Some highlights from Tantramar council’s regular meeting September 12, 2023:
Drive thrus are back
Tantramar council gave third and final approval on Tuesday to changes that will allow for drive-thrus in the town’s two highway commercial zones.
The bylaw change was requested by Rashaid Tufail, owner of the former Pizza Delight building on Mallard Drive. In his application, Tufail argued that he has had companies interested in the vacant building, but they required the ability to open drive-thrus.
Now that the bylaw has been changed, Tufail will be able to open a drive thru that meets standards laid out in the bylaw, including a traffic analysis.
Parade route change to avoid Freedom Rally
Tantramar council has voted to change the route for the Fall Fair parade in response to plans for a Freedom Rally at Bill Johnstone Park on Saturday, September 23. A social media account called WorldWide Demonstration has posted ads for a rally in the park that afternoon just about the time that the Fall Fair parade was scheduled to travel along Main Street. Active living director Matt Pryde told councillors on Tuesday night that, “after consulting with the RCMP detachment here, with Sergeant [Eric] Hanson, it’s recommended that we change the parade route to avoid the Bill Johnstone area for that event.” Pryde told CHMA he felt that the language common to Freedom Rally-style events would not be compatible with a family-friendly parade.
The new route will start at Main and King as usual, but instead of continuing along Main to Dufferin, the parade will turn left down Bridge Street and then right on to Lorne, winding up at the train station. Pryde says the revised route is “actually the same route that we used the last time we had the Fall Fair parade many, many years ago.”
Councillors unanimously approved the change.
Repaving short stretch of Route 106 comes in at double the cost
All the bids on a Dorchester paving project that was expected to cost about $350,000 came in more than twice that amount, and so public works staff are regrouping, looking for more funding from the province. Town Engineer Jon Eppell told council on Tuesday that his department has asked the provincial department of transportation and infrastructure (DTI) to consider doubling the funding allowed for the project. “They advised us that they would entertain a request,” said Eppell.
The proposed project was for the resurfacing of a 310 metre stretch of Highway 106 starting at the former Village limit, and also the replacement of two culverts under the road.
The 106 is a provincially designated highway, which means the province covers the cost of maintenance, on an annual budgeted basis. The work is still coordinated and planned by the municipality, which then requests funding from the province. In this case, the amount requested and approved was less than half what contractors bid on the project. Eppell says there are a number of possible reasons for that.
“We are just seeing really surprising inflation from contractors the last few years,” said Eppell after Tuesday’s meeting. “And I think we’re also getting hit with the time of year where the contractors are busy. Their order books are filling up. And so they’re not interested in trying to do things perhaps at the usual rates that we might have seen earlier in the year.”
Eppell says he expects to hear from DTI next week on whether they can essentially double their funding of the project. If they do, council will reconvene for a special meeting to award the tender. If they don’t, the resurfacing project could be on hold until next spring.
Meanwhile the municipality is undertaking a large amount of roadwork this year, including Dorchester repaving projects that are budgeted under the Canada Community Building Fund, also known as the gas tax.
Art on the Marsh and MarshMends approved for Renaissance Sackville grants
Tantramar council approved two small grants recommended by Renaissance Sackville, an organization founded in 1994 which aims to offer seed funding and support to new community initiatives. Each year, the town budgets $25,000 for Renaissance Sackville, and over the course of the year the group submits a series of small grant recommendations to council for approval.
On Tuesday council approved giving Art Across the Marsh $950 to hire a designer redo their website in advance of the tour this October. And a new group called MarshMends will receive $3011 to get established as a non-profit offering training, workshops and repair services aimed at reducing fabric waste.
Councillor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell sounded supportive of both projects, but expressed concern that the grant to MarshMends would help cover incorporation fees. “It should be incorporated and legally exist before grants are provided,” said Wiggins-Colwell. “Approving this would set a precedent for grants to be provided for other not-for-profits that aren’t incorporated.”
A short discussion ensued around Renaissance Sackville and the types of activities the organization funds. Director of Corporate Services Kieran Miller pointed out that at least one grant had been awarded in 2021 that included the incorporation of a non-profit group. Treasurer Michael Beal told council that Renaissance Sackville’s purpose has been “to assist groups and organizations to get off the ground… So if council would were to consider this getting the group organization off the ground, then that could be the prerogative of it.”
In the end, council approved both grants, with one nay vote from Councillor Bruce Phinney, who said he felt one of the projects benefitted “too few people.”
Other items approved by council
Tantramar council also approved a number of other items on Tuesday:
- Agreement with government of Canada regarding payment schedule for $293,702.52 in RCMP backpay owed by Tantramar;
- Hiring of Heather Wells to run the subsidized canteen at the Civic Centre;
- Renewal of three year terms for two members of the Arts Wall board;
- Filling three vacancies on Climate Climate Change Advisory Committee for three months;
- Purchase five sets of bunker gear for the fire department at a cost of $24,184.50 HST included;
- Purchase of a new 3/4 tonne truck to be used as a command/response vehicle for the fire chief at a cost of $77,471.38 including HST;
- Paying for the disposal of Sackville water treatment plant filter media at a cost of $34,073.64 plus HST out of the Sackville water utility budget.
Council also heard three public presentations, from Trevor Donald presenting on concerns over a proposed NB Power high voltage transmission line project through Tantramar, from Frances LeBlanc of Hospice NB with an update on Maison Albert House, which opened in 2021 with financial support from the town of Sackville; and from Mount Allison Student Union VP Sadie Shelley, outlining plans for Pride Week 2023.
Councillor Bruce Phinney also served notice for a motion regarding a workplace harassment report submitted to Sackville town council in September 2021 that he says should be made public, but that the town and the New Brunswick Ombud say should remain secret.
