Region of Queens councillors passed their capital budget last week. (Rick Conrad)

The Region of Queens got a head start on a big part of its budget last week by approving its five-year, $54.3-million capital plan.

It includes more than $27 million in projects for this fiscal year alone.

Councillors wanted to approve their capital budget earlier this year so that municipal staff could work on issuing tenders before the spring.

“The purpose of bringing the capital investment plan to council at this point is so that we’ve got as much runway as possible before the fiscal year starts on April 1st,” said CAO Willa Thorpe, “so that staff have the opportunity to go to tender on projects with the runway of between January and April.”

The extension of water and sewer to the Mount Pleasant area of Liverpool accounts for almost $10 million of the 2026/27 spending.

Another $1.4 million is being set aside to upgrade and extend two kilometres of the main water transmission line from the South Queens Water Treatment Facility to Union

Street in Liverpool, and to upgrade the water main from Roy Turner Road to Mersey Avenue.

Some councillors want staff to fast track the replacement of existing water infrastructure before adding new areas.

So they voted to hire a consultant to analyze the costs and timeline of the main water line project.

Adam Grant, the region’s director of infrastructure, said it would probably take from six to nine months to get a report back.

District 6 Coun. Stewart Jenkins had many questions for staff about the capital plan.

He wanted to know why projects take so long to get done. 

“Would it not be better to stop anything new and just get these projects done so we can have a fixed cost on it? … Why are we adding more projects on when we can’t get ones finished?”

Grant said staff try to strike a balance between ongoing projects and new ones added to the list.

“There are a lot of projects on there. I think each year … we try to trim them off and council would like to add some… . So we try to balance it out what we can complete. What’s pertinent, and what’s unnecessary, trying to prioritize in that fashion.”

Mayor Scott Christian said it’s council, not staff, that adds work to the list. He said Thorpe, Grant and Finance Director Joanne Veinotte have told him they’re trying to improve the process.

“There is a concerted effort to be more realistic, what we’re budgeting for the projects that we actually expect to be done, and improvements with respect to the way that we’re making decisions about what we’re doing in-house, and what we’re shopping out and subcontracting out. So it would be my expectation that moving forward, we are going to improve that in terms of achieving the work in the year that we’re funding it.”

Some of the projects that have been held over, like the wall at the Old Burial Ground or the new Gorham Street planter between Home Hardware and Celeste’s Hair Salon on Main Street, caught Jenkins’s attention.

“How do we justify a planter at in excess of $97,000 for plants?” he asked Grant.

Grant said it’s actually a vital retaining structure in the walkway from Main Street to the waterfront.

“So it’s a couple hundred metres long. 
It’s brick, it’s 12 feet to 16 feet high in spots, it does have plants into it. But it’s a lot more than just a planter with some shrubbery. It’s being improved, I guess, for accessibility, as well as retention purposes, to protect the pedestrians.”

Jenkins also had some work of his own to add to the list. Councillors approved his motion to add $200,000 to the capital budget this year to work on dry hydrants around Queens County.

They are vital for many of the region’s fire departments to be able to access water sources.

Jenkins said that before his concerns were addressed, he was ready to vote against the budget. But he said he would vote for it even though he still had some reservations.

Councillors voted unanimously to pass the region’s 2026-31 capital investment plan.

Next up will be the region’s operating budget. Councillors are set to begin debating that on Feb. 24. Residents can have their say by filling out a survey on the region’s website.

Some of the 2026/27 spending highlights in the Region of Queens capital investment plan:

• Accessible washrooms, universal playpark at Queens Place: $425,810 (federal gas tax funding)
• Gorham Street planter rehabilitation: $97,630 (municipal reserves)
• Thomas H. Raddall Library renovations: $111,490 (federal gas tax)
• Old Burial Ground wall rehabilitation: $173,440 (municipal reserves)
• Queens Place LED light refit: $78,000 (municipal reserves)
• Queens Place roof remediation: $70,000 (municipal reserves)
• Sidewalk Millard to Harley Umphrey Section 1: $519,192 (municipal surplus)
• Astor Theatre improvements Year 1: $1,090,499 (municipal surplus)

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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 she said residents can participate in the budget process by filling out a survey on the region’s website here: https://www.regionofqueens.com/budget-engagement.

