Region of Queens Administration Building. Photo Ed Halverson

Region of Queens Council was back with a jam-packed agenda in the first meeting after summer.

Council meets just once a month during July and August and have now returned to their regular twice monthly schedule.

Council heard from the public to start the meeting. A question was raised whether water utility customers would receive a refund from the municipality considering they haven’t had drinkable water in over a month since the treatment station was struck by lightning.

Mayor Darlene Norman says the Region of Queens won’t be providing a refund as the utility is its own legal entity and rates are set by the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board.

Next council awarded the South Shore Multicultural Association $3,000 from the Community Investment Fund to assist with National Day of Truth and Reconciliation events being held at the Hank Snow Museum at the end of the month.

Council then heard from finance staff who reported the municipality had a $1.6 million operating surplus last year. Mayor Norman says the surplus can be attributed to a number of factors including: $1.2 million in unexpected income from deed transfer tax and investment returns, as well as $400,000 that went unspent on staff positions the Region has been unable to fill.

Two contracts were then awarded following request for proposals involving an evaluation of the Region’s Information Technology systems as well as a staff and council compensation review.

Mayor Norman says it’s been many years since either was properly assessed and the municipality needs to know which IT systems work and why.

The compensation review will be undertaken to determine if staff and council pay are in line with what other municipalities and the private sector are offering.

Council went on to discuss Queens County Rails to Trails and the Queens County ATV Associations’ request to redesignate the trail corridor from West Street, behind the municipal offices building to Silver Rock Road to multi-use. Currently that trail only permits pedestrians, and the organizations would like it opened for off-highway vehicles and bicycles.

The Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities will be hosting their fall convention and Region of Queens decided to send five members of council.

Finally, the Region will be applying for intervenor status at an upcoming hearing at the Nova Scotia Aquaculture Board regarding a site expansion at the salmon farm in Liverpool Bay.

The next council meeting will be held September 26 in council chambers beginning at 6:00pm.

To hear the broadcast of this story click play below.

E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com

photo Ed Halverson

Region of Queens council discussed proposed electoral district boundary changes and decided to formalize their  agreement with donors to build a new outdoor pool.

The evening meeting started with a minute of silence in recognition of Truth and Reconciliation Day on Friday.

Council then passed two items that were discussed at previous meetings: a policy for tree maintenance on municipally owned land and choosing which roads would be submitted for upgrade under a provincial cost-sharing plan.

The Region will go 50/50 with the province on whichever road the province determines they will upgrade out of a list of four roads prioritized by the municipality.

In order they are College Street from Shore Road to Pleasant Avenue, Roxbury Road, Oliver Street and Fostertown Road.

The province will decide if work will be done on any or all of those ahead of the release of next year’s provincial budget.

The bulk of the meeting was taken up with a discussion around realigning the electoral districts within the municipality.

Every municipality in the province must review their districts and number of representatives every ten years to ensure the appropriate number of councillors are representing an equal number of residents.

Following public consultation and a staff report, council decided the preferred option was to keep one mayor and seven councillors but that the number of councillors representing portions of the former Town of Liverpool would be reduced from three to two.

Mayor Darlene Norman says council felt it was a matter of fairness.

“The majority of councillors believed that it’s misrepresentation, from the public’s view, when you have three councillors representing the town.”

Norman says council recognizes that some of the districts are still geographically quite large but the review dictates it’s the number of voters to be represented within each district which must be considered and not necessarily the size of the area a councillor would have to travel.

A final recommendation on the electoral boundary review will come before council at their next meeting.

Following the in-camera portion of the meeting Norman says council accepted a recommendation to enter into an agreement with Holly Murphy and Michael Murphy for the construction of an outdoor community pool.

“Part of the agreement with the very generous donors is that the terms of this agreement remain confidential as well as their gift amount,” said Norman.

The mayor says timelines and budget decisions around the construction will be made public as the project goes forward.

She’s optimistic the pool will be ready sometime in 2024.

The next council meeting will be held October 11 at 9:00am in council chambers.

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

To listen to the broadcast of this story, press play below.