christian was on vacation.
“And there is allowance now for residential units to go in there to still allow for some housing. So there is flexibility there. I do certainly hope that the developer will continue with this project in the revised way that it reads in our bylaws now, but certainly if he chooses not to, that’s certainly up to him.”
Fry bought the building in January for $235,000. In February, he applied to the region for a bylaw amendment to allow a residential-only development with indoor parking.
Councillors considered three options: to allow residential development as a main use in downtown, to allow it by development agreement with council’s approval or to keep the bylaw unchanged.
Before Fry acquired the property, it sat vacant for a few years and was heavily damaged by extreme weather. Before that, it housed a dollar store and office space on the ground floor.
Workers have been cleaning up the building’s interior and fixing damage since early spring.
“We are extremely shocked and disappointed in council’s decision this morning to deny our application to amend the Land Use Bylaw and Municipal Planning Strategy language,” Fry said in the statement.
“Having owned properties in Queens for more than 10 years, our understanding was that Liverpool needs more housing. Our initial residential building, The Falls in Milton, has been fully occupied since it opened last fall and there is a list of residents wanting to move in when a unit becomes available. This led us to approach RQM about an additional project that would create 16 additional units in the heart of Liverpool. Not to mention, convert an otherwise dilapidated structure into a signature building to anchor the town’s Main Street.
“Liverpool needs residential housing and not additional commercial space clearly demonstrated by the number of For Rent signs in the downtown core.”
The region hired consultants UPLAND Planning from Halifax to hold two public engagement sessions and an online survey on the potential bylaw change.
Thirty people responded to the survey, and only seven people attended the information sessions at Queens Place Emera Centre.
Eighteen of the 30 survey respondents said they were supportive of removing the commercial requirement from the bylaw.
But local business owners told the consultants they were worried about how it could potentially erode the downtown commercial zone.
The region’s planning advisory committee met on Monday to discuss the consultants’ report.
They recommended sticking with the status quo and keeping the bylaw unchanged.
District 5 Coun. Jack Fancy voted against the motion to maintain the status quo.
He said the building needs a lot of work and he’s worried Fry might sell it.
“So in order to make it so it’s profitable, it has to be a lot of money coming back,” he told his fellow councillors.
“ That’s the whole idea. You don’t put money into something if you’re not going to get your money back out of it.”
Fry also owns The Falls in Milton, a three-storey apartment complex on the Mersey River, geared toward people 55 and over.
His plan for 194 Main St. was to have apartments on two levels, with a parking entrance at the back of the building on Water Street.
“I’m not an expert,” Fry said in his statement to QCCR, “but from my experience, I don’t think this type of thinking is going to move the needle in a town with so much promise and potential.”
Here is what councillors voted on and how they voted:
MOTION: That Council of the Region of Queens Municipality maintain status quo and deny the application to amend the Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use Bylaw to allow new multiple unit residential dwellings as a permitted main use in the Downtown Commercial (CD) Zone.
FOR: Maddie Charlton, Courtney Wentzell, Stewart Jenkins, Vicki Amirault, Wanda Carver
The Region of Queens is recommending that water rates should double to deal with rising deficits. (Rick Conrad)
Most residents in Liverpool and Brooklyn will likely have to pay more than double what they pay now for water.
The 1,233 customers of the Region of Queens Water Utility will be on tap to pay an average of 106 per cent more this year to stem rising deficits.
Under a rate proposal to the Nova Scotia Regulatory and Appeals Board, most customers who now pay $75.61 every three months would have to pay $170.32.
Region of Queens councillors approved the three-year water rate study at their meeting on Tuesday evening.
Mayor Scott Christian told QCCR that the large proposed increase as of Oct. 1 will help dam mounting deficits at the municipality’s water utility.
“But the biggest challenge that we were looking at was this structural, perpetual, persistent, operating deficit where the thing would be in a deficit position, more and more and more with each passing year. … It just put us in a position really, where we’re recovering enough revenue from the water utility to run it.”
2021 was the last time rates for the region’s water utility were reviewed. They were set for the following three years until 2024. The region has been holding the line on rates since then, but it has racked up a deficit of about $516,000.
If rates don’t increase, that deficit is projected to swell to $3.344 million by 2027/28.
The costs of the utility are borne by its users.