“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.

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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.

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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.

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Architects will spend the next six weeks assessing what kinds of upgrades are needed at the Town Hall Arts and Cultural Centre, which houses the Astor Theatre. File photo by Ed Halverson

The Region of Queens has hired architects to come up with a plan to modernize the historic Astor Theatre in downtown Liverpool.

DSRA Architecture of Halifax has experience working on heritage buildings such as the Lunenburg Academy, Province House in Halifax and Halifax City Hall. Councillors approved spending $17,500 from the accumulated budget surplus.

The region owns the Town Hall Arts and Cultural Centre, which houses the Astor. The Astor Theatre Society leases it from the region.

The Astor is limited in what kinds of events it can hold, especially in summer and fall, because it does not have a modern climate control system.

It relies on an oil-fired hot water furnace for heat and windows for ventilation.

The building also needs many upgrades to meet provincial accessibility requirements.

Elise Johnston, who is the region’s former accessibility coordinator and now its manager of capital projects, says hiring the architects will kickstart the process to assess the building’s needs. 

“As we know it can be quite stifling hot, especially in the summer,” she told councillors at a recent meeting.

“It’s very uncomfortable. So it affects their operations. It’s a big project. 
We have looked at a few independent reviews and designs, but then that didn’t take into consideration the accessibility (concerns). So if we’re going to do this, we need to do it in a holistic way.”

Johnston told councillors that the region and the Astor have discussed installing a modern HVAC system before, as well as an accessible lift to get to the second floor and a universal washroom. But those projects were discussed in isolation and not part of one overall plan.

She said hiring the architects will help get the necessary work started, “which would be to look at all the applicable codes, all the top priority needs, get some community engagement, and plan the steps forward. The main question is, what is priority, what can come first? 
How do we phase this over a period of time?”

Eric Goulden, chairman of the Astor Theatre Society, told QCCR that the much-needed upgrades could potentially be a multimillion-dollar project.

“All in all, they’re going about it in the right way,” he said.

“It needs an architect. It’s an old building. It requires a significant amount of work to protect its heritage. All good, all very, very good. And great support from the council.”

District 6 Coun. Stewart Jenkins asked whether the region gets any revenue from ticket sales at the Astor. 

Joanne Veinotte, the region’s director of finance, said a portion of each ticket sold goes into a special capital projects fund for the building.

Jenkins said that because the Astor is such a big part of downtown Liverpool, he’d like the region to develop a five-year plan.

“I think we need to do more to preserve this building and make it a viable building moving forward.”

Johnston said this project is meant to do that and to make it “a more revenue-generating building”.

She told councillors the architects plan to begin work immediately with a report back to council in about six weeks.

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Region of Queens Coun. Stewart Jenkins, Queens MLA Kim Masland and Greenfield and District Fire Chief Moyal Conrad at a funding announcement Monday about improvements at the fire hall. (Rick Conrad)

The Greenfield and District Fire Department will get much-needed improvements to its fire hall, with $600,000 in provincial funding announced Monday by Queens MLA and Emergency Management Minister Kim Masland.

“This funding will help ensure that the people who protect this area have the space and the infrastructure that they need,” Masland said at an event at the hall.

The support was part of almost $800,000 Masland announced for projects in Queens County at the Greenfield fire hall.

The Greenfield department is planning a $1.1- to $1.3-million renovation and expansion to its fire hall and emergency bays.

The work will ensure that the bays are the correct size for modern fire trucks. It will also create a dedicated bay for its rescue truck. Now, firefighters have to spend extra time driving a fire truck out of the bay to access the rescue truck.

The whole building is also getting a facelift, with new steel siding and other exterior improvements.

