News: Participatory Budgeting: Participatory Budgeting is returning to District 5 in November to allocate $50,000 in capital funds. Participatory budgeting allows residents to have a direct say in how money is spent. If you missed it last year, the way it works is community groups setup science fair style and …
Cannabis Planning Bylaws: A rather routine Council agenda. The main item of interest was the public hearing to consider some narrow amendments to the Regional Plan and each community’s specific planning bylaws to regulate cannabis production facilities. This wasn’t a public hearing into the controversial Nuisance Bylaw changes regarding smoking, …
News Lake Banook Algae Update: As of September 12, HRM has lifted the blue green algae risk advisory for Lake Banook and Lake Micmac. Risk advisories are based on a number of factors, including test results, information regarding a bloom’s life-cycle, and visual confirmation of the presence of algae blooms. HRM …
Nuisance Bylaw (Smoking): It was a very short Council meeting on Tuesday. The main item on the agenda was the return of the staff report on possible changes to the Nuisance Bylaw regarding smoking. Council previously changed the Nuisance Bylaw in response to the coming legalization of cannabis to ban …
It was a challenging night at Harbour East Community Council. The revised design for Prince Albert/Glenwood (down a floor) was back before us. The reduction in height wasn’t enough to win over the immediate neighbours. The easy path for me would have been to side with the opposition and vote …
News: Lake Banook Blue Green Algae: This summer has brought a fresh challenge for Lake Banook: blue green algae. Blue green algae is a naturally occurring algae. It usually isn’t a problem, but with enough nutrients and heat it can form dense blooms. Given the aquatic weed growth in Banook and …
Fell a bit behind this month on my Council blog so this entry is a wrap-up for our July 31 and August 14 meetings. Forum: Council spent a fair bit of time on the 14th going over the Forum Renovation Feasibility Report. The Feasibility Report is in response to Council’s …
Over the last week, I have been dwelling over the recent changes to HRM’s Nuisance Bylaw to ban smoking on municipal property. These changes are coming in response to the legalization of cannabis. Municipalities in Nova Scotia, British Colombia, and Alberta are in a particular dilemma on this issue because …
Cannabis Bylaw Amendments: A very busy day at Council with a long agenda. The issue that gathered the most attention was the proposed changes to the Parks and Nuisance bylaws to deal with the upcoming legalization of cannabis. The decision to legalize cannabis has been made by the federal government, …
News: Lake Banook and Lake Micmac Weed Harvesting: This year’s weed harvesting in Lake Banook and Lake Micmac is now underway. Work will likely conclude by August 10. Harvesting will be limited to selected areas and is part of a three year project to reduce the spread and height of weeds …