The region hired two consulting firms to conduct the three-year rate study. They found that revenues have to rise immediately by more than $430,000.
The proposed average increases in years 2 and 3 are 3.8 per cent and 2.7 per cent.
Deputy Mayor Maddie Charlton said Queens water customers had been paying some of the lowest rates in the province.
“I just want to note that because 106 per cent is significant, but when you look at it as a whole, our water rates are really too low, which is what is prompting us to go through this process.”
If the proposed rates are accepted by the provincial regulator, it would put Queens in line with the Town of Lunenburg, which has an unmetered rate for residential customers.
But the new levies would be higher than those charged in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality and the Town of Bridgewater.
A staff report for council prepared by Adam Grant, director of infrastructure, and Joanne Veinotte, director of finance, partially blames the heavy damage sustained at the water treatment plant by a lightning strike in July 2023. An insurance claim covered only part of the damage, according to the report.
The lightning strike led to a boil-water advisory for water customers that lasted almost nine weeks.
After public demand for a break on rates, the region gave a one-time 70 per cent discount on water bills.
Grant and Veinotte also point out in the report that the utility has struggled operationally for years.
Knowing that water users would be on the hook for much higher rates, Queens councillors earlier this year created a $15,000 fund to give rebates to low-income residents.
Christian told councillors that regulators don’t allow separate rates for low-income households.
“But what we are trying to do is find effective and creative solutions to provide a rebate to those customers who cannot bear the financial impact of increased water rates.”
Customers will have a chance to participate in the provincial regulator’s public hearing once dates are set.
The Region of Queens has greenlit design work to begin on improvements to the town bridge. (Rick Conrad)
The Region of Queens is going ahead with design work to make the town bridge safer and more accessible for pedestrians and cyclists.
The two-lane bridge over the Mersey River is the main thoroughfare into downtown Liverpool.
The steel structure was built in 1958 and spans about 100 metres with an inside width of 9.6 metres. It has a narrow sidewalk on each side. There are no paved shoulders, dedicated bike lanes or barriers to separate traffic from pedestrians.
Two years ago, regional council commissioned a technical evaluation from engineering firm CBCL to look at active transportation upgrades. Council at that time decided to hold off on any work until more funding became available from the provincial or federal governments.
Simply to maintain the bridge with no improvements would have cost $325,000. To realign the two lanes and expand one sidewalk would have cost $700,000. An active transportation expansion with a dedicated space for pedestrians and cyclists had a price tag of $3.4 million. A totally separate pedestrian bridge over the river was estimated at $4.4 million.
Adam Grant, the region’s director of infrastructure, discussed the issue this week at council’s regular meeting. He said those estimates from 2023 would now likely be about 10 per cent more. He recommended the $3.4-million option.
“I think we get rid of a lot of the challenges that’ll be found working inside the existing structure,” he told councillors.
“Going that way would open up an avenue to create bicycle lanes on the existing bridge once the sidewalks are removed, as well as it wouldn’t require a realignment of the street from lanes all the way through to Water Street so it would be less invasive on the existing street structure, and would probably be able to provide a more fulsome solution on the exterior of the bridge as opposed to trying to fit within a kind of more refined area.”
Grant said he wanted to get the design work started so that the project would be shovel-ready if funding is secured. Councillors had set aside $181,749 in the region’s capital investment plan.
Under the municipality’s current agreement with the province, maintenance and repair work on the bridge is cost-shared 50/50.
But improvements to the bridge would require a new funding agreement, he said.
“At this point under the agreement we have, they’re under no obligation to entertain any upgrades.”
Councillors supported the less costly $3.4-million active transportation expansion, but said they need to look for funding from other levels of government.
Deputy Mayor Maddie Charlton said she wants to see the expansion go ahead, but the region needs help from the province.
“I feel like we need to address this certainly. It’s not safe. If you’re walking on the bridge now, you’re quite high up, people misstep, and you could very easily be on the road. … We do have cyclists in Queens and so that’s a bit of a problematic place as it is,” Charlton said.
“We’re funding the design work. We should have some really meaningful conversations to look for support (for the expansion) because I don’t think we can take that on on our own, nor would it be fair for us to take it on on our own.”
Councillors voted unanimously to spend the money for the design work, while directing staff to look for funding for the improvements from the federal and provincial governments.