Renovations to the fire hall will make it even more useful as a community hall and a registered comfort centre.

Along with additional, expanded and accessible washrooms and separate shower rooms, the kitchen is getting a major facelift. At the fire hall’s popular fundraising breakfasts, volunteers can serve up to 300 people. With a new commercial kitchen, they will be able to serve more than 100 people an hour.

Chief Moyal Conrad told QCCR it will be the first time in 35 years that the fire hall has had significant work done.

“This will mean for us as a fire department it’s going to make my firemen safer, be able to respond faster and hopefully put a little more pride into their community with a new structure and all this gear potentially we could get out of this grant.”

The provincial contribution is on top of $200,000 from the Region of Queens Municipality and about $125,000 from the fire department’s own fundraising efforts.

Conrad said the department will raise the rest of the money.

Stewart Jenkins, a local business owner and municipal councillor for the area, is acting as the project manager for the hall overhaul.

He said the work will begin in a couple of weeks and be mostly finished by Christmas and likely wrapped up by April.

Jenkins said the work is vital to ensure the fire hall can continue to support the community. 

“It’s an important factor that we get the trucks out of the bays faster and especially the specific trucks that need to go can go immediately. And as far as the hall imporvements, it’s to become a centre for people if they need it. If there are power outages or whatnot, they can stay close to home and still get fed and showered and taken care of.”

Masland also announced $187,143.35 in funding from the province on Monday for groups maintaining trails in Queens.

The Queens Rails to Trails Association will get $144,345 for work on the Hunts Point Trail, including brushing, ditching, resurfacing and culvert replacement. The group will also get a total of $25,034 in an annual maintenance grant to look after various trails in Queens.

The Queens County ATV Association is receiving $17,763.75 for development of the new Deep Brook Trail, which will stretch from Highway 8 to River Road in Milton. 

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Alyssa Short, chairwoman of North Queens Active Living, details for regional councillors the track and field project at North Queens Community School. (Region of Queens YouTube channel)

A new field and running track will be built at North Queens Community School, thanks to funding from the Nova Scotia government and the Region of Queens.

Regional councillors approved $250,000 this week for the $1.1-million project at the Primary to Grade 12 school in Caledonia.

That’s on top of a planned $800,000 grant from the province.

Alyssa Short, chairwoman of North Queens Active Living, told council at their regular meeting on Tuesday that the field is “almost completely unusable”.

“And so the result is our athletes are not able to train at the school and that has historically been the case.”

Olympic track athlete Jenna Martin went to the school and couldn’t use the field to train, Short said. She had to go to Bridgewater, which is an hour’s drive away.

“There’s very poor drainage, the ground is uneven, it’s compacted,” Short told councillors.

“The water pools up in the middle and so it’s soaked all year round.”

And because it isn’t fenced, ATV riders have further damaged it by “doing doughnuts” in the field, she said.

“It’s to the point that the students are not even able to use the field for recess or for sports or anything.”

The field was built in 1984 with no proper drainage or fencing, Short said. The school’s outdoor classroom is also not safe to use, she said.

The new field will feature a 325-metre track, which is smaller than the regulation 400-metre size. Short said a larger track would have tripled the cost of the project. The field will be fenced, lit and have proper drainage. North Queens Active Living will maintain the field.

“We’ve gone with a natural turf field that will have fencing. And very importantly, it will be a very good quality walking track that will be used by the local community.”

Short said they hope to put the project to tender immediately, and have the work done over the summer and fall so that it will be ready to use next year.

Councillors said the new field and track are vital in a smaller, rural community like Caledonia and the surrounding area.

“I think it’s very important that this project be supported by this council,” said District 6 Coun. Stewart Jenkins, whose area includes North Queens.

“People out in the country have to travel so far for many things and when you start moving your children an hour one way and an hour back just so they can train on a track after they spend all day in school, (that) shouldn’t be unacceptable. I think we should move forward with this.”

