Today on the CHMA Local Report:
- Most councillors against going back to in person meetings;
- No mask bylaw for Sackville;
- Chignecto Balance sculpture gets approved;
- Featuring local artists in the Blooms’ porch;
- UNB studies opioid use in young people;
- A new instalment of the Check In, with Tantramar Senior College president Heather Patterson;
- and the Maritimes COVID update.
No news cases in the Maritimes
There were no new cases of COVID-19 reported over the weekend in the Maritimes.
There are now six remaining active cases in the Maritimes, all in New Brunswick.
Premier Blaine Higgs and Chief Medical Officer have announced a press conference for 2:30pm Tuesday to provide details on Public Health recovery alert levels.
Councillors speak against a return to chambers
At their online meeting last night, Sackville town councillors spoke overwhelmingly against the idea of returning to council chambers in person for future council meetings.
Most councillors felt that online meetings were working, and that returning to in person meetings would be taking on an unnecessary risk.
Here’s Councillor Andrew Black:
“We still have an opportunity to do our business. We’re doing our business right now. And we can make that work. Yes, maybe we do need to look at how we can get the public involved, how we can get the media involved. I think we should. I think that’s important. It’s a piece that we’ve been missing. And I think that we need to do something about that. But we can still do our business in this format, effectively. Are we at our best? Maybe not. Maybe being in council chambers is a little bit better, possibly. But I think that we’re still doing what needs to be done.”
Councillor Shawn Mesheau was the lone voice saying he would consider a return to chambers.
Mesheau said that as long as council and staff follow protocols, he felt it was similar to many of the other activities that have returned to normal, sanctioned by Town council, including the opening of parks and the return of staff to town hall.
“We expect our staff to come to work every day and do their bit and social distance. Can we conduct our work this way? Sure. Is it the best way? No. When will the time come that we say, now’s the time. I mean, we can keep putting this off and putting this off. I think personally, we should try this, see if it works, and and see what comes from it.”
In response to questions, CAO Jamie Burke said the town would have the space to maintain physical distancing of councillors and staff while inside town hall.
He was not clear on what would happen in the public gallery, but indicated there might be a space for a handful of citizen spectators.
No mask by-law for Sackville, but other measures might happen
The last item up for discussion at last night’s town council meeting in Sackville was the possibility of mandating mask-wearing through a municipal by-law.
Mayor John Higham says there’s been some debate about whether or not municipalities have the jurisdiction to impose mandatory mask rules.
CAO Jamie Burke says the town’s legal counsel is not clear on whether the town has the jurisdiction to require people to wear masks. He also pointed out that a mask bylaw would involve a process at council and three readings at public meetings.
More of a concern, he said, was the idea of enforcement. With one bylaw officer on duty, he said he worried the phone would ring off the hook, especially when students started returning to town in September.
The province’s Chief Medical Officer of Health has said that masks are already mandatory in New Brunswick, anytime that physical distancing can’t be maintained.
In Nova Scotia, the public health order has taken a slightly different approach, requiring masks at all times inside buildings with general public access. There’s an exception for people once seated in restaurants.
Councillor Allison Butcher said that she found it refreshing to go into a store in Nova Scotia and see mask compliance very close to 100%. Though she would like a mandatory mask rule for Sackville and New Brunswick, Butcher acknowledged the considerable process involved in passing a by-law. She suggested a public education campaign on current mask rules might be called for.
“I wish that we could put up signs that would somehow pleasantly and in a friendly way remind people that New Brunswick does have a mask mandate already. But the mandate is if you’re going to be inside and you can’t guarantee you’re going to be able to stay six feet away from people, you need to have a mask.”
Councillors made other suggestions to increase mask compliance without tackling a town by-law process.
Mayor Higham summarized the plan:
“I think we have a whole set of… we’re not coming to a resolution here, but what we have is several suggestions that I think is actually quite a strategy overall.
One, a letter to the Chief Medical Officer of Health on the question of masks and harmonizing with Nova Scotia’s approach.
Two, asking for education and communication tools that the Chief Medical Officer of Health might have or be willing to produce about masks.
Three, town to consider the public spaces of their public buildings to make it a policy as part of the COVID operational plan, that masks are required.
Four, to entertain, with the BIA, about an inventory of how local businesses are planning to enforce the provincial mandate which does apply to them.
And maybe the fifth thing is for the town to consider, because we’ve been looking for ways to help local businesses, to consider setting aside a little bit of budget for an ability to purchase some of those tools, communication methods, et cetera.”
Mayor Higham said he would work with CAO Jamie Burke to get action on some of these items within the next few weeks.
Chignecto Balance gets council approval
Sackville will be getting a new piece of public art, despite last minute concerns that some councillors were considering quashing the project.
Council voted to approved the awarding of the contract for the Chignecto Balance sculpture to Vancouver sculptors Slipper Liu Studios for $25,000.
The sculpture is 15 feet high, and depicts a cattail with a working weathervane on top and a compass at its base. It’s one of three proposals submitted in response to a request for proposals (RFP) for public art on the theme of climate change, and was the unanimous selection of staff and the Mayor’s Roundtable on Climate Change.
Deputy Mayor Ron Aiken voted in favour of awarding the contract, but not before telling council why he almost didn’t.
“I was torn about how to vote for this one because in my mind, it has precious little to do with climate change. It’s very nice piece. I don’t argue the value as public art. But when you have to make something with smelted metal, put it on a plane ship it here. The argument for it being somehow contributing to climate change gets a little thin for me. And I would serve a cautionary note. If we’re going to do anything about climate change, we have to go a lot further than these sorts of actions.”
Other councillors pointed out that the $25,000 for the project was already approved and budgeted in December 2019, before the town issued its RFP.
Councillor Shawn Mesheau expressed concern that the chosen artist was based in Vancouver, and not from the region. After CAO Jamie Burke explained how the RFP was circulated to the local arts community and also nationally, Mesheau seemed satisfied and supported awarding the contract.
In the end, Councillor Bruce Phinney was the lone voice voting against awarding the contract for the sculpture.
Phinney said he felt council should have had more say in the choice between the three proposals, and pointed out that the money for the art piece was set aside before COVID.
“And the thing is, is we need to turn around and look and see exactly how we’re spending our money. And maybe we could put this off until next year, and maybe use that $25,000 plus HST, maybe even to put towards the climate change coordinator.”
At a presentation last week, the Mayor’s Roundtable on Climate Change outlined their plan to secure an annual budget of about $125,000 to hire a climate change coordinator and pursue other projects. Roundtable presenter Richard Elliot suggested the town would be asked to make a partial contribution of about $25,000.
The Chignecto Balance could be installed by late November or early December.
Blooms “porch pop-ups” to feature local artists
Sackville businesses are getting creative in how they operate during the pandemic.
Meg Cunningham brings this report on how one local shop is expanding within its space to featuring local artists and craftspeople:
The University of New Brunswick is conducting an online survey to study opioid use and young people. The study aims to gather information about opioid use in New Brunswickers from 15 to 25 years old.
The 10 minute survey will ask participants about their opioid use, beliefs, and resources, and explore the experiences and needs of young adults using opioids in New Brunswick.
The survey is completely anonymous.
The link is available on the AIDS NB Facebook page or on UNB’s website under project recruitment.
Checking in on Tantramar Seniors College
Finally on today’s CHMA Local Report, we have another instalment of the Check In, speaking with Heather Patterson of the Tantramar Seniors College.
That’s it for the CHMA Local Report.
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