Regional councillors are back to budget talks on Tuesday evening. (Rick Conrad)
The Region of Queens is about to announce who its new top staffer will be.
Councillors will publicly appoint the region’s new chief administrative officer at a special meeting on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
In a staff report, acting municipal clerk Heather Cook says more than 40 applications for the job were received from across Canada.
Shortlisted candidates went through two interviews with the region’s CAO selection committee. That committee included Mayor Scott Christian, and councillors Maddie Charlton, Stewart Jenkins and Courtney Wentzell.
Dan McDougall has filled in as interim CAO since Joudry was fired.
The region’s new CAO is set to start the job in mid-June.
Queens councillors are also back to budget discussions on Tuesday evening.
This will be the third public meeting about the 2025/26 budget.
Councillors began their budget deliberations on April 24 by looking at capital and infrastructure spending. Last week, they tackled the operating budget.
On Tuesday evening, they’ll address issues that came up in the first two meetings, as well as any other changes or requests from councillors.
Mayor Scott Christian told QCCR last week that the region has about a $1-million surplus from 2024/25. But he said the specific surplus won’t be known until finance staff go through the final numbers and release the audited figures later this year.
Residents or the media were not provided with draft budget documents as they were last year. So far, only the region’s staff and councillors have a complete picture of the actual numbers from 2024/25 and the forecasted totals for this year.
The special meeting will be held at council chambers on White Point Road and livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook.
The Region of Queens won’t give the South Shore Flying Club a break this year on its lease fee at the South Shore Regional Airport in Greenfield. (South Shore Flying Club)
The South Shore Flying Club’s request for a break on its rent at the South Shore Regional Airport had a rough landing at regional council on Tuesday evening.
Region of Queens councillors voted down a motion from District 6 Coun. Stewart Jenkins to forgive the flying club its $4,000 lease fee for 2025/26.
Jenkins was the only councillor who supported the motion.
“The club is more than just a club. They’re stewards of the airport,” he told councillors. “Years in the past, this region used to pay somebody thousands of dollars a year to sit at the airport just in case there was a plane come in.”
The municipality owns the small airport in Greenfield, but two years ago, it planned to sell it.
Instead, the region signed 20-year leases in 2023 with the flying club and the Nova Scotia Drag Racers Association. The racing group pays $9,000 a year to lease the property for its events.
Under the flying club’s lease, it has access to the large hangar, but it also agreed to maintain the property for the region.
The club says now that it can no longer afford the annual fee. President Peter Gow wrote the newly elected council last October looking for the rent waiver.
He could not be reached Wednesday for an interview.
Jenkins said the club’s 34 members spend a lot of their own money maintaining the airport, terminal building, hangars and grounds. Three of the club’s members are also on call to respond to any problems at the airport, or to refuel a plane that’s landed.
“So we still have a viable airport. … But it’s also an asset that this region should be looking at seriously. And it’s also an asset that we pay very little to maintain. Everything else there is done by the club at their expense.”
According to the club’s financial statements, it recorded a loss in 2024 of $2,639.48. As of Dec. 31, it had a bank balance of $15,562.64.
Other councillors pointed to the club’s bank balance and its $25 annual membership fee, and said they could do more to raise revenue.
The club also spent $2,245 on clothing last year, as well as $1,241 on a new highway sign. Councillors said the club likely won’t have those expenses this year.
District 2 Coun. Maddie Charlton said she appreciates what the club does for the airport, but they also have a whole year to fundraise to help cover their costs.
And with budget talks coming up, she said she doesn’t want to commit to the rent waiver, especially with other groups in the region like the Queens County Food Bank asking for help.
“We are going into this budget process right now completely blind. We don’t know what our bottom line is. … I think it’s probably fair to say there will be some surprises there. We know we have huge infrastructure challenges. When I think about our strategic priorities, food insecurity is one of them, I think that would be an easy one (to assist) the food bank with the rent, but I don’t necessarily feel the same way with this ask at this time.”
After the meeting, Mayor Scott Christian said the club may be able to offset some of its operating costs through its application to the region’s Community Investment Fund.
The region usually announces the recipients of those grants later in the spring.
The Main and Market intersection in downtown Liverpool will be the subject of a traffic study by CBCL. (Rick Conrad file photo)
The Region of Queens will spend about $24,000 to do a traffic study of a downtown Liverpool intersection that has seen its share of collisions and close calls.