North Queens Active Living had requested $250,000 through the region’s community investment fund. Instead, councillors voted to fund the project from their accumulated budget surplus.

This will be the second new track and field in Queens County. A $3-million, 400-metre rubberized track and artificial turf soccer field at Liverpool Regional High School is expected to be ready by early July.

After the funding was approved, Short told QCCR she’s “absolutely grateful” for the municipality’s support.

“I know the school is going to be thrilled, but I think the whole community is really going to get behind it,” she said. 

“It’s going to mean that athletes who have it in them to become athletes have the facilities to follow through on what they’re capable of. And I think there’s probably been a lot of potential lost in North Queens over many years. And I think that having this facility is really going to have a lot more athletes come out of North Queens.” 

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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.

Councillors fired the previous CAO Cody Joudry in mid-December. No reason was given for his dismissal. Joudry was on the job for just over a year, hired in September 2023.

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.

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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.

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The South Shore Flying Club maintains the South Shore Regional Airport in Greenfield as part of a lease agreement with the Region of Queens. (South Shore Flying Club Facbook page)

The South Shore Flying Club is looking for a break on its rent at the South Shore Regional Airport.

Peter Gow, president of the non-profit, says his group’s 35 to 40 members maintain the runway, hangars and grounds at the small airport in Greenfield.

“Between the insurance and the annual fee that we pay to the region, it kind of makes it pretty tight to keep operating,” he said in an interview Monday. “We’re just kind of run pretty thin.”

The flying club has asked the Region of Queens, which owns the airport, to waive the annual $4,000 rental fee.

Last October, Gow wrote to the newly elected council to ask for a break on the rent. District 6 Coun. Stewart Jenkins brought up the issue at last week’s council meeting. He asked councillors to support his motion for the rent waiver.

“They also provide a substantial service because they do keep an eye on the aiport, they clean it, they maintain it so that it can be used,” Jenkins told council last Tuesday.

“The problem is their limited revenue stream. Unlike other users of the airport, they don’t have 500 or 1,000 people coming to watch an event that pay money. It’s a small club with limited revenues.”

Two years ago, the region was on the verge of selling the airport. But after public backlash, municipal councillors decided to hold onto it. 

In spring 2023, the flying club and the Nova Scotia Drag Racers Association agreed to 20-year leases with the region.

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 drag racers have use of the small hangar.

“It was either we more or less agree to that or we don’t have an airport,” Gow says. “So we begrudgingly agreed to the lease with that stipulation that we would run it.”

Gow says the club has a few fundraising events each year, but it can’t sustain itself if it has to pay the rent on top of its annual $6,500 insurance bill.

“We try to do what we can here and there but everything is so expensive as everybody knows. It’s just kind of a bit of struggle. It just seems a bit odd that we pay a fee to operate the region’s facility.”

Gow said the small airport could help attract new residents to Queens County.

“We feel it’s very important. You take what’s going on around the world now, south of the border. Some of our American neighbours may consider moving to the area and that might be one of the things they look for — is there a viable airport there for someone who might have a small plane. It could make the difference between somebody moving to the South Shore and not.”

Last week, councillors said they were supportive of Jenkins’s motion, but voted to defer it to their next meeting on March 25 so they could get a look at the club’s financial statements.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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Campaign contribution disclosure forms are missing from the Region of Queens website for some candidates in October’s municipal election. (Rick Conrad)

Mayor Scott Christian got the most campaign contributions of any candidate in October’s municipal election in Queens County.

He received just under $10,000 ($9976.44) from 49 declared donors, some of whom are local small business owners and landlords.

The biggest donation to Christian’s campaign was $1,000 from Chad Clothier, who co-owns Rumclo Developments. They’re behind the already approved housing development The Point on the Mersey. They plan to build up to 146 detached houses and townhouses, as well as 82 rental apartments just outside Liverpool.

• CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS: Use this link to view breakdown by candidate

Christian told QCCR he believes his campaign raised just over $10,000 in total, including small donations that don’t have to be declared.

