PORT HOOD: Inverness County will be closing the air strip in Margaree until it can find a new insurance provider.
During the regular monthly meeting of Inverness Municipal Council on March 3, Chief Administrative Officer Keith MacDonald said the municipality has been looking for a new company after finding out last week that their old provider was unwilling to provide direct coverage for the air strip, starting at the end of the month.
As a result, MacDonald told the meeting that they will have to inform Nav Canada that the strip be removed from any flight planning.
The CAO said the municipality is doing all it can to make sure the air strip is safeguarded while they continue their search.
The Deputy Warden of Inverness expressed her support for the provincial government’s recent announcement for the Continuing Care Sector.
Bonny MacIsaac told the March 3 meeting that one of the highlights for her was the announcement of $22 million over two years to cover tuition costs for over 2,000 students in the Continuing Care Assistant program.
Noting there are “dozens” of positions across the municipality in senior care homes, MacIsaac had council approve a motion to send a thank you to the province.
The deputy warden added this is a “big boost” for people in that profession.
Director of Finance Tanya Tibbo received council’s approval to transfer $2,500,000 from the operating reserve to the general operating fund.
“In previous years, we would not have had to be so concerned about cash flow problems because the financial institution that we were using would net all of our accounts. So we wouldn’t have to make transfers from account to account to cover costs that are being funded from other sources,” she explained. “We do have an overdraft in our general operating fund, but because we’re getting close to year-end and we don’t have a lot of new revenue coming in right now, until we do our tax billing in June, I’m recommending that we transfer an amount from the operating reserve into our general operating fund. We’ve done this in the past.”
When the municipality enjoys good cash flow, Tibbo said they are able to transfer the full amount the operating fund owes to the operating reserve.
“Now we’re not reversing it, but we’re moving money back just so that we can cover our capital requirements until we start getting some of the money in,” noted Tibbo.
For instance, Tibbo said the $3 million Highway 19 Project will be funded by a debenture that the municipality is not going to receive until the project is complete.
“The operating fund can’t sustain those expenses, in addition to the everyday expenses that the municipality does have,” she stated.
Council agreed to a send a letter to the Minister of Public Works and Inverness MLA Allan MacMaster to ask the province to assess the damage done to Hart’s Bridge in Margaree.
As a result of recommendations from the committee of the whole, the Inverness Victoria Federation of Agriculture was approved for $4,000, and the Margaree and Area Development Association will receive $2,098.75 to replace entry doors.
Council approved a development agreement for 10 additional cottages and an accessory building on a property along Fisherman’s Lane in Inverness.
The greenlight was also given to rezone a property on Main Street in Whycocomagh from Commercial (C-1) Zone to Residential Centre (R-1) to allow for the construction of a duplex.