Last January, a 79-year-old woman was taken to hospital after being struck in the crosswalk at the intersection of Main and Market streets.
That reignited concern in the community about safety at the three-way stop.
Adam Grant, the region’s director of infrastructure, told council this week the intersection regularly has peak traffic volumes of 200 to 250 vehicles.
“Going back over the last year, we had lots of conversations regarding this intersection. Council’s concerns over the safety of it to pedestrian and motorists alike. We’ve been back and forth a few different times with reports, different analysis, different investigation.”
The previous council asked on Oct. 8 to issue a call for proposals for a traffic study of the area.
Grant said engineering firm CBCL could begin that work as early as Feb. 17. It will include looking at this intersection and others nearby, and installing cameras to monitor traffic and pedestrian movement. The firm will also interview pedestrians and motorists and use modelling software, and itt will look at projected traffic loads in the area.
Coun. Maddie Charlton said that many of the incidents seem to occur in one particular crosswalk, which runs from the post office to Five Girls Baking.
“There have been numerous pedestrians struck on one crosswalk in particular in this area with the most recent being the worst. Luckily, the woman who was struck survive. But it is an ongoing issue, and … although there haven’t been an insane amount of pedestrians hit, I think one is too many. And so we need to address that.
“I’m uncertain about this study in one sense, because I don’t know if it’s going to solve the problem that we want it to solve. … I’m curious why we couldn’t just remove that crosswalk in that specific area, given that there are other substantial crosswalks in that area.”
Grant said he’s not a traffic expert and he’s unsure whether that would be the best solution.
“I’m by far a traffic expert and I think that this study is a good investment to assure that we have a path forward to provide the paramount safety at that intersection.
“Every leg of an intersection is considered a crosswalk. Where you have increased pedestrian movement, you delineate that by putting a sign up or painting it. I’m not aware of anywhere that would have a prohibited crosswalk from occurring. So I think to do something like that, we need to to go beyond who we have in this room to make that decision (and) provide some advice and do it cautiously to make sure that we’re getting the right solution, trying to solve the problem we understand.”
In his report, Grant detailed 36 reported incidents in the area from 2009 to 2024, according to information provided by the Nova Scotia government.
Five of those involved pedestrians being hit by cars in the crosswalk. Other pedestrians have reported or witnessed near-collisions at that intersection.
Grant said the main focus of the study will be how to improve pedestrian safety in that intersection.
Mayor Scott Christian said he understands Charlton’s desire to address the issue as quickly as possible.
“Certainly we want to be well informed with respect to making the decisions, certainly don’t want to drag our feet on it. I know that this was something that was batted about a bit in the past, and it is a priority concern to be addressed for public safety.”
The study will be funded from the region’s accumulated surplus of $6 million. Grant said the company could report back to council as early as May.
(Transition House Association of Nova Scotia Facebook page)
A transition house in Bridgewater is trying to expand the services it offers in Queens County.
Harbour Houseprovides round-the-clock support for women and children in Lunenburg and Queens counties. And Queens County residents can access emergency shelter and transitional housing through Harbour House if needed.
It provides the only services in Queens County for women and children dealing with domestic violence.
There is no permanent physical location in the area for people to access Harbour House services. But they’re working to change that.
Kelly Ann Hamshaw, executive director of the South Shore Transition House Association which operates Harbour House, says they’re trying to get office space in Liverpool so that Queens County residents have a safe, secure and reliable spot to access services on a certain day each week.
“There’s a notable increase in demand for our services, both anonymously or in our emergency shelter or for our outreach programs and services across both regions, both in Lunenburg and Queens,” Hamshaw said in an interview.
The association asked the Region of Queens last year for funding of up to $5,000 to help with that. But because of the rules of the municipality’s Community Investment Fund, councillors approved funding of $1,250.
“We were wanting to have a presence in Queens County on a regular and consistent date or day so that individuals who wanted to stop in and come see us and access support would be able to do that,” Hamshaw says.
“But we will travel to meet individual women and make arrangements for a safe, secure place to meet them. We just wanted to have a more regular and frequent, secure location. … We have a desire to expand our service reach in Queens County.”
Transition houses around the province are calling for more support for people fleeing domestic violence.
