Waterfront Development Controls

A motion to investigate implementing development standards for the Liverpool waterfront generated lots of discussion at the Region of Queens Municipal Council meeting Monday. The guidelines would only apply to the waterfront, the only C-4 Zone in the municipality.Deputy Mayor Darlene Norman says the request came from the Planning Advisory Committee made up of three councillors and 8 members of the public. She says PAC determined there needs to be design criteria for the waterfront area and guidelines should be implemented in keeping with the natural esthetics of what is already there, in particular Shipyard Point and Privateer Park. Norman says discussions got off-line slightly when some councillors wondered if some of the C-4 should be zoned parkland only with no development. That may have caused some confusion on the motion which was passed by a 4 to 3 vote.

CAMs Classes Cancelled

A break from classes for students at Chester Area Middle School in the 6 and 7 wing. Due to localized flooding at CAMs students in Grades 6 and 7 will not have classes tomorrow (Tuesday, June 22nd.) They were sent home this morning upon arrival at the school. For updates on the situation check the School Board's website at www.ssrsb.ca

Early Morning Fire

Arthur's Auto Repair in Oak Park, Shelburne County was destroyed by an early morning fire that broke out. Around 6am Several Fire Departments were out battling the Stubborn Fire that was spotted by a passing motorist. Barrington, Port Clyde ,Island & Barrington Passage, Shag Harbour-Bear Point, Woods Harbour, East Pubnico and West Pubnico Fire Departments responded to the call. The RCMP and Nova Scotia Power also responded to the scene. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Crousetown Armed Standoff

A 43-year-old man is in custody following an armed-standoff with police in Lunenburg County late Sunday night.

The RCMP responded to a call to a residence in Crousetown where they found a man, whome they described as "suicidal", armed with a shotgun.

The Mounties secured the area and negotiated with the man for several hours before successfully negotiating his surrender.

The RCMP report that, although the man fired four shots in and around the building, no one was injured.

After an examination at the South Shore Regional Hospital, the Mounties held the man in custody overnight.

He appears at Provincial Court in Bridgewater on Monday.

Town Parkland

Bridgewater Town Council plans to re-designate and rezone various Town properties to parkland. Mayor Carroll Publicover says in most cases the parcels are recognized and used as parkland but have not been zoned accordingly . The housekeeping amendments include minor related text changes to the Land Use By-law including the addition of community gardens as a permitted use in the Park Zone. The 11 parcels include the Wile Carding Mill parking lot and six lots of land on Pine Street donated to the town for use as a passive park.

Auxiliary Funding

The South Shore Regional Hospital Auxiliary is again helping with funding needs. The Auxiliary has made a commitment to purchase a door to the balcony at the Bridgewater Hospital, a ram for the main entrance at South Shore Regional, and a Centrifuge machine to support blood collection at the new Ross Resource Centre. South Shore Health C-E-O Alice Leverman says the Board is most fortunate to have the support of the Auxiliary to fund the hospital's needs.

Quality Improvement Action Plan

South Shore Health is moving forward with its Quality Improvement Action Plan. Staff and Physicians were asked for help indentifying area for quality improvement, waste reduction and cost savings. C-E-O Alice Leverman says they came forward with hundred of ideas for making South Shore Health better. She says three themes emerged from the input into the Q-I Action Plan.
As the first major step, Leverman says they are beginning put a new organizational structure in place that will serve as the foundation for implementing their strategic plan. There will be smaller executive team consisting of a V-P of Health Services, a V-P Corporate Services and a V-P Medicine. Leverman says the initial focus will be on administrative and operational costs such as call- back, overtime, product use, travel and other areas identified in savings.

