Employees at Queens Place Emera Centre work on Tuesday to get the ice ready for skaters. (Rick Conrad photo)

By RICK CONRAD

The arena at Queens Place Emera Centre is set to reopen on Friday.

The Region of Queens made the announcement late Tuesday evening. 

The region announced on Dec. 29 that it had to cancel all on-ice activities immediately, until a new condenser could be installed.

The municipality had already planned to replace the ice-making equipment early in January, but it was forced to close the rink earlier than expected.

“Actually, ahead of the scheduled time when we thought it would be replaced,” Mayor Darlene Norman said Tuesday.

Cimco Refrigeration finished installing the new equipment on Jan. 5. Queens Place staff have been working since then to get the ice surface ready.

The new $255,000 unit is stainless steel. Norman said they expect it to last longer than the original unit, which had been operating since Queens Place opened in December 2011.

“So it should operate for many, many, many more years than the one we had to replace.”

The old condenser unit sits outside Queens Place Emera Centre on Tuesday. (Rick Conrad photo)

The rink’s regular users, such as Queens County Blades and the Queens County Minor Hockey Association, had to search for ice time elsewhere while the arena was shut down. 

The region notified groups of the planned shutdown in late November. 

While they said they were disappointed they couldn’t use their home rink, they adapted by using ice in other communities.

Melissa Robinson, an executive member with Queens County Blades, said she’s happy that the rink is open again.

“I think it’s great that we’re able to kind of get back in the swing of things, hopefully this Sunday,” she said Wednesday. “Originally, we weren’t supposed to have ice on Sunday, so it’s good that we’re back.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Queens Place ice surface. Photo Ed Halverson

By Rick Conrad

Groups who use the arena at Queens Place Emera Centre are juggling their January schedules as the region replaces a vital piece of ice-making equipment.

The Region of Queens, which operates Queens Place, announced on Dec. 29 that it had to cancel all on-ice activities immediately, until a new condenser could be installed.

The municipality had already planned to replace the condenser early in January, but it was forced to close the rink earlier than expected.

At a September council meeting, councillors approved the purchase of a new $255,000 condenser. Staff told councillors that the refrigeration equipment began to malfunction in late summer or early September.

Cimco Refrigeration was hired to repair a minor ammonia leak, but found several more problems. Only the arena is affected by the shutdown, though the indoor walking track is closed until Saturday.

The region hasn’t given a timeline for when the rink will reopen. But it said it will post notices online when the work is completed and the ice is reinstalled.

In a release late Friday afternoon, the region said work began on Jan. 2 and the new equipment has been installed.

“The refrigeration plant has resumed operation and staff are currently working towards reinstating the arena ice which will take several days,” the release said. No one from the municipality was available to comment.

Melissa Robinson is an executive member with the Queens County Blades. The group has almost 40 skaters who have had to look for ice time elsewhere with the closure. The club also holds a Learn to Skate program for youth.

Their members would typically use the Queens Place ice surface twice a week, four hours on Wednesdays and four and a half hours on Sundays.

They’ve been able to use other rinks in Shelburne and Bridgewater, Robinson said. And some of their members have gone as far as St. Margarets Bay.

“We definitely have lost ice time, because as an example the senior skaters would skate for two hours on a Sunday,” Robinson said. 

“Typically they only skate an hour and a half at other clubs. … Our higher level skaters are on the ice three to four to five days a week. So they’ll do two days at Queens Place and then they’ll scatter out to the other rinks with the other clubs.”

She said the club had to cancel a scheduled Skate Canada assessment day at Queens Place.

“So there’s been a little bit of disruption, definitely.”

Robinson says the club’s skaters have adapted.

“We’re just moving along accordingly. It’s unfortunate they can’t skate at Queens Place, but they can adapt at another rink and that’s just what we’ll have to do in the meantime and move along.”

Both Robinson and Terrena Parnell, president of the Queens County Minor Hockey Association, said they were notified in advance of the planned closure.

Parnell said by email that while the timing isn’t ideal, “Queens County Minor Hockey understands equipment can fail at any time and needs to be replaced.”

The association has 87 players, in addition to 29 members who are board members, coaches, managers or bench staff.

“The hope is that with weather co-operating and no unforeseen issues with the installation of the new condenser,” Parnell said, “QPEC will be up and running quickly and we will have lost less ice time than was scheduled with the original replacement dates.”

Parnell said that teams are playing away games in the meantime “and preparing for the reopening of QPEC to bring practices and home games back to the arena.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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Region of Queens administration building. Photo Ed Halverson

Region of Queens council will once again delay a decision on the location of a new library.

