Bike Lanes:The big drama at Council was the Mayor’s motion to “temporarily pause” all of HRM’s bike projects. When the news broke on Friday I fired off a quick note to help raise the alarm that you can read here. Council received a ton of feedback, mostly strongly against the …
This week started off what is always one of the most important debates on the City Hall calendar: the budget adjustment list. During HRM’s budget process, each department presents their plan for the year to Council. As we review all the information from the various departments, Councillors can move potential …
February is always the busiest month on the City Hall calendar as Council gets deep into budget deliberations. During HRM’s budget process, each department presents their plan for the year to Council. As we review all the information from the various departments, Councillors have the opportunity to move potential changes …
Regional Council agenda, February 11 One-HRM Parks and Rec MembershipAn information report I asked for on a single HRM-wide membership for Parks and Rec facilities was back before Council. The idea is to break down the barriers between facilities. At a fundamental level, there is no difference between Sportsplex, Canada …
Agenda, January 28 Windsor Street ExchangeThe major item on Council’s agenda yesterday was the Windsor Street Exchange project. The Windsor Street Exchange project started in 2019 with significant support from other orders of government. Inflation has taken a significant toll on the budget since 2019 and the project scope has …
Agenda, January 14 Park Lighting Strategy:Some work that I initiated a few years ago has come to fruition: the Parks Lighting Strategy was approved by Council at our Tuesday meeting. The issue around lighting in our parks is that HRM really hasn’t had any sort of formal plan or program. …
My first blog entry for the new Council! We’ve had two meetings so far, both of which were pretty light in terms of materials, which wasn’t unexpected given that we have so many new councillors and a new mayor trying to find their footing. Still getting to know my new …
Agenda, August 20 Watershed PlanningSome really good news on Council’s agenda for Dartmouth’s Lakes: HRM is launching a watershed planning program, and Dartmouth’s Lakes are part of the initial pilot. The idea is to have a multi-year plan with clear goals and measurable outcomes. HRM has done a few things …
Dartmouth Cove InfillingCouncil approved a major step to potentially protect the waters in Dartmouth Cove from further infilling. Council approved initiating the planning process that could result in bylaw changes that prevent infilling from happening on all remaining water lots in Dartmouth Cove. HRM’s ability to do this is very …
Agenda, July 9 EncampmentsThe issue of encampments was back before Council and the situation isn’t pretty. As I wrote in my e-newsletter last week, new Provincial housing spaces are delayed and won’t be ready until the fall at the earliest. This has put HRM back into a situation where existing …