Police say six women have been killed in Nova Scotia in the past three months by their male partners.
The Transition House Association of Nova Scotia says its member organizations supported about 4,500 women and children in abusive situations in 2024. It says the problem is only getting worse.
The Nova Scotia government declared intimate partner violence an epidemic last September and increased funding to transition houses across the province. But organizations that help people in abusive situations say more resources need to be directed to address the problem.
District 2 Coun. Maddie Charlton raised the issue of more funding for the South Shore Transition House Association at a council meeting in May. She told QCCR recently that ultimately, she’d like to see a secure shelter space locally for people fleeing abusive situations.
“I would like to see something permanent pop up in Queens so that we have our residents who want to access these services here who can stay in the community if they wish,” Charlton said.
“I think those conversations should happen as soon as possible and take some initiatives if we can because those numbers are terrifying. It’s becoming a pattern that you don’t want to see.”
Hamshaw said that people who need support or counselling in Queens County can access Harbour House’s services 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“All of our services are available to women seeking support from Harbour House in any area of Queens County. So they just need to reach out and make arrangements. So that would be safety planning, supportive counseling, perhaps assistance navigating the justice system, and any other supports that a woman may require. … Our professionally trained support workers are here to support the citizens of Queens County. … And we’ll make appointments to meet women in their community at a safe place.
“What’s important for everybody to know is that Harbour House is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Women can call us any time at 902-543-3999. And if somebody is in immediate danger, we always encourage them to call 911. Another thing if you know someone in an abusive relationship, it’s important to listen without judgment, validate their feelings and encourage them to seek support from professionals like us at Harbour House.”
Hamshaw says many people in abusive situations call anonymously, or they’re not ready or able to leave. Counsellors work with women to offer support and to create a plan they’re comfortable with.
“We do provide emergency shelter, which is safe refuge for individuals who need to come into our emergency shelter. A big part of what we do is counseling. So not all women are ready to access our emergency shelter or to end their relationships, but they do want support in navigating healthier relationships, boundaries, or safety planning or counselling after experiencing the trauma of leaving an abusive or domestic violence situation.
“Ultimately, we want to empower women to make choices that are best for them and their families. And we’re here to support them as they make those choices and provide the options that are available to them. So if a woman chooses that she would like to access emergency shelter, we have a network of shelters across the province. So not all women are going to feel safe in a community where the person causing harm resides or works.
“So a woman may call Harbour House, but makes a choice to go to another shelter under our umbrella that they feel safe and secure in. Some women may choose to stay near for things like child care, employment, or access to school, or even their support network in the community.”
WHERE TO GO FOR HELP
Harbour House services are open to Queens County women and families year-round, at 1-902-543-3999 or toll free at 1-888-543-3999 or by text at 1-902-514-4019. You can also visit their website here.
People can also call 211 or go online at ns.211.ca to access services in their area.
You can also call the Transition House Association of Nova Scotia toll-free line at 1-855-225-0220. Or visit their website here.
Queens regional councillors are looking for ways to help prevent more water crises in the region. (Henryk Niestroj via Pixabay)
While residents and businesses in the Liverpool area are being asked to cut back on water, Region of Queens councillors want to find ways to improve communication and deal with any future water shortages.
Last week, councillors asked for a comprehensive staff report on the region’s water and wastewater systems. They also want staff to develop a communication system to inform customers quickly when problems arise.
Municipal water users in Liverpool and parts of Brooklyn have been asked since Nov. 1 to restrict their water usage.
Water levels in the Town Lake Reservoir are too low to support the town’s usual consumption.
The region has warned people that without significant amounts of rain, more drastic measures may have to be taken.
Mayor Scott Christian said it’s important to investigate longer-term solutions.
“It has appropriately alarmed a lot of our residents and a number of members of council as well,” Christian said.
“So I think it’s appropriate that we ask those questions in terms of how are we going to avoid situations like this in the future. What’s our Plan B? How can we make sure that we do all we can to protect against known or foreseeable risks to the stability or the dependence of our water supply?”
Other councillors said they were also worried how the water supply could be affected if the Liverpool Fire Department needs to respond to a fire.
Liverpool fire chief Trevor Munroe could not be reached for comment Monday.
District 3 Coun. Courtney Wentzell said the region needs to address problems with its existing infrastructure.
