HRM 2025 CITIZENSHIP AWARDS

Every year HRM presents a Citizenship Award to outstanding Grade 9 students throughout the municipality. The recipients are chosen based on qualities of leadership in their school and community, and commendable performance in the courses in which they are enrolled. This year the following students from our district were bestowed with this honour:

Marine Drive Academy – Leysom Revelis

Oyster Pond Academy – Madelyn Bresnahan

Eastern Shore Consolidated- Lucas Gillie

Ross Road School – Lucas Mercer

Ecole Secondaire Mosaique- Joshua Misner

Great efforts by these outstanding students!

2025 COMMUNITY MUSEUM GRANTS

The HRM Community Museums Grants Program was established in 2018 in response to a request for funding assistance from several local museums, some of whom do not receive operating assistance under the provincial Museums Assistance Program and instead rely heavily upon volunteers and self-generated revenue. The term “community museum” is defined to distinguish these museums from provincial, federal, or institutional museums, stand-alone archives, interpretation centres, and art galleries. Here is a list of this year’s grants and tax relief provided to our local community-based museums:

Project Grants:

• Musquodoboit Harbour Heritage Society: $1,000 towards paint repairs to the Railway Station Museum

Capital Grants:

• Cole Harbour Rural Heritage Farm Society: $8,000 for water mitigation project to protect the Giles House.
• Lake Charlotte Area Heritage Society: $5,700 towards the creation of period costumes and storage amenities

Operating Grants:

• Cole Harbour Rural Heritage Society

$18,574 HRM + $43,279 NS Community Museum Assistance Program (CMAP)

• Lake Charlotte Area Heritage Society

$24.066 HRM + $73,145 NSCMAP

• Musquodoboit Harbour Heritage Society

$9,787 HRM + $9,678 NSCMAP

• L’Acadie de Chezzetcook Association

$7,041 HRM 

• Sheet Harbour Area Heritage Society $4,624 HRM

Property Tax Relief:

• Cole Harbour Rural Heritage Society: $5,225
• L’Acadie de Chezzetcook Association: $3,085
• Lake Charlotte Area Heritage Society: $11,715
• Musquodoboit Harbour Heritage Society $1,145
• Sheet Harbour Area Historical Society $3,062

Less than Market Value Lease:

• Sheet Harbour Area Historical Society $5,110 Rent Waiver + $5,150 Operating Assistance = $10,260

HRM CIVIC EVENTS 2025 GRANTS

Here is a list of local community festivities that have received municipal civic events grants:

TRUNK 7 MUSIC FESTIVAL

July 18-19, Porter’s Lake - Grant: $5,000

NORTH PRESTON DAYS

July 18-20, North Preston - Grant: $5,000

LAKE AND SHORE DAYS:

August 15-17, Porter’s Lake - Grant: $5,000

HALIFAX COUNTY EXHIBITION

August 13-16, Middle Musquodoboit –

Grant: $25,000

RURAL HRM AT REPORT FINDINGS

Five candidate communities (Porters Lake, Musquodoboit Harbour, Upper Tantallon, Hubbards and Lucasville) were prioritized for public engagement about having possible Active Transportation (AT) infrastructure that took place in these communities during the wintertime and springtime of 2024. The results showed broad opposition to HRM’s rationale for the area rate based on property assessments. At least 50% of respondents in each community opposing sidewalks cited "taxes" and "rate" as reasons. Porters Lake and Upper Tantallon strongly opposed all engagement components, while Musquodoboit Harbour and Lucasville were moderately opposed to sidewalks and strongly opposed to the proposed area rate. Hubbards (not including adjacent communities) showed strong support for sidewalks and about 65% showed support for an area rate. Lucasville community groups requested exemption from the area rate due to past and current inequities in service and planning. Based on this feedback, alternative options for calculating an area rate were considered. Two options given the most consideration were a variable rate option tied directly to recovering annual maintenance costs and a fixed rate option focused on making communities eligible for the infrastructure that is based on estimated annual maintenance costs for four of the communities. It is proposed that a second round of community engagement take place in Musquodoboit Harbour and Lucasville on a new area rate structure. There was support to begin functional planning and design for sidewalk facilities in Hubbards. And to discontinue any further consideration of sidewalks for Porters Lake and Upper Tantallon. Paved shoulders along Hwy #7 as a part of the Bicycle NS Blue Route plan would be sufficient enough whenever the Province gets around to repaving the highway.

Here’s a link to the full report on the HRM Council meeting agenda of May 13/25 and summary of community consultation is at: https://pub-halifax.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=1861

HWY #207 REPAVING DELAYED AGAIN

The repaving of Hwy #207 from Robinson Road to Mineville Road will be delayed by another year due to the need for more thorough environmental engineer designs to minimize impact to the watercourses that feed into the Peter McNab Kuhn Wildlife Management Area of the Cole Harbour Basin wetland habitat. It is our hope to minimize the visual impact of large fill slopes, and to avoid the infilling on private property. HRM Public Works and Halifax Water have identified the need to get some external geotechnical, structural and environmental support to supplement their in-house expertise. There was a tender call for a Request For Proposal RFP-HRM-2025-0087 entitled Hwy # 207 Recapitalization Consulting Services has been awarded to Design Point Engineering for $414,165.00

The initial plan was to widen the roadbed to include paved shoulders that will be consistent with the work done in phase one that was completed a couple of years ago. This delay is not preferred but necessary to ensure that HRM can attain the appropriate federal and provincial environmental permits required to complete the work as intended. Hopefully, the repaving of Hwy #207 should go forward in the 2026-2027 construction season.

ENVIRONMENT WEEK: JUNE 2nd – 8th  

During #CanadianEnvironmentWeek (CEW) there are many special dedicated days to heighten the awareness of various environmental causes such as World Environment Day (June 5th), Clean Air Day (June 4th) and World Oceans Day (June 8th). During CEW and throughout the year, we are urged to reflect on the many ways we can take action to protect and preserve our natural surroundings. Other ways to celebrate include: Take a nature hike: Join a group dedicated to conservation: Create a bird or butterfly habitat: or Visit a nature sanctuary or botanical garden. Be sure to use #CanadianEnvironmentWeek to share on social media with your environmental awareness posts.

CHEZZETCOOK DAYS – JUNE 20th – 22nd 

The Chezzetcook & District Lions Club and the Sociable Cupcakes will be hosting its  annual Chezzetcook Days. Friday, June 20th 7PM – Kitchen Party. Saturday, June 21st 8AM free pancake & sausage breakfast. At 10AM - Family Fun Day with games, flea market, bake table, a local business fair with a BBQ and fish fry-up. Sunday, June 22nd at 2PM Cash/Merchandise Bingo & 50/50 Draw

GRADUATION  CONGRATULATIONS

I want to congratulate the Class of 2025  Graduates in High School, Community College, and University. May each of you find your own path in life that leads to many successes and the best of luck with your future endeavours.