Recreation Funding for South Shore

Recreation facilities in the South Shore region will receive almost 360 thousand dollars in grants through the provincial Recreation Facility Development Program. The funding was announced Friday in Yarmouth by Lunenburg West MLA Gary Ramey. The Yarmouth YMCA, received $150 thousand dollars for upgrades to the facility. Investments in the South Shore Region include :
-Municipality of Lunenburg: develop Marine Park, $28,000 -Municipality of Shelburne: repairs to Tom Tigney Trail Bridge, $30,000 -Shelburne & Area Minor Baseball Association: convert field to a baseball field, $4,000
-Shelburne Lions Club: Repairs/upgrades to Shelburne Lion's community hall, $9,660
-South Shore Regional School Board, Chester Area Middle School: repair track and field facilities, $9,000
-South Shore Regional School Board, Hebbville Academy: upgrade playground, $14,000
-South Shore Regional School Board, Wickwire Academy: develop playground, $25,000
-Village of Chester Commission: upgrade Chester Lido Pool, $88,000 over two years
The program assists community groups, municipalities and other not-for-profit organizations develop facilities to increase public participation in sport and physical recreation.

Chamber Appointments

Cy Mayo has been appointed President of the Bridgewater and Area Chamber of Commerce. He takes over from Past President Craig Collins. The Board of Directors recently held the first meeting of the new fiscal year with the main agenda item, the appointment of the executive committee. Sandra Richards is the Vice-President and Barry Smith the Treasurer. Other Board members are: Shawn O'Hara, Jerry Porodo,
Dave Hadley, Glen Hall, Aidan Matchett and Judy Koster .More information on the Chamber's initiatives and current projects can be found at www.bridgewaterchamber.com.

Hospital Overcrowding a Challenge

Hospital overcrowding continues to be a challenge for South Shore Health. C-E-O Alice Leverman says it has been a very busy week with anywhere from 6 to 10 people waiting in Emergency for a bed. She says there's usually a spike in the early morning Leverman says while the opening of new long term care beds has provided some relief, the situation is difficult to predict because it's dependent on a lot of factors. She says overcrowding is expected to be an ongoing challenge due to the age and health status of the population. Since the opening of Ryan Hall on May 19th, 19 alternate level of care patients have been moved from hospital into long term care facilities. A total of 28 additional long term and residential care beds are scheduled to open in Lunenburg County over the next few months. Leverman says hospital overcrowding causes a lot of concern and frustration for patients and families. They may experience delays in admission, long wait or transfers to another hospital for care. Surgeries may also be cancelled. Leverman says it also creates a stressful working environment for staff.

Town Gets New-Used Truck

Queens Chrysler Limited the supplier of a used 4X4 three quarter ton truck for the Town of Bridgewater. There were four responses to the Town's Request for Proposals to supply a used vehicle. Two of those did not meet the required specifications. Queens Chrysler was the lowest of the two remaining bids and was awarded a tender for 33 thousand, 335 dollars to supply a 2006 Dodge Ram, 25 hundred truck. The vehicle has 64 thousand 200 kilometres but there is an extended warranty available. The truck will be used for operations at the Brookside Cemetery.

Name Change for School

A rose by any other name..... in this case, a name change for the South Shore Alternate/Adult School. Principal Glen Matthews says the name change incorporates all three campuses of the South Shore Alternate and Adult School (Gorham Memorial Education Centre campus in Liverpool; the South Shore Alternate School Bridgewater campus located at the NSCC, and the Mahone Bay campus, located at the Mahone Bay Centre. Matthews says the new name better reflects the innovations that have been brought forward in educational delivery to those students who benefit from our uniqueness, and what we have plans for in the future to better serve our students at all three sites (plus our satellite campus), at the Middle Level, High School, and Adult High school. The new name,the South Shore Innovative Learning Centre was unanimously approved by the South Shore Regional School Board

School Boundary Changes

The South Shore Regional School Board has deferred decisions regarding boundary changes for a number of catchment areas. Board Chair Elliott Payzant says a number of students and parents will be affected by the proposed changes and the Board passed a motion to to defer any decision making until after public consultation can be held in the fall.
There are currently a number of grey areas where students can choose which school to attend. They include the Lacey Mines Road where students can attend either Chester District Elementary or Gold River. The Meldrum Avenue area in which students can choose to attend Hebbville, Pentz or Bridgewater Elementary schools, and the Pine Grove and Lower Branch areas where students are given the choice to attend New Germany Rural High or Park View Education Centre. Meeting dates will be communicated with the communities affected by the possible changes.