“I think we’ve got an infrastructure problem on the west side of Liverpool from the town well to Union Street. This is very, very serious. We need to know what Plan B is, we need to look ahead and we need to look after people that already hooked up before we start hooking up new.”
The region has been criticized in the past for its efforts at spreading the word about water problems.
But some businesses and residents complained that they didn’t know about it until days after the order was issued.
People were also upset at what they saw as a lack of transparency about the reasons for the order.
Deputy Mayor Maddie Charlton said residents and businesses need to be informed more quickly and more directly.
“I’m also running into a lot of residents who are unaware that they’re supposed to decrease their water usage right now, so I think that this is critical that this happen so that residents can be alerted when needed in a very quick manner.”
CAO Cody Joudry could not give councillors a timeline for when staff will complete their report.
Shelley Walker is Queens County’s senior safety co-ordinator. (Rick Conrad)
UPDATED WED., NOV. 13, 12:27 P.M.
Queens County will be getting a full-time senior safety co-ordinator.
In their first meeting since the Oct. 19 election, Region of Queens councillors voted Tuesday to fund five-day-a-week senior safety services in Queens.
Representatives of Queens Care Society asked council in August to consider making the senior safety co-ordinator a full-time employee of the region.
In their August presentation to council, representatives from the non-profit society said they couldn’t afford to make the job full time. The group receives a $25,000 grant from the Nova Scotia government, as well as $5,000 from the Region of Queens.
Shelley Walker, the current co-ordinator, works three days a week. But advocates say the job should be full time because Walker can help only a fraction of the seniors in need.
The co-ordinator helps promote senior health, safety and independence, working with older residents to help them stay in their own homes.
Councillors voted Tuesday to provide up to $35,000 in funding to Lunenburg County Home Support to make the job full time until Oct. 31, 2025.
Coun. Maddie Charlton said she expects Queens Care Society to return to council before then to seek longer-term funding.
“I think that they would like an opportunity to see just how it fares out,” Charlton told council.
“It’s my understanding that the group is happy with this for now for the year. … I’m happy to support this now. They do need the increased funding to make sure we have that capacity.”
Society chairman Grant Webber told councillors in August that as a part-timer, Walker can help only 7.5 per cent of the 3,300 Queens County residents over 65.
In August, he asked the region to create a full-time senior safety position at a salary of $53,000 plus benefits, travel expenses and office space.
Webber told QCCR on Wednesday that he’s pleased the municipality OKed the funding.
“I think it’s a wonderful decision. We’ve got some things to work out and get an agreement with the municipality,” he said.
“We’re very pleased and we’re hoping that the municipality will take over full funding of the senior safety program, because with the funding from the municipality and the (provincial) grant, we’ll have a senior safety co-ordinator here for five days a week.”
He said other Nova Scotia municipalities have full-time co-ordinators and he hopes Queens will follow suit.
In an October staff report, councillors were told that historically, the co-ordinator focused on senior safety three days a week. For the rest of the week, she worked as a supervisor for Queens Home Support.
Financial difficulties forced Queens Home Support to close earlier this year. Lunenburg County Home Support now looks after those services in Queens.
According to the October staff report, the year-long funding will give the Region of Queens and the Lunenburg group time to assess the service.
On Tuesday, Queens CAO Cody Joudry assured councillors and the public that the co-ordinator will still be based in Queens County.
“There’s never been any discussion whatsoever about the idea that that position would be based in Lunenburg.”
In response to a question from Coun. Stewart Jenkins, Joudry said the region hasn’t yet analyzed how much it would cost to make the co-ordinator a municipal employee.
Region of Queens councillors chose District 2 Coun. Maddie Charlton on Tuesday as the region’s deputy mayor. (Rick Conrad photo)
District 2 Coun. Maddie Charlton is the new deputy mayor for the Region of Queens.
Councillors voted for Charlton, who was the only nominee, at Tuesday’s meeting, the first since the Oct. 19 municipal election.
Charlton’s term as deputy mayor is for two years. She won’t get a raise, though she will be compensated at the mayor’s rate of pay while she acts as mayor.
Scott Christian presided over his first council meeting as the region’s new mayor. Charlton was re-elected to council, as were Jack Fancy and Vicki Amirault. New councillors are Courtney Wentzell, Stewart Jenkins, Wanda Carver and Roberta Roy.
