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By Linda Harrington

Several options were discussed, but the consensus of the meeting "concluded each of the bridge proposals presented pros and cons and not everyone would be happy" with the final outcome of the new bridge to be constructed in Bass River 2024-25.

It was almost a full house as over 60 people gathered at the Victoria Hall, Bass River on Sept. 28^th to revisit a discussion about the proposed location for a new bridge to replace the existing Hwy 2 structure between the Veterans Memorial Park and the Dominion Chair General Store. There were varied opinions on what location would be best, considering existing businesses, pedestrian traffic (including young children, to and from school), costs, traffic patterns and infringement on the existing parks in the community.

Colchester North MLA Tom Taggart hosted the meeting, providing an opportunity for concerned citizens to express their concerns and opinions and to ask questions of those in charge of the project.

Greg Chisholm, Construction Manager for Dept. Of Transportation Northern District said it is hoped tenders for the new bridge and deconstruction of the existing bridge could go out this fall with the project beginning in the Spring/Summer of 2024.

At a previous meeting a Pedestrian Traffic Survey was requested, and this report was presented by Greg Chisholm and Luke Crocker, Construction Engineer with Dept. Of Public Works. The proposed new location would include a stop sign on Hwy 2 for traffic coming from the direction of Truro and a sidewalk on the north side of the bridge (with potential for a sidewalk on both sides). Pedestrians would be able to cross on Maple Avenue and then walk along the north-side sidewalk. Traffic coming from the Parrsboro direction would not have a stop sign but a reduction in speed was a consideration for the new design.

The proposed new bridge location further up Maple Ave has a wooden arch bridge design, allowing an increase of about 6 feet allowing for more water flow underneath.

Many residents have been concerned about past flooding. Long time resident Jim Grue said he had seen lots of floods over the years and noted the river used to be dredged every few years to remove gravel. Tom Taggart said he hoped to be able to address some of these flooding issues in the future but the flooding down river was not part of the bridge proposal at this time.

There were four bridge locations considered during the planning stages. One involved moving the road over, passing through the site of a former gas station and come up the right side of the river. This would be more intrusive to several properties, potentially doubling the cost and could have environmental risks when disturbing contaminated soil. Traffic would no longer pass by the General Store.

Many local residents were very concerned about the impact the latest bridge proposal could have on Veterans Memorial Park. MLA Taggart assured them he had been working hard to keep any encroachment to a minimum. There was much discussion about exactly how much of the Park will be changed and ensuring protection for the existing memorial trees.

Erma Cox, a former principal at West Colchester Consolidated School put together an informative presentation looking at another option. This option would move Highway 2 from its existing location at the corner onto to what is known as the Feed Mill building and Elliott house. This option would not impede on the Veteran’s Memorial Park location and give more operational space to the General Store.

Tom Taggart noted the engineers had looked at the option Erma presented (this resembles what was known as Option 2) but it was determined to get proper elevation on Maple Ave to meet Hwy 2 at required angle, the General Store would have to be demolished.

There was also concern about the edges of the road currently washing away along Maple Ave., down to the store. This was something Public Works needs to look at in the future, perhaps installing a larger culvert.

After much discussion, it was concluded each of the bridge proposals presented pros and cons and not everyone would be happy. The engineers would be made aware of new suggestions and see if anything else could be done, especially making sure Veterans Memorial Park had the least amount of disturbance possible. Greg Chisholm said talks would continue with stake holders, including the owners of the General Store to see what can be done in front of the store to make it safer for traffic and pedestrians. MLA Taggart said he would look into options of moving the bridge slight distances from the proposed location, to investigate if any of the concerns could be addressed

Four area municipalities will receive $208,478 out of a total pot of $703,762 announced for 16 province-wide municipalities under the Provincial Capital Assistance Program for 2023-24 to support infrastructure and innovation.

The area municipalities are: Town of Stewiacke - $85,000 for Phase 5 well water study; Municipality of the County of Colchester - $85,000 water and sewer capacity studies; Town of Oxford: - $27,526 for Foundry Street water main replacement project – design and Municipality of the District of East Hants - $10,950 for a generator for the waste management centre.

