Councillor’s Communiqué : August 2006 - Issue # 105

I want to personally thank and publicly acknowledge the efforts of Eastern Shore MLA - Bill Dooks for his cooperation and determination in seeing that our local road priorities will not be overlooked nor forgotten about. In fact, it was possible to get these completed because of strategic opportunities to combine them with other local work priorities within his own constituency. Highway #7 will also be re-paved in Gaetz Brook and Musquodoboit Harbour. As well the Candy Mountain Road - Crooks Bridge replacement is progressing. Soon, tenders will be called for laying down asphalt on phase 1 of the various subdivision streets in Lawrencetown and this is expected to be completed by October 31st. And there will be a new enlarged drainage culvert placed under Hwy #207 near Ross Road at Cole Harbour. And at the next phase of the Main Street - Hwy #7 widening / center-left turning lane is now underway from Forest Hills Parkway to Montague Road along with sight-lines improvements at MacLaughlin Road.

The Crowbar Trails will officially open on August 26th. This 18-km trail system offers a variety of loop trails with spectacular, high view-points; and frontage along several rivers in the Waverley - Salmon River - Long Lake Wilderness Area. Expect bouldery and challenging trail conditions and some hills. Bring good hiking boots, lunch, water and proper clothing. There will be a trail-head program on the morning of August 26th and plan for several hikes as well. We can explore these trails from its Myra Road parking lot site.

The HRM Partners in Policing Gun Amnesty Program, originally slated to run from June 26th - July 14th, will be extended to run until August 10th. Gun Amnesty Programs allow law-abiding citizens the opportunity to turn over unregistered / unwanted guns and ammunition without penalty. Each firearm collected is investigated to determine if it has been involved in criminal activity. If no further investigations are necessary, the guns and ammunition are then destroyed. Citizens are asked to call 490-5020 to have police officers attend and remove any unregistered / unwanted guns and ammunition. They are reminded NOT to transport guns or ammunition to police offices as this is a potential safety risk. Gun control is an essential component in community safety. Unregistered, unwanted and unsafely stored guns have the potential to cause serious harm or death. Every gun that is turned over to the police for destruction can help to reduce these incidents and very much appreciated as well.

Can the area of Porters Lake be better served by having just one detachment office to serve the entire community area instead of having its territory being split along its waterline between 2 detachments. If the territory is to be merged; then which detachment would better serve the area: Cole Harbour or Musquodoboit Harbour ? Finally, it has been determined to have Musquodoboit Harbour as its service provider. In doing so, this will bring all of the "827" phone exchange into one police detachment area. That fact alone ought to help with identifying emergency callers whereabouts and aid with the dispatching of call outs. The Porters Lake boundary change is slated to go ahead effective August 17th. A combined effort will be taking place in the upcoming weeks to advise the public of the change. This will be done largely through media ads. If you have any questions in regard to this, then please feel free to give Officer Janice Tompkins a call at 889-3300.