Region of Queens councillors make $20,865 annually, while the mayor makes $41,730.
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.
Shelley Walker is Queens County’s senior safety co-ordinator. (Rick Conrad)
Queens County could be getting a full-time seniors’ advocate by the end of the year.
At a recent regional council meeting, councillors voted to ask for a staff report on making the senior safety co-ordinator a full-time position with the Region of Queens.
Right now, that job is overseen by the non-profit Queens Care Society.
It is funded with a $25,000 grant from the Nova Scotia government, which is enough for three days a week. The society also receives $5,000 from the Region of Queens. The Queens District RCMP gives in-kind supports such as a cell phone and office space.
The society says it doesn’t have enough money to turn it into a full-time position. Shelley Walker is the current senior safety co-ordinator. There has been a part-time co-ordinator in the region since it was created more than 15 years ago.
The co-ordinator helps promote senior health, safety and independence, working with older residents to help them stay in their own homes. The co-ordinator helps with medical referrals, transportation, food insecurity and other concerns of seniors living on their own.
Representatives from the Queens Care Society appealed to councillors last week to make it a full-time position with the region.
Grant Webber, chairman of the society, told councillors that there’s great demand for the free service. But the current part-time position can help only about 7.5 per cent, or 250, of the 3,300 Queens County residents over 65.
He said other senior safety co-ordinators around the province are full time, supported by the province, municipalities or non-profit groups.
Webber asked that the region hire the co-ordinator on a full-time basis, covering benefits and expenses and providing office space.
“A part-time position is not enough to address the assistance and does not enable the co-ordinator to be proactive with education and check-in calls. All other co-ordinators in Nova Scotia are full time and either employed by the municipality or through foundations.
“We are hoping that the Region of Queens can also become the employer and provide the senior safety co-ordinator with the stability required to support seniors here in Queens County.”
Al Doucet, a member of the Queens Care Society, said Walker does a commendable job now for seniors in the region. He said she could do so much more as a full-time employee of the region.
“I’ve watched what Shelley does for this community,” he told councillors. “There’s all kinds of people that would do this, but I can tell you that Shelley does beyond what is needed.”
Councillors seemed receptive to the idea of bringing the position under the municipality’s umbrella.
Mayor Darlene Norman said the part-time position is funded until the end of the year, but that there is some uncertainty around whether it would continue after that.
Norman said the details would have to be worked out.
“I believe it is necessary that there be more investigation to determine who such a staffer would report to, is there a requirement to do a job posting, … salary range, things such as cars, all those things we would have to know to responsibly vote on those things.”
District 3 Coun. Maddie Charlton said she wanted to make sure that councillors got a staff report in time to make a decision about the position before the end of the year.
“I want to make sure that that position is protected and it’s not a bunch of frantic, going around trying to figure out last-minute, so I think we need some clear timing.”
Norman made a motion for staff to report by council’s first meeting in October on the municipality taking over responsibility for the senior safety program.
Region of Queens councillors Jack Fancy, David Brown and Vicki Amirault have declared their intentions for October’s municipal election. (Rick Conrad)
With less than three months to go before October’s municipal election, incumbents and former councillors in Queens County are declaring their intentions.
So far, three of the seven sitting councillors have said they won’t run again. Three others have declared they will run again.
District 1 Coun. Kevin Muise could not be reached. And Mayor Darlene Norman hasn’t yet announced her plans.
District 6 Coun. David Brown is one of the councillors who won’t be reoffering. District 2 Coun. Ralph Gidney and District 7 Coun. Carl Hawkes are the others. Gidney’s area will be changed to District 3. Former councillor Susan MacLeod, who placed second in the 2020 mayor’s race, will be running to replace Gidney.
Brown told QCCR that he feels he’s done what he can for his constituents. He represents the areas around Port Medway, Mill Village, Greenfield and Labelle. A newcomer to municipal politics in the 2020 election, he beat Jason Croft by about 130 votes.
“I feel like I’ve accomplished as much as I can accomplish in council and I’m not really happy with the process, so I’m looking at different avenues for moving on,” he said. “I just feel like we’re a municipal council, but we don’t govern like a municipal council. We still govern like a town council.
“It seems like everything we do is centred around Brooklyn, Liverpool and Milton and any time we try to get anything done outside of that core, it’s a struggle.”