Municipal staff had recommended building at the Liverpool business development centre but after a flood of e-mail correspondence and public comments at the last meeting councillors decided to discuss the matter further. They have requested staff look into the feasibility of temporarily relocating the library at the business centre until a new permanent home can be found.

In the recommendations portion of the meeting council determined three properties were considered dangerous and unsightly and directed staff to take action.

Councillors also approved a staff request to apply for over $10 million from the provincial municipal capital growth program. The program supports municipalities’ efforts to address infrastructure needs.

Region of Queens would like to use the funding to support the Mount Pleasant service extension project which has three distinct components: transmission main upgrades, water lift station upgrades, and extending services to the growth area around Mount Pleasant. The current estimated costs of the project are in the neighborhood of $21.5 million.

Council then approved spending $750 as their contribution to co-host the New Year’s Day levee alongside Mersey branch 38 of the Royal Canadian Legion.

Council then moved into discussions, the first two items involved road names, the first being Lingley Lane and the second Audrelyn Lane. No other streets in the region currently have those names so they will be assigned to those streets at an upcoming meeting.

A discussion whether to support Mill Village fire department’s request to purchase a new truck for $620,000 will come back to council once the chiefs of the Regions’ five fire departments have an opportunity to discuss long term planning for replacement of their engines. The municipality contributes 25 percent of the cost to the fire service whenever a new truck is purchased.

Next municipal staff asked council to clarify the intent of the travel expense policy. Staff are looking to clarify the language and will bring the policy back for Council’s consideration at a future meeting.

The last item on the agenda was a request from the Kiwanis Club of Liverpool to take over operation of the concession stand at Queens Place.

Under the proposal, the club will be responsible for ensuring compliance with food safety certificates and insurance as well as obtaining a food operating permit, while operations will be handled by volunteers from the Queens County Blades and Queens County minor hockey association. Councillors were supportive of the idea as it would provide an opportunity for all three local organizations to raise money.

Regional staff will work out details with the Kiwanis organization and bring the item back before council at a future meeting.

Council only meets one time in December due to the holidays. The next council meeting will be January 9^th at 9:00am in council chambers.

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Thomas H Raddall Library. Photo Ed Halverson

A new library could come in at a third the cost of previous designs if Region of Queens Council decides to build it in the Liverpool Business Development Centre.

Projections from staff indicate refurbishing the building to accommodate relocation of the Thomas H Raddall library would cost in the neighbourhood of $1.15 million.

Home to Belliveau Veinotte accounting and Global Empire Call Centre, the building is commonly known as the call centre.

Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman says the municipality is under pressure to find a new home for the regional library as the lease at its current location in the Rossignol Centre is up at the end of 2024.

“Library users will recognize the fact that our present library location is on really weak legs,” said Norman. “There are difficulties with the building sometimes with power and heat. The building’s been for sale now for, I would say a year. The price has been reduced and Council is getting very nervous that unexpectedly, we may be without a library site.”

The Region of Queens has wrestled with where to build a new library since it decided to allocate approximately $3 million from an unexpected budget surplus to its construction in spring of 2022.

The library site selection committee twice recommended an area by the sledding hill at Queens Place for the relocation. Council declined the first time but decided to accept the committee’s recommendation when it came around a second time.

But council scuttled the plan once more when it came to light that close to a million dollars was needed to connect the sledding hill library site to the existing road and infrastructure.

The proposed site at the Liverpool Business Development Centre meets most of the criteria established by the library site selection committee.

It has 6,000 square feet of available space, parking for 24 vehicles, outdoor lighting, outdoor space for programming, isn’t in a known flood zone and is already owned by the municipality.

However, the nearest sidewalk is 350 metres away and the site is currently not accessible by public transit, although the staff report mentions Queens County Transit could potentially extend service to the location.

Norman says the Centre has a lot of positives to offer but people may struggle to get to the site. She is concerned if the library is not centrally located, the Region could be creating a problem that will hound residents for years to come.

“We need to realize that if we spend a million, or a million and a half, or a million and three quarters, or whatever it takes, there’s no such thing as renovating, spending that much money and just making a temporary library,” said Norman.

“It will have program rooms, it will have its own washrooms, it will have [a] staff room, it will have its own entrance. When all of those things are put in there, I would say that is where the library is going to stay for decades.”

Council heard the presentation from staff and will decide at a future meeting whether they will go forward with the Call Centre location for the new library.

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Thomas H. Raddall Library. Photo credit Ed Halverson

Municipal staff have suggested building the new library close to the Region of Queens administrative office.

In a release issued, Thursday Nov 16, staff say the Liverpool Business Development Center, on Harley Umphrey Drive, “offers an ideal space, including ample parking, access to green spaces, and more room for programming.”

Another benefit of the proposed relocation is that the Liverpool Business Development Center is owned by the Region of Queens.

