Pesticide Ban

Bridgewater Town Council is being asked to ban the use of lawn pesticides and go with an all green lawn care policy. In a letter to Council, Kathi Petersen says putting such a policy in place would be great long-lasting gift for the area. Councillor David Mitchell who supports a ban, says 117 other Canadian Municipalities have such a ban in place so Council wouldn't be breaking new ground. There was also a suggestion to ban the sale of lawn care pesticides, but Mitchell says that's not his major concern. According to polls conducted by Corporate Research, 70% of Nova Scotians support a pesticide ban.

Queens Council Support

Region of Queens Mayor John Leefe says a five week shut down of the Bowater paper mill in Brooklyn is not an indication the plant will permanently close. He says he doesn't understand comments to that affect by the head of the local union. Leefe says the employees can take comfort that Municipal Council is fully behind them adding the mill is an important contributor to the economy in Western Nova Scotia. He adds the company is one of the largest shipper out of the port of Halifax. The Abitibi Bowater Mersey plant will be idle from August 29th until October 4th

Mahone Bay Taxes

An increase in the Mahone Bay's residential assessment means a decrease in tax rates. Overall assessments are up more than five percent to almost 107 million. Most homeowners will pay about the same tax bill as last year. Council was able to drop the residential tax rate down to a dollar 18 cents. Commercial rates increased by nine cents to 2.83 to cover the business occupancy tax phase out. Mahone Bay's budget this year is worth 1.96 million dollars.

Staying On

2009-04-29 09:21:05

He's into his 10th consecutive term at the helm of Lunenburg Town Council and that's where Laurence Mawhinney is staying put.  He has no plans to jump from municipal to provincial politics when the election writ is dropped, possibly this week. Mawhinney is one of Nova Scotia's longest-serving municipal leaders. He is into his 30th year as Mayor, a position he has held since 1979.  His name has been rumoured as a possible  Conservative candidate for the Lunenburg  riding  held by Michael Baker who died March 2 at the age of 52 after battling Cancer for nearly three years.

Car Show Cash

2009-04-28 08:51:53

Bridgewater Town Council has decided not to back an antique auto show projected to draw 10,000 visitors creating a projected economic spinoff of more than $600,000.  The Great Atlantic Antique Automotive Show requested $3,000 from Town Council to help market the two day show July 17th to the 19th at the MARC in Dayspring.  Mayor Carroll Publicover says Council voted 4 to 3 against referring the request to budget deliberations, partly because they needed an immediate answer, and the request came in late. The group is also approaching the councils of Mahone Bay and town of Lunenburg for support, and has already received considerable support from the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg.

R-o-Queens Budget

2009-04-21 06:01:04

It's a status quo budget for the Region of Queens Municipality as far as tax rates.. Mayor John Leefe says Council was able to hold the line on residental rates at 88 cents per 100 dollars of assessemnt for Districts 1 to 12.  Tax rates for Liverpool also remain unchanged at $1.85 per $100 of assessment.  Commercial rates are going up in all districts by 8 cents due to the phase out of the Business Occupancy Assessment.  Leefe says the greatest challenge for the Region will come into play next year with the loss of 1.6 million in revenue from the Nova Scotia Power  Corporation grant.   Leefe says the implementation won't take effect till the next fiscal year, April 1st, 2010. A number of other municipal units will also be affected by the province wide re-evaluation of Nova Scotia Power properties.

Joining Forces

2009-04-20 05:45:09

The Bridgewater and Area Chamber of Commerce recently made presentations before two councils seeking input of their budgets.  Chamber President Craig Collins told both the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg and Town of Bridgewater having cohesive municipal units will result in creating an attractive business environment for the current business base and a competitive advantage to luring new business to the region. Sandra Richards, Chair of the Chamber's Advocacy Committee says there are concerns about rising commercial rate assessment trends, and on the day to day issues, there are concerns about the rising cost of fees in respect to services provided.