George Lloy, Mayor, Town of Stewiacke said "During the last fiscal year, the Town of Stewiacke realized unprecedented growth. The Provincial Capital Assistance Program funding will provide essential funds to facilitate the water infrastructure upgrade to meet the current demands of our town and anticipated demand in the future."

Three projects under the Municipal Innovation Program for 2023-24 will receive $450,120 comprising:

Municipality of the District of Clare and Municipality of the District of Shelburne, $195,120 for inter-municipal planning strategy; Alternative Resource Energy Authority - $249,000 for municipal electric utility modernization (Town of Mahone Bay, Town of Berwick and the Riverport Electric Light Commission) and Town of Yarmouth, Municipality of the District of Yarmouth, Municipality of the District of Argyle and Acadian Shores Tourism Association - $6,000 for Yarmouth County interactive accessibility map.

On September 25, more than 1,200 paramedics across the province are being celebrated as Nova Scotia marked Medic Monday.

To support the lifesaving work of paramedics and to recruit and retain more of them, the Province has: provided a tuition rebate to paramedics who agree to work in Nova Scotia for at least three years following graduation; provided a retention bonus to recognize the hard-work of paramedics in Nova Scotia; added a new Emergency Health Services (EHS) LifeFlight airplane to transfer non-critical care patients from Yarmouth and Sydney to Halifax for tests and treatment and added a nurse to the 911 medical communications centre to manage non-life-threatening calls so paramedics can focus on emergencies.

Nova Scotians who generously volunteer their time to enrich their communities year after year were honoured on, September 25, at the 49th annual Provincial Volunteer Awards ceremony in Halifax.

"This year, volunteers have been instrumental to the success of large-scale celebrations, including the 2023 North American Indigenous Games, and responded to extraordinary challenges due to severe weather events," said Lt.-Gov. Arthur J. LeBlanc. "The level of dedication and courage that I have witnessed will remain with me for years to come. I thank all volunteers for their service."

The Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission is inviting the public to submit nominations for the 2023 Nova Scotia Human Rights Awards until November 3.

Award categories are: Youth (up to age 20) - for work that promotes equity and inclusion, advances understanding of human rights and its importance in empowering youth to advocate for themselves, their peers and their communities; Individual (age 21 and older) - someone who demonstrates leadership and whose work has contributed to change in their community by advancing equity, inclusion, and the value in promoting and protecting human rights; Group/Organization - its collective action serves to protect dignity, advance equity, promote inclusion, and raise awareness of human rights in Nova Scotia; Dr. Burnley Allan (Rocky) Jones Award - presented to an individual of African descent whose work reflects and builds upon his legacy of championing racial equality, advancing justice and fostering socio-economic empowerment and Wel'lukwen Award - presented to an L'nu individual (youth or adult), group or organization whose work advances the rights of Mi'kmaq/Indigenous people while creating a just, equitable and inclusive society.

The 2023 Nova Scotia Human Rights Awards will be presented in Halifax on Friday, December 8, in recognition of the United Nations International Human Rights Day on December 10. More information about the awards and the nomination form are available at: https://humanrights.novascotia.ca/awards 

"This past summer was extremely difficult for people across our province with unprecedented wildfires and flooding - events that we should expect to see more of because of global climate change," said Environment and Climate Change Minister Timothy Halman. "The additional funding we are announcing today will help more Nova Scotians to prepare and plan for climate change so that we lessen its impacts and make our communities stronger and more resilient."

The fund was launched with $15 million available over three years. The first call for proposals generated 102 applications requesting $37 million in funding. To date, more than $3.7 million for 14 projects has been announced.

The call for the second round of applications will be announced in the coming weeks. Those interested in receiving notification can register for the fund's mailing list at: https://nschallengefund.ca/contact/#mailing-list 

A slower growth in the second half of the year is expected as consumers are careful with their grocery budgets.