The library’s lease in their current location at the Rossignol Centre in Liverpool is set to expire at the end of 2024.

Municipalities are responsible for providing space to locate regional libraries in Nova Scotia. Finding a new site to relocate the library has proved contentious for Region of Queens Council.

In the 2022/23 budget, Council voted to use part of a $3 million surplus from the federal and provincial governments to build a new library. A committee was struck shortly after to recommend a site. Their unanimous choice was that it should be located at Queens Place.

Council initially rejected that option in June of 2022 and asked the committee to come back with another recommendation.  Councillors raised concerns at the time that the location would be too remote for people coming from the Liverpool area.

In January 2023, the committee again determined the Queens Place site was best and this time Council approved their recommendation and agreed to build the new library on the Queens Place location.

However, in March, Council rescinded that approval in a recorded 5-3 vote after learning the estimated cost of extending the driveway to the proposed site would be $950,000.

If Council agrees to move the library to the Liverpool Business Development Center, it will join existing tenants Belliveau Veinotte Accountants and Global Empire Call Centre.

In July of this year, Council awarded a $2,031,273 tender to Sea Coast HVAC for the installation of a new HVAC system at the Liverpool Business Development Center.

A draft design concept for the new library will be presented to Council for its consideration. If they agree to move the library to the Liverpool Business Development Center more design work will be required before renovations begin.

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Entrance to Region of Queens council chambers. Photo Ed Halverson

Tuesday’s Region of Queens Council meeting began with a couple of petitions to address speeding on Main Street in Liverpool.

Council moved the item to discussions and decided to have staff look into the costs and process of lowering the speed limit from 50km/h to 40 km/h at the far end of Main Street ending at Fort Point Rd.

Moving to the recommendations portion of the agenda, staff recommended reappointing three members of the Planning advisory committee to their current positions. Members can serve either a one- or two-year term. The intention of the policy is to stagger the appointments, so the entire committee isn’t replaced at one time.

Next council heard a recommendation to waive tipping fees for a property that has fallen into disrepair since the previous owner died in 2001. Her beneficiaries have agreed to cover the cost of demolition but as they are on a limited budget they are asking the municipality to forgive the tipping fees. Council will vote on the recommendation to waive the $700 charge at their next meeting.

A request to enter into a development agreement to expand what is currently two short- term rental units in Summerville into seven units was denied as council and staff felt the number of structures would be too much for a parcel of land which is only 26,5000 square feet in size.

Council appointed two new representatives to the new Police Advisory Board. North Queens will be represented by Donald Kimball and South Queens will be served by Elaina Gaetan.

The Diversity and Inclusion Action Team also added a new member as council approved Tammy Conway-Denning. She brings over twenty years’ experience working with vulnerable and diverse populations to the position.

The long-discussed new outdoor pool was next on the agenda. Council was presented with a site plan based on the criteria they had previously established including a six-lane competitive pool, seating for spectators, a thermal pool and a zero-entry side. The cost to fulfil the wish list comes in at $8.22 million.

Council directed staff to proceed with the next steps of developing an estimated operating budget including expenses and revenue; a financial plan including possible funding models and grant opportunities for the current capital cost deficit; construction procurement options; and to obtain further Project Management services.

The last recommendation was to provide the Hunts Point Community Hall Association with $6,139 from the Community Investment Fund to install a new roof.

In the discussion portion of the meeting Council received a report to improve the heating system at the Town Hall Arts and Cultural Centre, home of the Astor Theatre. Theatre personnel have applied for federal funding to offset the cost of installing a new HVAC system.

Council then directed municipal staff to work alongside theatre group to determine what work will be performed and how it is to be funded.

The next Region of Queens Council meeting will be held November 28 at 6:00pm in Council Chambers.

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(L-R)Christopher Clarke, Kim Masland, Darlene Norman and Andrew MacVicar at the groundbreaking for the new Queens long term care facility. Photo Ed Halverson

Years of wrangling to get financing and another two years of planning culminated in a groundbreaking ceremony Monday at the site of the new Queens long-term care home.

Public Works Minister and MLA for Queens Kim Masland and Mayor Darlene Norman joined Queens Manor Executive Director Andrew MacVicar and Board Chair Christopher Clarke at the podium to announce the first physical steps to building the new facility across the parking lot from Queens Place.

In her remarks, Masland said providing a new long-term care home is the reason she got into politics.

“I know Christopher, when he came to me we started talking about this in 2017 when I was elected and I said if I ever make government I’ll make you one promise and it’s the only promise I’m going to make anyone and that is I will deliver the funds for a new long-term care facility in Queens, and here we are.”

Once completed, the new care home will replace the county’s two existing facilities, the privately run Queens Manor and the Region of Queens’ Hillsview Acres.

