March Public Meeting
Big Tancook Island Public Meeting
Municipal Community Meeting - DRAFT NOTES
Big Tancook Island
Saturday, June 20th, 2009
Present: Mayor Downe, Deputy Mayor Zwicker, Councillor Oickle, Councillor Fawson, Councillor Statton, Councillor Moore, Councillor Bell, Tammy Wilson - CAO, Carroll Randall - Rec. Director, Laura Barkhouse - Trails and Open Space Coordinator
Issues for Discussion as provided by Community:
" Emergency Response
" High Speed Internet
" School Road
" CAP site
" Recreation Centre Upgrades
" Southeast Cove Beach
" Vehicle clean-up
" School Review
" Business Promotion and Development
" Fire Protection
" Recreation Services
" Garbage pick-up
Emergency Response
- $7,000 to $8,000 bill annually for 911 service
- $3,817 insurance bill - large portion of the overall cost
- Need help with the insurance bill or the 911 service cannot be offered
- Responders are already trained
- The rest of the NS has emergency response supplied (and pay for it)
- What is the experience of the islands off of Digby County?
- Poor road conditions have an impact
High Speed Internet
- Residents and business operators need it
- Students need it
- Telecommuting is not an option
- Municipality will contact providers and get info back to Islanders - email contact #'s as well
- Need to find out their priority
- Skeptical about 2009 date
School Road
- Private road
- Helipad access road
- School and Community Centre Access Rd.
- Need landowner permission for upgrades
- Lobby DOTIR for general road upgrades
- 2000 tonne of gravel to be delivered soon
CAP site
- School has four high speed lines - Can the school be use dby the community in the afternoons?
- Can MODL help "get the ball rolling" for high speed internet?
- SAC - school runs from 8:30 - 3:00
- Limited access to websites due to school board policy
Rec. Centre Upgrades
- For example, new roof, insulation, electrical, pump
- Running on a deficit for the last 10 years
- Need help from MODL
- Seagulls play havoc on roof
- Funding for educational programming - residents can't attend mainland events due to ferry schedule
Southeast Cove Beach
- Residents do cleanup
- Picnic tables would be useful
- Can the beach be designated as a Municipal park?
Vehicle Clean-up
- Many derelict vehicles
- RRFB?
- MODL will look into whether or not there is a program in place (DOEL)
- "bring one out - take one out" - who manages that?
- No motivation to remove vehicles
- It should be mandatory that vehicles have MVI's or the ferry can't bring it
- Unsightly premises? Community driven complaint process.
- Fear of repercussion - animosity/friction
- Garbage below high water line? The province should be notified.
School Review
- If school is chosen to be closed, what recourse can be had?
- A presentation should be made to MODL council and make requests
- Report before school board by November 30th - end of March is the final decision deadline.
- Federal Government supplement?
- This continous "review" of keeping the school open is unfair and undermines the heart of the community
- Tancook is a unique situation, not separated from other option by roads, but by ocean!
Business Promotion and Development
- Need promo tools
- Meet with MODL economic development officer
- Need follow-up meeting
- What are the "trends" at provincial and national level?
- No commuting opportunity with ferry service
- Also, not being connected to high speed internet is an issue
Fire Protection
- Who gives service?
- Do residents want fire protection if it comes with an area rate?
- Time is the issue
- The mainland cannot provide fire protection - takes too much time
- Some volunteers doing work
- Pump tank on trailer/truck could be used by residents
- Need to find out options
Recreation Services
- Council/Recreation Department - keep Tancook in mind
Garbage Pick-up
- Main public boxes are sorted improperly
- More boxes needed in summertime
- Boxes on wharf are supposed to be locked to prevent general dump-off
- Garbage collection is currently split per week - weekly collection
- Chester residents are using the boxes on the wharf and leaving debris that cannot get picked up
- Twice a year clean-up is not frequent enough - should include a summer month pick-up
- Items not accepted (fridge, computers, etc.) needs a special pick-up since residents have no means of driving large items to the waste site depots.
Oil Delivery
- Would be nice - very helpful to island residents who do not have means of transporting furnace oil from the mainland.
- Can the ferry be used?
Provincial/Federal Issues to be Addressed
" Should have a defibrillator on the ferry
" Roads are in poor condition
" Main road needs a rebuild on a section in the cove to prevent it from washing into the ocean
" Culverts needed
" School Review
" Ferry Conditions/rules
