Councillor’s Communique : January 2004 - Issue # 74

Happy New Year  To One & All !!!

HRM COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS

HRM GRANTS 2004-05 DEADLINE

PROPERTY ASSESSMENT APPEALS

ICE & SNOW CONTROL ON ROADS

HRM COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS

As your Municipal Councillor, I have been assigned extra duties and appointed to the following Committees: 1. Appeals Committee; 2. Community & Race Relations Advisory Committee; 3. Dangerous & Unsightly Premises Committee; 4. Private Road Committee; 5. Program & Service Review Committee; 6. the Halifax Regional Development Agency (RDA); and 7. the Marine Drive, Valley & Canal Community Council. It is my hope to be appointed to the Tax & Grants Committee shortly.

HRM GRANTS 2004-05 DEADLINE

HRM Community Grants Program for 2004-2005 application deadline is Friday, January 30th, 2004. The Guidebook and forms are available in each HRM Customer Service Ctrs. and HRM Libraries, or on-line www.region.halifax.ns.ca/boardscom/bccgrants/grants.html

PROPERTY ASSESSMENT APPEALS

Property Assessment Notices will be out in the mail by mid January. There will be an 21 day official Appeal Period whereby property owners can review and perhaps refute their appraisals. If you feel it is not assessed properly, then you should contact the NS Dept.of Service Nova Scotia & Municipal Relations and speak with an Assessment Services representative. The NS Central Region Assessment Office is located at: 780 Windmill Road, Burnside Industrial Park, Dartmouth, NS, B3B 1T3.  Telephone # 424-5225 or Toll-free # 1-800-667-5727. Fax # 424-0586.  Property owners are encouraged to call and talk to an Assessor at this office, prior to appealing an assessment. Perhaps this approach may answer and clear up some questions that you may have, hopefully avoiding the time and expense of an appeal. If not, you have the right to make a formal appeal, IN WRITING, either by letter or fax or hand-delivered, which must be received by the Assessment Office on time before the deadline. E-mail or On-line Appeals are not yet acceptable by Legislation. Non-Resident property owners have a 10 day extension to that deadline in order to allow out-of-province mail to flow in.  If you should have any further enquiries, please refer to the Service NS Web-Page Site at: www.gov.ns.ca/snsmr/ click on "Assessment Services". If you wish to avoid paying more in Property Taxes, then you ought to investigate whether or not your property is properly assessed its true value.

ICE & SNOW CONTROL ON ROADS

Motorists are asked to exercise extreme caution when venturing out onto our roadways during this time of year. Be safe by having your vehicle properly prepared for the worse.  The NS Dept. of Transportation & Public Works does most of the snow removal and ice control road services in District 3. Our local Highway Depot in is Chezzetcook at 827-2544. For North Preston and the 37 streets in the Upper Lawrencetown subdivision areas, please call HRM Snow and Ice Control at 490-6203 or the HRM Service Call Centre at 490-4000.  Drivers can get up-to-date road conditions across Nova Scotia by calling the SNOW-line: 1-800-307-SNOW (7669) or in HRM at 424-3933 or on-line at www.gov.ns.ca/tran and click on the Road & Weather Report Icon Button. The SNOW-line is updated regularly at 7 AM; 1 PM; and 5 PM. or more frequently in case of a major storm event.  Recently the Federal Government has come out stating that road salt is an environmentally harmful product and its uses should be limited and restricted. Concentration and frequency of road salting along with brine solution and sand mixture will be closely monitored. Your Municipal & Provincial Governments have been working with other road authorities to evaluate best practices and to reach workable, cost-effective solutions. HRM & NS will continue to participate in a salt management working group established by the Transportation Association of Canada. A copy of the association's publication "A Road Salt and Snow & Ice Control" can be viewed on-line at: www.tac-atc.ca/programs/primer.pdf For HRM Ice & Snow Control and Road Service Standards www.region.halifax.ns.ca/Works/Streets/snow_ice.html www.region.halifax.ns.ca/Works/Streets/servicestand.html . To enable HRM work crews to plow and salt streets more efficiently and safely, the Overnight Winter Parking Ban is now in effect until March 31, 2004. Even residents in the Rural areas should be aware and reminded that Section 139 of the Motor Vehicle Act provides that parked vehicles obstructing snow removal or winter maintenance operations may be removed at the owners' cost regardless of time or date. Having streets free and clear of parked vehicles during snow storms makes for more efficient and cost-effective snow removal operations and facilitates better mobility by emergency response agencies. The cooperation of motorists in that regard is appreciated.

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