Bus Stop Concerns

The relocation of a school bus stop in Pleasantville has some parents concerned for their children's safety. Tracey Wagner made a presentation to the South Shore Regional School Board Wednesday night regarding the move of a bus stop from Northwind Road. She spoke about the community concerns with the safety of the new bus stop location and asked the Board to have the stop moved back to the original location. Board Chair Elliott Payzant says the matter has been referred to the Finance and Operations Committee to look at including an appeals process in the policy. He says the Board followed all the guidelines of the current policy and the bus stop site has been inspected and deemed safe by the provincial Utility and Review Board. The buses had been going into the Northwind subdivision for over 20 years before the stops were moved in April.

Probation for Italy Cross Facebook Threat

A Lunenburg County man has been sentenced to 18-months "probation" for using Facebook to threaten his mother's ex-boyfriend.

Jonathan James Dagley of Italy Cross appeared at provincial court in Bridgewater yesterday after pleading "guilty" to threatening to harm Allan Vernon Brown of Branch LaHave in March.

Brown went to the RCMP on March 2nd with several computer printouts showing threats Dagley had made against him on the social networking site.

The court was told that Brown dated Dagley's mother for several years before it ended four or five years ago.

In addition to being placed on probation, Dagley was ordered to have no contact with Brown and to take mental health and anger management counselling as ordered by his probation officer.

Dagley received six-months "probation" in 2004 for "uttering threats" and a further 12-months "probation" in 2007 for the same crime.

Learn to Fish (L2F) Program

Volunteers from South Shore Bassmasters and the Hants West Wildlife Association who will be helping students across the province learn how to sportfish. The Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture's Inland Fisheries Division has helped teach volunteers from the groups how to deliver the Learn to Fish (L2F) program to reach more classrooms. More than 30 groups across the province received training this year, which means another 13-hundred youth will know about beginner sportfishing.
Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Sterling Belliveau says sportfishing is a great way to enjoy our lakes and rivers in a safe and serene family setting.

Employees Buy Time

The Town of Bridgewater has approved a policy that allows its employees more flexibility in their work schedule. Staff will be allowed to purchase additional time off and pay for it in equal increments over the course of a year. The plan is one option that can help employees balance multiple commitments while making sure their work gets done. The policy must fall within the constraints of operational requirements and is only available to permanent, full-time ,non-union staff. The policy is modelled on one that is currently in place in Halifax Regional Municipality.

Bicycle Lanes for Bridgewater

Bridgewater will soon have a number of bicycle lanes and signage installed along Glen Allen from Aberdeen Road to LaHave Street. Mayor Carroll Publicover says they have a specific plan for infrastructure to be put in place as part of the Town's Active Transportation improvements. The cost is being matched by the province through the Green Mobility Capital Grants Program. Council approved an unbudgeted 66 hundred dollars for the installation of 46 sets of shared bicycle lanes as well as 11 share the road signs. The Town's contribution is Gas Tax eligible. Publicover says he's looking forward to the day when more people are walking and biking. He says it won't happen unless the Town shows some leadership and takes some initiative..

Special Purpose Tax

Bridgewater residents will see a new line item in their tax bills next year. A special purpose tax which could total 80 dollars a year, is being implemented in 2011/12 to help pay the capital costs of the Lunenburg County Lifestyle Centre. Mayor Carroll Publicover says property owners will be able to see how much the Lifestyle Centre will be costing on their property tax bills for the next 20 years. Council is seeking public input on three proposed options. The commercial and residential rate the same , the commercial rate half of the residential rate and the commercial rate three quarters of the residential rate. Residents have until June 28th to voice their concerns when Council will make a decision on which option to implement .

Elder Abuse Awareness Day

Today is Elder Abuse Awareness Day today in the Province. It coincides with World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. Minister of Seniors Denise Peterson-Rafuse says the most
effective way to prevent abuse is by increasing awareness of the
signs and forms of senior abuse.

Signs that an older adult may be experiencing abuse or neglect
include:
● adult say they are being harmed
● show signs of depression or anxiety
● seem fearful around certain people
● become socially withdrawn (having less contact with people who they have been close to in the past)
● become passive and very compliant
● have unexplained physical injuries
● lack food, clothing and other necessities
● show changes in their hygiene or nutrition (e.g. signs of
malnutrition)
● suddenly become unable to meet financial obligations
● have unusual withdrawals from their bank or other financial institutions.