Norman says the municipal facility has served its purpose for decades and with the new care home, residents have a lot to look forward to.

“It’s been part of the Region for so long, there will be many that will miss it. But to know that the residents are moving into a new facility surrounded by people and children and playgrounds and skate parks and life, it’s a wonderful thing.”

Combined, the aging facilities can currently accommodate 90 residents while the new home will increase that capacity by 22 bringing the total number of available beds in Queens up to 112.

MacVicar says the building is designed with the most modern best practices in mind and was the result of much consultation between residents, staff and professional architects.

“We were very keen to include the people who will use the facility on a day-to-day basis, hands on. So, we included people who work in laundry, people who work in the kitchen, our CCAs our nurses, our environmental staff, our residents, family input, all the way up to board input, and just overall community input. There are a lot of hands and a lot of minds that were involved in the creation of the plan.”

Construction of the new Queens long term care home gets underway. Photo Ed Halverson

Clarke says he’s worked since 2013 to get a new long-term care facility for Queens and is delighted the province stepped up to secure financing.

“It’s a little under $100 million. Nova Scotia Housing is financing the project for the Queens Manor board. We will own the facility. It will be mortgaged, I suspect, over 40 years so we repay Nova Scotia Housing to pay down that mortgage.”

The new, as yet unnamed long-term care home is scheduled to open in 2026.

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Family of David Rudderham at his induction on Queens Olympic Wall. Photo Ed Halverson

Two more distinguished athletes were honoured with spots on the Queens County Olympic Wall.

Portraits of Wheelchair Basketball athlete David Rudderham and Para Archery competitor Brian Ward were raised alongside the previous seven inductees in a ceremony held at Queens Place on Tuesday.

According to the municipality, the Queens Olympic Wall was created to recognize the accomplishments of high-performance athletes, coaches and officials from Queens County who have participated in World Olympic, World Special Olympic and World Paralympic Games.

The two latest additions were recognized posthumously and were represented by their families.

Rudderham, a Port Mouton native, was honoured for his participation on the Canadian Wheelchair Basketball team at the 1976 Olympiad for the Disabled in Toronto.

Family of Brian Ward at his induction in the Queens Olympic Wall. Photo Ed Halverson

Ward competed as a member of the Canadian Para Archery team at the 1980 Arnhem Netherlands, 1988 Seoul, South Korea and 1992 Barcelona, Spain Paralympic Games.

Master of ceremonies for the event was retired veteran CBC Sports broadcaster, Steve Armitage.

Armitage said recognition on an Olympic Wall is important not just to acknowledge success, but to inspire others to achieve as well.

“But I think one of the key reasons and maybe the biggest reason is to inspire the next generation to someday be included on that wall,” said Armitage. “In the not too distance future, hopefully, some athlete will walk or wheel through that door, glance at that wall and say, I want to be on that wall. And will then dedicate themselves to weeks, months, years of preparation and competition to get to the elite level that you have to be to join that group on the wall.”

With the addition of Rudderham and Ward the total number of inductees on the Queens Olympic Wall is up to nine.

The wall is featured prominently when you walk into the main entrance at Queens Place and can be viewed during regular hours of operation.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Entrance to Region of Queens council chambers. Photo Ed Halverson

A relatively light agenda at the Oct 12 Region of Queens council meeting started out with preparations for winter.

Council awarded the tender to truck bulk road salt to the lone submission, VanDyk Excavation & Truckin’ for $78.76 per metric tonne.

Visitors to Queens Place will see a new ice resurfacer in the summer of 2024 as council agreed to purchase a new electric Zamboni at a cost of $179,975.  Funding is coming from the province through a Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage grant valued at $205,000. The balance of the funds will be used to install the charging unit and make any necessary modifications.

The region will also partner with the province to pave a 200-metre-long section of Oliver Street. Queens will pay $50,000, half the cost of the total $100,000 project with the province picking up the balance.

Council next agreed to make an application to the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board to provide a one-time reduction of the consumption rate for residents affected by the two-months-long boil water advisory. If approved, residents will see the 70 percent reduction on their January bill.

Council then issued a dangerous and unsightly order for a property at 9777 Highway 8 in Caledonia near the fire station. The owner now has 30 days to clean up the site or they will be responsible to pay costs to the municipality to complete the work which includes demolishing a makeshift outbuilding, removing debris, and levelling the property.

In the discussion portion of the meeting councillors asked staff to report back with solutions for illegal dumping at Grey Boxes in private roads in Labelle.

Staff were also asked to provide council with options for reducing homelessness in Queens.

The next council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday October 24 at 6:00pm in the Seaside Recreation Centre in Eagle Head.

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