“I’m really proud of the amount of money that my team was able to fundraise and it did come from a pretty diverse swath of people. There were a lot of dribs and drabs contributions as well. I think my biggest contribution was $1,000 and my smallest contribution I think was a toonie.”

Christian said Clothier is a friend. He said he and his team began fundraising early, seeking donations first from the people they know, including personal and business connections.

“It shouldn’t come as a suprise to anyone who knows me that a lot of my social network includes a lot of people who are members of the business community. … I didn’t shy away from the notion that I was a ‘grow Queens’ candidate.”

Former Queens MLA Kerry Morash and former Region of Queens mayor Chris Clarke also contributed to Christian’s run.

Clarke gave $250 to Christian and to his opponent Terry Doucette.

Doucette declared $2,550 in donations from seven donors. The largest were $1,000 each from J. M. Reynolds Pharmacy, the company that owns Reynolds Pharmasave in Liverpool, and Mitchell Nauss of construction and consulting company MC Nauss Holdings.

Under Nova Scotia’s Municipal Elections Act, candidates had 60 days after the Oct. 19 election to file their contribution disclosure statements, even if they accepted no donations.

Everybody who runs must declare any donations over $50, or check a box confirming that they received no contributions.

Failure to do that can result in a fine of up to $2,500 or six months in jail.

Also, if candidates don’t submit a disclosure form, they forfeit their $200 deposit.

Disclosure statements from only 11 of the 19 candidates are posted on the Region of Queens website. Christian and Doucette were among the candidates who filed their disclosures on time. All other councillors except Jack Fancy met the deadline.

When QCCR recently asked Fancy about it, his disclosure form was posted the next week. He had no contributions over $50 to declare.

The region says all forms that were submitted have been posted. 

QCCR reached out to the candidates whose forms are missing. Those who could be contacted said they had no contributions to declare, but said they filed the necessary paperwork with returning officer Ian Kent.

Kent is an employee with Elections Nova Scotia, who was seconded to the municipality for the election. He could not be reached for comment.

Paul Deveau, who ran against Fancy in October’s election, said he filed the necessary paperwork and got his deposit back. But his disclosure form is not on the site.

“That’s kind of weird because I found it very professional and I found that Ian took his job quite seriously,” Deveau said.

“We had an exit meeting. And with the exit meeting, we had to return the voter list … and sign a declaration that we were going to remove all of our signs and we had to fill out that contribution sheet.”

Most candidates contacted said they were told they had to submit a campaign contribution disclosure form.

But some said they either couldn’t remember what forms they signed after the election or they didn’t submit a form because they had no donations to declare.

Candidate Gil Johnson said he got his deposit back, so he thought he did everything that was required.

“The reason I didn’t file was because I didn’t receive any contributions and didn’t know I needed to check the box.”

Coun. Stewart Jenkins, who was acclaimed in his district, said returning officer Kent had a checklist of the things he was required to submit.

“I was told to file a form, which I did, even though I didn’t have any contributions to claim,” Jenkins said.

A spokesman for the Department of Municipal Affairs said in an email that it’s up to the municipality to make sure candidates comply.

“It is the municipality’s responsibility to address situations where an elected municipal official is not in compliance with requirements surrounding disclosure statements, and the province expects candidates to comply.”

Under the Municipal Elections Act, the municipal clerk is supposed to keep track of all documents related to the election.

Mayor Scott Christian told QCCR he asked about the missing documentation and was told by now former municipal clerk Pam Lovelace that everything that was submitted to the region has been posted to their website.

He said he was unsure why not all forms are posted, though he added that the region’s deputy returning officer has been on leave for some time. 

