Pedestrian Access
At their Feb. 20 committee of the whole meeting, the members of the New Glasgow Town Council voted to send a letter to Premier Stephen McNeil, cabinet ministers, local MPs and local MLAs demanding a meeting over the safety issue relating to pedestrian access to the Pictou County Wellness Centre.
Coun. Frank Proudfoot brought the issue to council and suggested that the meeting should “maybe also include a site visit,” emphasizing the dangers pedestrians face trying to access the Wellness Centre on foot.
Proudfoot told the rest of council that it’s not a matter of if someone gets hurt, “it’s a matter of when. All three levels of government had a hand in placing (the Wellness Centre) in that location, so it’s the duty of all of us to make sure citizens can access the location safely.”
Council discussed that the dangers are particularly egregious during busy times, when hockey games go on, many vehicles are parked, and people are forced to navigate dark busy roadways.
The matter needs to be formally approved in a regular council meeting before the letter will be sent.
Viola’s Place
Mayor Nancy Dicks plans to follow up with representatives with Viola’s Place, to discuss matters in a letter asking support for the shelter.
In its committee of the whole meeting, council discussed the matter, and expressed concerns that it is still waiting on the building analysis for the location, a 3-5 year operating plan for the shelter. A matter of additional concern to council was that the shelter is still commitments from other funders, which include some of the other towns in Pictou County. The Town of Stellarton, for instance, has delayed the matter of funding the shelter until its budget deliberations for the coming fiscal year.
There was a discussion of how much of a concern it was to council that the building in which the shelter is planned to be has not been purchased – and how that constitutes an impediment to other sources of funding, such as federal grants.
Coun. Jack Lewis said it’s no problem supporting the shelter, but emphasized the necessity of a proper assessment of the building, noting that the building has been vacant for a couple of years, and that to “jump right in there” without proper precautions would be bad idea, and could result in cost overruns.
HotSpot Parking
Council decided to await a review and recommendation by town staff on a review of a new proposed parking system, after hearing a presentation at its Feb. 20 meeting from representatives of HotSpot Parking at its regular Feb. 21 meeting.
HotSpot has collaborated with MacKay Meters to create a metered parking system that links up to smart phones – meters that have this new system are installed and gaining popularity in other Maritime cities, such as Halifax and Moncton.
The representatives spoke briefly to council about how the potential parking system would work. The system would entail putting stickers on meters, which allow residents to check, in real time, when parking spots become available, and pay for parking from their phones, saving them return trips to the meters, if they need to pay for more parking time.
It was disclosed to council that if the system is implemented in New Glasgow, people who sign up will get 30 minutes of parking for free as an incentive, and that the fees per month or year would allow access to the app, which can be “loaded” with money to pay for parking.
Deputy Mayor Clyde Fraser asked how the company makes money, and was informed that the system would be $20 a year to sign up, or $2 per month, and that the company implements transaction fee costs, every time a meter is utilized and paid for through the phone app.
After a brief discussion about the stickers on existing meters, and the possibility of installing new solar powered meters, council voted to send the matter to administration so that more research could be done and a proper recommendation be drafted up.
Bylaw Amendments
At its regular meeting on Feb. 20, council approved first reading of a bylaw meant to make a partial tax exemption for the Pictou County chapter of Big Brothers Big Sisters, and also approved a public hearing for a rezoning of the property at which Big Brother and Big Sisters is located.
The tax-related amendment would entail a 50 per cent tax exemption to a maximum of $1,000 for Big Brothers Big Sisters, at its 323 Macgregor Street location.
The proposed amendment to the property entailed the approval of a public hearing to rezone property at 323 Macgregor Street, to change it from a residential to an institutional zone, so that an administration office could be built there.
Access Road
Council approved the payment of the remaining 25 per cent of the cost, to close the Ross Property land transaction related to the Aberdeen hospital Emergency Department access road.
The original sales agreement of the land was partially completed several months ago. However, the final payment of the 25 per cent was dependent on the completion of an administrative review carried out by a third party, confirming the land valuation of $432,000.