He said he wasn’t criticizing his fellow councillors or municipal staff. And he didn’t want to provide examples of some of the struggles he’s had.
But he said he feels the Liverpool area is over-represented on council, with five councillors who have some part of their district in Liverpool, Milton or Brooklyn. With the redrawn boundaries, that’s down to four.
“Whoever goes into council from rural areas is just going to have to fight harder to try to get their areas recognized. Maybe if councilors coming in from Liverpool, Brooklyn, Milton, realize that they’re not funding 100 per cent of the cost of what happens in Queens County, but they’re expecting 100 per cent of the expenditures that are happening in Queens County, it’s not a fair and equitable solution for anybody.”
Brown said he was also frustrated with some of the criticism he’s received online and in person since he became councillor. He said he welcomes feedback from constituents, but he said sometimes it goes too far.
“There’s a lot of anger with people, in the public. They seem to think that because you’re a public figure they can say whatever they want to you. And council is not a high-paid position to put up with the amount of hours and the abuse that we’ve been taking from some people. So I’m just not interested in doing another four years of that.”
“I’m happy with what I did. I think council has done the best job that they could for the most people. It’s just most of the work is done in the centre of town and that frustrates me.”
District 3 Coun. Maddie Charlton will be trying for a second term. She joins District 4 Coun. Vicki Amirault and District 5 Coun. Jack Fancy, who have announced they will seek re-election.
Because of the boundary changes, Charlton will be running in District 2 this time. But it’s essentially the same area as she represents now in District 3, with the addition of part of White Point Road.
Amirault will still run in District 4, but her area now includes Danesville and East Port Medway. It also has less of Brooklyn.
And Fancy, who represents the Milton area, has said he plans to run in District 7, which is where he grew up. That area includes much of north Queens, including Caledonia and Kejimkujik National Park.
In 2020, Charlton made history at age 29 as the youngest person elected to Region of Queens council.
She told QCCR that she’s enjoyed her past four years in municipal politics.
“Although it has certainly come with challenges,” she said.
“I have certainly learned a lot over these last four years and I really think that younger representation at the council table is important.”
Along with bringing a more youthful perspective, she says she’s proud she’s been able to advocate for better access to council meetings for the public. She pushed for a regular evening meeting to make it easier for people to attend, as well as the upgrades necessary to livestream meetings.
Charlton says she believes that council’s communication with the public has improved.
“That was one of things that as a resident before I ran was something that was really obvious there was a bit of a disconnect there. There certainly have been improvements. And those are some that I’m really proud of as well. Besides the standing evening council meetings, I championed audio and video upgrades because people couldn’t hear when they tuned into the meetings. And I think it’s really important that residents can do that and access those meetings and listen to those meetings if they can’t be in the room. So I would say that’s still not perfect. But I think it has gotten better.”
Charlton said that communication breakdowns were partially responsible for the controversies over a new library.
“I would say that we need to slow down before we speed up. … We hit the gas too fast and different information was evolving over cost and I think if we would have just slowed down, we could have pieced things together in a more sensible way to then confidently make a plan that we could endorse going forward.”
David Brown says he regrets that council didn’t commit to a new library. They decided instead to move the library, at least temporarily, to the business development centre on White Point Road.
“I would have liked to have seen a library built. Having an actual brick and mortar standalone library built and not having that happen and the way the process worked out was one of my biggest frustrations in the last term.”
Charlton says that if she’s re-elected, she’d like to advocate for more youth programming and recreational opportunities. And she says she hopes other young women take a crack at council this time around.
Brown says he’s not sure what he’ll do next, but he’s going to enjoy his free time. His advice for people who want to run for council? Do your homework and be prepared to stick up for your district.
“Just to be prepared it’s not going to be the happy smiley place that you think it’s going to be,” he says.
“You’re in for a fight every day. If you want to get your area recognized and you want an equitable amount of expenditures for all areas of the county, it’s not going to go smoothly. There’s a fight involved with it. There’s a lot of argument. You have to do your research, know the policies, know what you want going in and know what your consittunts want going in because you’re representing those constituents, you’re not representing your own personal interests. … You have to know what all those constituents want so you can make the best decision for the most people.”
The municipal election is Oct. 19. This year, for the first time, Queens County voters will be able to vote in person or online.
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.