Here is a list of the candidates whose campaign contribution disclosure forms aren’t posted yet to the Region of Queens website:

• Candice Weagle
• Douglas Bent
• Susan MacLeod
• Star Donovan
• Paul Deveau
• Alex Gallagher
• Tina Brown
• Gil Johnson

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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Tony Flint, a resident of Bristol Avenue in Liverpool, speaks to Region of Queens councillors on Tuesday about a proposed 24-unit apartment building on his street. (Region of Queens YouTube channel)

Residents of Bristol Avenue in Liverpool say they’ve lost faith in Region of Queens councillors after a bungled vote on a controversial proposed development.

A 24-unit apartment building is planned for the area, which is the main thoroughfare into and out of downtown Liverpool.

Residents say the development is too big for the neighbourhood. They say the population could triple in an area with only a two-lane street, one sidewalk, and already hectic traffic.

When the development was approved by staff last July, residents submitted a petition and filed an appeal.

Councillors heard the appeal on Tuesday during their regular council meeting. As part of that process, the appellant and the developer can make their cases to council.

Developer Larry Cochrane was at the meeting, but left before the appeal was heard.

Resident Tony Flint told councillors that congestion and noise will only get worse if the apartments are built. He and other residents are also concerned about pedestrian safety and the ability for emergency vehicles to get to the new building.

“So all of a sudden you have a massive influx of people in an already very busy street,” he said. “I think that looking at the drawing, the developer probably tries to do as much as he can with the available space, but it’s really, really cramped.”

Mike MacLeod, the region’s director of land use, said no traffic studies were completed or required as part of the process. He said Cochrane met the requirements of the Land Use Bylaw.

Councillors debated a motion to deny the appeal and allow the development to go ahead.

At first, a majority of councillors voted 4-3 not to reject the residents’ appeal. But then, council took a break. After discussion among the mayor, councillors and the interim CAO, they returned.

Mayor Scott Christian said that a councillor was confused by the motion.

“At least one member of the council didn’t understand the way that they were voting with respect to that motion,” Christian told the meeting as Bristol Avenue residents watched.

“I’ll ask for your forgiveness. I’ll just try to be transparent here. We have four of the seven of us are new. I myself am a new chair here. I want to circle back on that motion to make sure that it’s 100 per cent clear for the council with respect to what they’re voting for or against.”

So they voted again. Three councillors — Jack Fancy, Wanda Carver and Stewart Jenkins — changed their vote to deny the appeal after all.

Coun. Courtney Wentzell was the only vote against rejecting the appeal.

After the meeting, Bristol Avenue resident Janet Perry was visibly upset.

“I’m disappointed and I don’t understand the two separate (votes). We had the motion, it was defeated. They go out and change their minds. I think it’s totally unfair.

“I’ve lost faith in council and the process that we went through.”

Resident Roger Wilcox said the process to approve new developments is flawed.

“The town has a problem because of this development procedure that’s inadequate. (They’re) scared of being sued. … That’s why they changed their vote.”

Flint said he’s worried about someone being injured or killed because of the increased traffic. And he worries that council doesn’t care.

“It means that regardless of the possible dangers to the public, they’re just pushing it ahead anyway. Certain people are friends with certain people and that’s the way it works.”

Developer Cochrane is the treasurer of the South Queens Chamber of Commerce. His wife is the vice-president. The chamber’s president is Ashley Christian, who is married to Mayor Scott Christian.

The mayor told QCCR after the meeting that he wasn’t in a conflict.

“From my perspective, I don’t feel there’s a conflict of interest. Certainly if residents feel that there is, I’d be happy to speak to that or think about it. To be honest, … my wife’s involvement with the chamber of commerce or Larry’s involvement with the chamber of commerce would have no bearing on my decision-making process or procedural approach to handling that situation.”

During the appeal, some councillors appeared to sympathize with residents’ concerns, especially about traffic and safety. But Christian said they were handcuffed by provisions in the municipality’s land use bylaw.

“The challenge is that legally we really are bound to the municipal planning strategy and land use bylaws.”

Barring another council reversal, the way is now clear for the four-story apartment building to go ahead.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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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.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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QCCR acknowledges the support of the Community Radio Fund of Canada’s Local Journalism Initiative.